SCENE II. Camelot. The terrace of Arthur's castle. Morgan le Fay is standing alone, gazing on Merlin's tower, which rises solitary in the background.
Morgan.
Thou black magician of the enchanted keep
Builded of dreams by subtle sorcery
To win dominion over all the world,
How shall I baffle thee?
Ringed 'round with cloud
Thy frowning tower, four-square, impregnable,
Fit symbol of thy pride, defies my will.
High on the giddy ramparts of the keep
Thy fell and fatal visage bends unseen
Above the mystic lore of perished worlds
For thou art sore bested. The puling boy
Thou fain wouldst make thy catspaw, fails, thee sore,
Most mighty Merlin, and thou knowest not
What engine Morgan fashions for thy fall;
Wherefore, affrighted, thou dost grope for aid.
Strive thou amain, rive spell on evil spell
From out the murky caverns of thy lore,
Thou shalt not hinder me.
(Enter Nimue)
Ha, Nimue!
I need thee, girl: art ready to my hand?
Nimue.
As restless sword that clamours for the fray
Within the sluggard sheath of errant knight.
Morgan.
I'll hale thee shortly from thy scabbard; look!
Where in his magic tower old Merlin sits,
A bloated spider, spreading wide the web
Wherein he thinks to catch us.
Nimue.
Like a fly
I'll buzz and blunder 'gainst his very fangs,
And when he springs, turn to a dragonfly
And stab him!
Morgan.
Thou shalt spead thy wings anon,
Thou subtle Nimue, for to my cost
I know that we may trap the silly king
Until our wit is withered, nor abate
As by the weight of one least little cloud
The curse that lets us, if we rest with that
And curb not Merlin.
Nimue.
Merlin fears us not,
For that the armour he has wrought him well
Of spells and magic gives him leave to laugh
At that we do.
Morgan.
I'll match him in his craft,
Else know I nought of sorcery, and bind
Him helpless in a sleep of living d**h.
There is a potent spell the fayter knows,
And only he, that grips in heavy sleep
Beyond all power to waken, whosoe'er
It falls on.
Nimue.
And thou'dst have me learn the rune
To-night?
Morgan.
To-night, or after, if ye fail at first.
This thing we must achieve, there is no choice.
Win me the rune and England falls awrack.
The way I leave to thee, but guard thyself;
Thou tiltest not against an orgulous boy
But in the front of awful wisdom.
Nimue.
Good:
I sound my challenge! In the lists of life
Flame-favoured Love has ever overthrown
Sir Wisdom.
Morgan.
But not Merlin. He is armed
In supple harness that will turn the point
Of weapons deadly to the cringing king.
Be wise and wakeful; strike with subtler tools
Than serve against a man.
Nimue.
Is he not that?
Mayhap the cloak of wisdom clothes him well
But underneath is man. I strike at that.
Morgan.
Meanwhile I lime the twigs to catch a king, --
But look ye where she comes! The savoury bait
Wherewith I lure him: Guenever.
Nimue.
Farewell,
The night is moonless: ere the east is gray
I'll cope with Merlin, and I win the rune!
(Exit.)
Morgan.
How best to use this knotted skein of love
Where Launcelot, the king, and Guenever
Are sorely tangled? If the knight shall win
What follows but the fixing of the king
More strongly in his purpose to obey
The crafty Merlin. But if Arthur gain
And Launcelot yield nothing: --
Through the night
That was so dark I see a little star,
A little, distant star that waxes great
And brightens to a ball of shrieking flame
That shall with shame and slaughter overwhelm
The king, the Court, and Merlin: Guenever
I'll give the king, -- and later, Launcelot.
A merry game and I can play it well; --
I call a greeting to thee, Guenever.
(Enter Guenever.)
Guenever.
Who hails me from the dusky twilight dim?
I cry thee pardon, lady, but the light
Befriends me not.
Morgan.
It is the Queen of Gore.
Guenever.
Oh, ho! and Empress of the Magic Mere,
The lady of two kingdoms.
Morgan.
