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Whereof the dwarf lagg'd latest, and the | And may ye light on all things that ye

knight

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Made sharply to the dwarf, and ask'd it of him,

Who answer'd as before; and when the Prince

Had put his horse in motion toward the knight,

Struck at him with his whip, and cut his cheek.

The Prince's blood spirted upon the scarf, Dyeing it; and his quick, instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him : But he, from his exceeding manfulness And pure nobility of temperament, Wroth to be wroth at such a worm, refrain'd

From ev'n a word, and so returning said:

"I will avenge this insult, noble Queen, Done in your maiden's person to yourself: And I will track this vermin to their earths:

For tho' I ride unarm'd, I do not doubt To find, at some place I shall come at, arms On loan, or else for pledge; and, being found,

Then will I fight him, and will break his pride,

And on the third day, will again be here, So that I be not fall'n in fight. Farewell."

"Farewell, fair Prince," answer'd the stately Queen.

"Be prosperous in this journey, as in all;

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And on one side a castle in decay, Beyond a bridge that spann'd a dry ravine: And out of town and valley came a noise As of a broad brook o'er a shingly bed Brawling, or like a clamor of the rooks At distance, ere they settle for the night.

And onward to the fortress rode the three, And enter'd, and were lost behind the walls.

"So," thought Geraint, "I have track'd him to his earth.” And down the long street riding wearily, Found every hostel full, and everywhere Was hammer laid to hoof, and the hot hiss And bustling whistle of the youth who scour'd

His master's armor; and of such a one He ask'd, "What means the tumult in the town?"

Who told him, scouring still "The sparrow-hawk!"

Then riding close behind an ancient churl, Who, smitten by the dusty sloping beam, Went sweating underneath a sack of corn, Ask'd yet once more what meant the hubbub here?

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Who answer'd gruffly,

row-hawk."

"Beheld the long street of a little town In a long valley."

Ugh! the spar- | Tits, wrens, and all wing'd nothings peck

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him dead!

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Came forward with the helmet yet in hand | Bare to the sun, and monstrous ivy-stems And answer'd, "Pardon me, O stranger Claspt the gray walls with hairy-fibred

knight;

We hold a tourney here to-morrow morn, And there is scantly time for half the work. Arms? truth! I know not all are wanted here.

:

Harborage? truth, good truth, I know not, save,

It may be, at Earl Yniol's, o'er the bridge Yonder." He spoke and fell to work again.

Then rode Geraint, a little spleenful yet,

Across the bridge that spann'd the dry ravine.

There musing sat the hoary-headed Earl, (His dress a suit of fray'd magnificence, Once fit for feasts of ceremony) and said · "Whither, fair son?" to whom Geraint replied,

"O friend, I seek a harborage for the night."

Then Yniol, "Enter therefore and partake The slender entertainment of a house Once rich, now poor, but ever opendoor'd."

"Thanks, venerable friend,” replied Geraint;

"So that ye do not serve me sparrowhawks

For supper, I will enter, I will eat With all the passion of a twelve hours' fast."

Then sigh'd and smiled the hoary-headed Earl,

And answer'd, "Graver cause than yours is mine

To curse this hedgerow thief, the sparrowhawk:

But in, go in; for save yourself desire it, We will not touch upon him ev'n in jest."

Then rode Geraint into the castle court, Hischarger trampling many a prickly star Of sprouted thistle on the broken stones. He look'd and saw that all was ruinous. Here stood a shatter'd archway plumed with fern;

And here had fall'n a great part of a tower, Whole, like a crag that tumbles from the cliff,

And like a crag was gay with wilding

flowers:

And high above a piece of turret stair, Worn by the feet that now were silent, wound

arms,

And suck'd the joining of the stones, and look'd

A knot, beneath, of snakes, aloft, a grove.