Now, indeed,
I know thou givest ear unto the tales
Loose-hanging tongues set free in Camelot,
But this I tell thee, girl; the shameless knights
And wanton women wag forbidding heads,
Miscall me witch and mock me with their japes,
For that their witless folly likes me not
And I am wise in lore of many things
They know not of. Gray Merlin strikes them dumb,
With bated breath they pa** him fearsomely,
But I, that am a woman, rouse their wrath
For matching Merlin.
Guenever.
And I blame them not;
Were I to couch a lance along the lists,
A she-knight thrusting in a fighter's field,
I'd give them leave to mock me. Well content
Am I that God has made me what I am,
Content that He has made men as they are;
My kingdom is mine own, I ask none else.
Morgan.
The which is folly. Yet I like thee well,
And so let call a truce to warring words
The while I counsel thee. Thou art a girl;
An headstrong filly, heedless of the curb;
Lawless, impatient; learn a thing of me
That am well broken to the harness, wise
In diverse things that thou shalt know anon.
Guenever.
That I may reign beneath the Magic Mere
A queen of goblins? Keep thy learned lore,
An earthly crown contents me.
Morgan.
Grasp it, girl,
And thou art Queen of England!
Guenever.
First, meseems,
I'd see it proffered. Thieving likes me not,
Nor yet a beggar's usage, when a crown
Is held for guerdon.
Morgan.
Hear me, Guenever!
Witch am I, if it please the prating Court;
Wise am I, maugre Court and king and thee;
And this I know: thou art a**oted, girl,
If thou dost think King Arthur loves thee not!
Guenever.
Fool am I, if it please the learnèd queen;
Maid am I, maugre Court and king and thee;
And so I knew King Arthur loved me well
When first he saw me in Cameliard.
Morgan.
Then seize the crown he proffers with his heart.
Guenever.
The heart I see, but not as yet the crown.
Morgan.
Nathless he holds it forth. I know the king,
And for a word thou shalt be crownèd queen.
Guenever.
Of England.
Morgan.
Aye, of England: of the world!
Flout thou my wisdom if it pleaseth thee,
But well I know that on before the king
Stretches a path that rises to a height
Of glory and dominion such as men
As yet have never seen. Be thou the queen,
Walk thou with Arthur toward the blinding flame
Of fame and honour blazing in his path,
And thou shalt reign the Queen of Christiantie!
Guenever.
And pay the hateful price!
Morgan.
Why dost thou gaze
With wistful eyes into the crowding dark?
The while with heavy sigh thou sayest slow
"And pay the hateful price." Can'st read the crest
Above the helmet of the drooping knight
That mounts the steep upon a jaded steed?
Nay, now I know! 'Tis Launcelot returned
To Camelot from riding on the quest
That quickly called him when the king returned
And found thee come from far Cameliard.
Dost sigh for him? Out on thee, Guenever!
That weighs a king against a wanton knight.
Guenever.
Be silent, witch, and lightly quit my sight!
Mock me no more, nor tempt me with the tale
Of crown and kingdom purchased with the blood
Of this my heart; I need thee not!
Morgan.
Farewell!
I leave thee to Sir Launcelot, but mark
The thing I say: the crown is for thy brow,
Nor shall a knight let Arthur from his own.
(Exit.)
Guenever.
Ah me, unhappy, that am like a ball
Tossed back and forth across the tennis court;
Forbid to rest in any friendly hand,
But made the sport and pastime of a game.
Would well I knew so much of Morgan's lore
Or Merlin's, as would tell me why the heart
And brain were made of God fierce enemies,
Nor ever in accord.
The crown is mine
And at the price of one least little word,
For Arthur loves me, fain would make me queen,
To reign unchallenged; but Sir Launcelot
Would make me wife, and bend me to his will
A fawning slave.
What woman halts for choice
'Twixt service and dominion? So, the crown
Goes spinning down the vasty waste of night,
A mocking bauble, meet for envious fools.
The joust is over and the favour won,
Sir Heart, thou art the victor in the lists,
Sir Brain the recreant, I the warison!
(Enter: below the terrace, Sir Launcelot. He remains for a time seated on his horse.)
Sir Launcelot.
Although the night were darker than the depths,
Long since forgotten, of the nether hell
Where damnèd souls, forsaken, howl for light,
Yea, for the blazing of tormenting flame
So that 'twere light --I'd know thee, Guenever!
Guenever.
And were the world resounding with the din
Of rending heavens on the Judgment Day,
I'd hear thy voice if thou didst call my name,
O Launcelot!
Sir Launcelot.
Hide not within the night,
I know the king is with thee. Hale him forth
That I may see thy lover.
Guenever.
Launcelot!
Sir Launcelot.
So thou didst call me when I won thy love,
Playing the maid to mock me for a churl;
But now that thou art wanton to a king,
Call me Sir fool!
Guenever.
I know not what thou art
Or knave or madman, for thy words are wild
As one a**otted.
Sir Launcelot.
Wouldst thou have me deal
In honeyed words to match thy honeyed breath?
I call thee as thou art.
Guenever.
Thou liest!
Sir Launcelot.
Peace!
Nor think to mesh me in a web of words.
Thou art the lightest lady in the Court,
And I will prove it 'gainst whoever comes,
Be he the king.
Guenever.
Thou layest in the glare
Of some malignant moon, and thou art mad!
Avoid my sight, I look on thee no more,
Thou art distained forever.
Sir Launcelot (dismounting and coming on the terrace).
Guenever,
'Tis thou that art distained. I thought thee mine,
Unsoilèd, faultless, and I find thee false
As rotting d**h's head grinning through the casque
That outwardly doth show the noble knight.
Unwrast my helm, my hauberk rent away,
My sword all shattered and my spear forhewn;
A craven knight, forlorn I walk the world,
Nor fall on worship whereso'er I go
For that I loved her that betrayèd me.
Guenever.
Am I a wanton that I stand at speech
And chaffer mouthings with a daffish churl?
This is the end. If I do look on thee
One only time in Camelot, beware!
I'll charge thee with black treason to thy face,
And call on every knight that loves the king
Or holds me worshipful, to prove me clean,
Upon thy craven body.
Sir Launcelot.
Stand thou there!
I have a thing to say. I loved thee well
And wore thy favour twined about my helm,
Wherefore I grew a jest for all the Court.
Thou wert King Arthur's, and they knew it well
The while I doted, heeding not the fame
That ran so lightly of thine evil ways.
Girls mocked me, curled their lips and laughed me down;
Knights tossed the shameful jest from hand to hand;
The very pages round the royal throne
Shrilled scornful laughter when I pa**ed them by,
And still I loved thee.
Then upon a day
Meseemed I could no longer 'dure the Court
And rode for silence in the tongueless wood.
Right so I met a maid that bade me stay,
And plucked me by the mantle, saying so,
With railing words: "Wouldst thou then find the king?
I pray thee of thy gentleness, Sir knight,
Molest him not; he lies with Guenever
Among the ferns beside a little brook,
He needs us not."
A quarrel from the bow
I sped along the forest, drunk with wrath,
Believing naught, yet half believing all:
And then I saw thee. Through the leaning trees,
Beside the king I marked thee moving slow,
With willing eyes uplifted to his face.
White lightning seared mine eyeballs, heavy night
Shut down impenetrable, but I knew.
(Enter King Arthur.)
Guenever.
For that thou art a faithless, miscreant knight,
And like a buzzard fain of filthy food,
All gorged with slander, I do owe thee nought,
But this I tell thee, I am blameless here.
By neither word nor act, nay, by no thought,
No little fawning fancy has the king
Done me disworship.
King Arthur (coming forward.).
It is soothly said,
And I will prove the lie with mine own sword,
Upon his body that with shameful tongue
Says that thou art not spotless before God.
What knave missays thee, Guenever?
Guenever.
Sir king,
I pray thee, harm him not: a blighting spell
Is over him, he knows not what he says,
For e'er by magic he was driven mad,
Thou knowest, king, he was a stainless knight.
King Arthur.
Speak, traitor to thy king and chivalry,
That dost with bawdy mouth revile a maid!
The darkness cloaks thee, let me see thy face,
Stand forth, thou art no knight of Camelot!
Sir Launcelot.
My lord,
I am no traitor!
King Arthur.
Launcelot!
By Jesu's wounds, I would a thunderbolt
Had riven Camelot and hurled it wide
In rocky rain upon the blasted fields
Or ever I had seen this dolorous day!
Sir Launcelot.