And while he waited in the castle court, The voice of Enid, Yniol's daughter, rang Clear thro' the open casement of the Hall, Singing; and as the sweet voice of a bird,

Heard by the lander in a lonely isle, Moves him to think what kind of bird it is

That sings so delicately clear, and make Conjecture of the plumage and the form; So the sweet voice of Enid moved Geraint; And made him like a man abroad at morn When first the liquid note beloved of

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staring crowd;

"Turn, turn thy wheel above the | That lightly breaks a faded flower-sheath, Moved the fair Enid, all in faded silk, Her daughter. In a moment thought Geraint,

Thy wheel and thou are shadows in the cloud;

Thy wheel and thee we neither love nor hate."

"Hark, by the bird's song you may
learn the nest"
Said Yniol; "Enter quickly." Enter-
ing then,

Right o'er a mount of newly-fallen stones,
The dusky-rafter'd many-cobweb'd Hall,
He found an ancient dame in dim bro-
cade;

"Here by God's rood is the one maid for
me."

But none spake word except the hoary
Earl:

66

'Enid, the good knight's horse stands in the court;

Take him to stall, and give him corn, and then

Go to the town and buy us flesh and wine;

And we will make us merry as we may. And near her, like a blossom vermeil- Our hoard is little, but our hearts are white,

great."

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him, fain

He spake the Prince, as Enid past | Indignant to the Queen; and then I swore That I would track this caitiff to his hold, And fight and break his pride, and have it of him.

To follow, strode a stride, but Yniol caught
His purple scarf, and held, and said
"Forbear!

Rest! the good house, tho' ruin'd, O my
Son,

Endures not that her guest should serve
himself."

And reverencing the custom of the house
Geraint, from utter courtesy, forbore.

So Enid took his charger to the stall; And after went her way across the bridge, And reach'd the town, and while the

Prince and Earl

Yet spoke together, came again with one,
A youth, that following with a costrel bore
The means of goodly welcome, flesh and
wine.

And Enid brought sweet cakes to make
them cheer,

And in her veil enfolded, manchet bread.
And then, because their hall must also

serve

For kitchen, boil'd the flesh, and spread
the board,

And stood behind, and waited on the three.
And seeing her so sweet and serviceable,
Geraint had longing in him evermore
To stoop and kiss the tender little thumb,
That erost the trencher as she laid it down:
But after all had eaten, then Geraint,
For now the wine made summer in his
veins,

Let his eye rove in following, or rest
On Enid at her lowly handmaid-work,
Now here, now there, about the dusky hall;
Then suddenly addrest the hoary Earl :

"Fair Host and Earl, I pray your courtesy;
This sparrow-hawk, what is he, tell me
of him.

His name? but no, good faith, I will not
have it:

For if he be the knight whom late I saw
Ride into that new fortress by your town,
White from the mason's hand, then have

I sworn

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And all unarm'd I rode, and thought to find Arms in your town, where all the men are mad;

They take the rustic murmur of their bourg
For the great wave that echoes round the
world;

They would not hear me speak: but if
ye know
Where I can light on arms,
Should have them, tell

sworn

or if yourself me, seeing I have

That I will break his pride and learn his

name,

Avenging this great insult done the
Queen.'

Then cried Earl Yniol. "Art thou he

indeed,

Geraint, a name far-sounded among men
For noble deeds? and truly I, when first
I saw you moving by me on the bridge,
Felt you were somewhat, yea and by

your state

And presence might have guess'd you one
of those

That eat in Arthur's hall at Camelot.
Nor speak I now from foolish flattery;
For this dear child hath often heard me
praise

Your feats of arms, and often when I
paused

Hath ask'd again, and ever loved to hear;
So grateful is the noise of noble deeds
Tonoble hearts who see but acts of wrong:
O never yet had woman such a pair
Of suitors as this maiden; first Limours,
A creature wholly given to brawls and
wine,

Drunk even when he woo'd; and be he
dead

I know not, but he past to the wild land. The second was your foe, the sparrowhawk,

My curse, my nephew-I will not let

his name

Slip from my lips if I can help it - he,
When I that knew him fierce and turbu.

lent

Refused her to him, then his pride awoke;
And since the proud man often is the

mean,

He sow'd a slander in the common ear,
Affirming that his father left him gold,

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