So say I, king, and hadst thou taken heed
Of thine own knighthood, and the scarlet shame
That like a broidered mantle thou hast cast
Upon the body of thy paramour,
Thou wouldst have halted in thy faithless quest.
King Arthur.
I know not by what dark and devious road
Thou camest, Launcelot, unto this pa**,
But that thou art a false, felonious knight
Distained of treason, foul with calumny,
Alas, I know. Deny thine evil words,
Upon thy knees beseech of Guenever
That she a**oil thee of thy damnèd sin
Or thou dost fight thy king.
Sir Launcelot.
Right so, and now!
King Arthur.
A spell is cast around Pendragon's House;
How other should a knight fight fierce and grim
Against his brother? For I loved thee, sir,
Aye, more than any man of all the Court,
Yet I do love mine honour over all,
Save only that of Guenever. Assay!
Unsheathe thy sword and dress thy heavy shield,
I have no harness; shieldless, void of helm,
Armed only with my sword I meet thy stroke,
For righteousness is hauberk to a king.
Sir Launcelot.
And to a knight in equal measure. So,
I cast my helmet and my shield away,
Naked I stand before thee. k** me, king,
Or thou shalt die for thy sins warison.
Guenever.
For God's love, hold! My honour cannot weigh
Within the balance 'gainst one little drop
Of royal blood, nor yet against thy life,
Sir Launcelot! --
King Arthur.
Art ready?
Sir Launcelot.
Cry you on!
(They fight.)
Guenever.
If ye do love me, sirs, I pray ye, stay!
(Enter Sir Kay: with him pages bearing torches.)
Sir Kay.
Who dares defy the laws of Camelot
And with rude weapons war against the peace
Of Arthur, King of England? Stay your swords,
Or rightwise shall I charge ye with offence
And treason 'gainst the king. Ha, Guenever!
What knights are these?
Guenever.
Woe to me, Seneschal,
It is the king and Launcelot.
(Enter: Sir Pelleas, Sir Tor, Ettard, and other Knights and Ladies, with them torch-bearers.)
Sir Kay.
Alas!
I know not how to speak for dole and woe;
Lord Arthur, of thy grace I pray thee stay!
Sir Launcelot, give way before the king,
Nor peril England with thy faithless blade.
Guenever.
Lords, make an end of this! My heart is torn
That I, unhappy, am the sorry cause
Of this forlorn debate.
Sir Tor.
What evil star
Has risen over England?
Sir Pelleas.
How befell
This wicked warfare twixt the hasty king
And Launcelot?
(Enter: Sir Ector, Morgan le Fay, Columbe, Ysed, and others.)
Columbe.
God's mercy, 'tis the king!
Sir Kay, bestir! Let not this awful shame
Fall blackening on the land.
Sir Kay.
Lord Arthur, see!
Upon my knees I cry thee mercy. Hold!
For God's love, hold. Think that thou art the king,
Nor hazzard England for a traitor's blood.
Morgan (aside).
Too soon I see the fruit of my design
Fall all untimely, yet I grasp it now.
Ysed.
See, see! King Arthur bleeds, and Launcelot
Is pressing on him sorely!
Sir Tor.
Ha! the king
Is smiting wonderly. The knight is lost,
He falls!
Sir Pelleas.
No, no! He struck that blow aside;
Look there!
Sir Kay.
My lord!
Sir Ector.
My God, this endeth here!
(He draws and rushes on Launcelot.)
King Arthur.
Who lets me from the fight or strikes my foe,
Hangs dead to-morrow on the castle wall!
(Merlin has entered: he strides through the crowd, seizes Ector's sword, and with it strikes down the weapons with such force they fall on the ground.)
Merlin.
Then so I die, for so I end the fight.
Lord Arthur, thou art king and thou art law;
Thou art incarnate England, and thy word
Is backed with all the majesty of God.
Nathless through me speaks all the awful line
Of perished kings that gave thee life and crown,
And with a voice that brooks of no reply.
Save thou thy sword for England's enemies!
Morgan (aside).
Again I meet thee; Merlin, thou shalt die!
King Arthur.
Am I the king, or thou, bold sorcerer?
One word from me and I may see thee torn
In horrid gobbets here before mine eyes!
Merlin.
That word knells England's doom. No earthly king
Although he hold dominion streight from God,
Sits on a steadfast throne unless he learn
The wisdom that God gives not with a crown.
King Arthur.
And this I learn from thee, my master?
Merlin.
Aye,
From me, King Arthur. I was grim with years
When first thou gavest tongue, and when the king
That did beget thee mouthed his mother's breast,
Still aged was I. Be persuaded, king,
By Merlin that did give Excalibur
Into thy hand.
King Arthur.
So all my royalty
Is but a pageant. I must let thee reign,
Most potent master!
Merlin.
Ring thyself with knights
And daunt the world with show of dreadful arms,
Thou art a crownèd jester, if thou lack'st
The prop of wisdom for thy majesty.
King Arthur.
Thou speakest well, and I am sore distained
That with unwatchful heart I did forget
The solemn warning thou didst bid me heed,
Yet, by my knighthood, I could find no choice,
For Launcelot did blacken Guenever
With most ungentle slander, and the crown
That guards the head clings not about the heart.
Sir Launcelot.
Thou hast not proved the slander on me, king,
Nor blotted out the shame with thine own blood;
Wherefore I stand my ground. Before the Court,
Yea, Arthur, before God, with brimming tears,
For that my heart is broken that my king
Should deal dishonourably with a maid
I loved with pa**ing worship, once again
I do impeach thee of unknightly shame.
Sir Tor.
I challenge thee!
Sir Ector.
God's blood, I'll prove the lie
Upon thy body!
Omnes.
Treason, treason!
King Arthur.
Hold!
Gramercy for your loyalty, my knights,
But neither words nor blood blot out a lie,
The deed is all. Hear, lords and knights at arms,
Sir Launcelot impeacheth me of shame;
Take ye the answer. Lady, of thy grace
I do beseech thee hear me. Thou art she
That I do love in loyal, knightly wise,
As I have loved thee since the blessèd day
When first I saw thee in Cameliard.
God knows, and thou, there is no bond of shame
Betwixt us, maugre the scandal of the Court,
And therefore, Guenever, wilt thou be queen
Of Arthur and of England?
Merlin.
Stay!
Guenever.
My lord
As I am stainless and all clean of sin --
I will be Queen of England.
Morgan (aside).
I have won!
King Arthur.
Bid all the trumpets blow, and let the flame
Of flaunting beacons paint the sombre sky.
England, thou hast a queen!
Omnes.
Hail, Guenever!
Sir Launcelot (aside).
Christ Jesu, of thy mercy, let me die!
Merlin.
So comes the terror stalking through the night.
Morgan.
Merlin, the fight is lost, and England falls.
Merlin.
Not in thy hands, black witch!
King Arthur.
Come, Launcelot:
Thou hast impeached thy king and drawn a sword
Against his sacred body. Stand thou forth;
What chastisement befits thee?
Sir Launcelot.
Let me die.
Guenever.
In God's name, dear my lord --
King Arthur.
Peace, Guenever.
It needs not that thy heart should intercede
For Launcelot. I am no orgulous fool
To slay the knight that guards my lady's fame.
Give me thy hand, the hand that heaved a sword
Against thy king to shield a maid. I swear
Thou didst win greater worship of me, sir,
Than found I ever in all Camelot.
I know thee now, a fearless champion
Of maiden's honour, and a noble knight.
Look thou, Sir Launcelot, that when the crown
Of England tops the head of Guenever,
Thou dost defend her honour to thy d**h,
Yea, 'gainst the king himself.
Sir Launcelot.
I pray thee now
Let me depart, my heart is like to break.
King Arthur.
Yet would I have thee by me, Launcelot,
I need thy knightly heart. Come, Guenever.
Merlin.
One only word, King Arthur. When the sands
Have told an hour of the pa**ing night,
I wait for thee upon the battlements
Of Merlin's Tower.
Arthur.
Lightly will I come.
And now, lead on, Sir Kay. Unsheathe your swords,
Hurl them in the air, my knights, and let the horns
Declare the tidings unto all the world,
The while with lusty voices ye acclaim
Queen Guenever!
Omnes.
God save Queen Guenever!
(Exeunt.)
Morgan (alone).
So pa**es Arthur to his destiny
And I abide. Queen Morgan, thou art free!
Curtain.