Ralph Adams Cram - Excalibur - Act III, Scene IV lyrics

SCENE IV. The shore of the Magic Mere: all is hidden in pale mist that slowly melts away. Merlin is standing beside Arthur, who is lying upon the ground without his armour or Sword. Moonlight. King Arthur. Where art thou, Guenever? The moving mist Came close betwixt us and I saw thee not. Give me thy lips and lift me to thy heart: Where art thou, Guenever? Merlin. Where is thy Sword? King Arthur. What vision mocks me from the barren world I lightly cast away? Begone, gray ghost, Nor vex me with thy face! Merlin. Where is thy Sword? King Arthur. Who sent thee hither to the Land of Love, Thou baleful portent? That thou hast the garb And hungry visage of the sorcerer, Gray Merlin, I confess. Merlin. Where is thy Sword? King Arthur. I gave it, starling-tongue, to Guenever In pledge of love, as I would give the world An' I possessed it. As I gave my crown, My kingdom, all! Merlin. Thou silly, babbling fool, Look 'round; dost know this place, and dost thou see The Lady Guenever? King Arthur. Speak, sorcerer! Hast thou through black enchantment reft her hence? What hast thou done with Guenever? By God, An' thou hast harmed her, I will gnaw thy heart Before thine eyes! Merlin. Oh, what a thing is man, When he has cast away the flimsy guise The world bestows to veil his nakedness. And I must work with such unhandy tools As these to carve a kingdom. King Arthur. Wil't thou speak? Or must I cut the truth from out thy maw: Where is my lady? Merlin. Hid in Camelot. Nor has she moved therefrom since I upreared A mist betwixt ye that ye may not pa**. King Arthur. Thou liest, Merlin, for I lay but now Upon her breast, within the Magic Mere. Whence thou didst draw me by malignant spells To make me serve thee. Merlin. Since thou didst fall on sleep Thou hast not seen the Lady Guenever, But thou hast wantoned with a damnèd witch Beneath the waters of the lake of hell, And for an hour of lechery hast sold Thy maidenhood and lost Excalibur. King Arthur. I hear thy words, but as the senseless din Of summer thunder. Merlin. Thou shalt understand Their heavy import shortly. Mark me well: Such futile treason was not since the day When Judas sold Christ Jesu. Thou art he That bartered England for an harlot's kiss. My weary eyes, that scarce can mark the course Upon the dial of the shadow's path, Saw through the weltering waters of the Mere Down to the murky depths. I saw thee crawl A wanton suppliant at a witch's feet; I saw thee hang upon her mocking lips And sell the Sword I bravèd hell to win. King Arthur. O Merlin, I am as a troubled child That awakes from noisome dreams. I cannot see, I know not what I say. Give me thy hand And gentle pardon for unknightly words, Read me the cursèd riddle! Merlin. Endless years Have I wrought patiently to save this land. The curse was lifted, and I crowned thee king And gave thee that which should have made thee lord Of such a kingdom as were fit for God. Against thee hurtled all the craft of hell To gain Excalibur, and thou didst prove A faithful warder; traitor to thy name And knightly lineage. The Sword is gone. King Arthur. Merlin, I love her as I love my God; 'Twas Guenever! Merlin. 'Twas Morgan, hight le Fay, Thy sister. King Arthur. Jesu, mercy! (He falls upon his face.) Merlin. For thy sin, For thine unholy incest, cry to God For pardon. Thou shalt pay the penalty With thine own blood, and I may save thee not Although I love thee as an only son. A little time is left us ere the doom Falls on thee. Swear to do my will And we may baffle Morgan, save the State, And render it into the hand of God. Swear me, King Arthur, and I win the Sword. King Arthur. Blast me, Lord God, with lightning, for my sin, Else will I tear mine eyes from out my face And sink my body in the cursèd Mere! Merlin. Rend not thy body, Arthur, rend thy soul; For that thou art a perjured, bawdy knave, Foul with dishonour; yet I know indeed That thing must lie with God. I deal with thee As King of England, I may give no heed Unto thy soul but only to thy Sword, The which I will achieve if thou wilt swear. King Arthur. What shall I do to gain Excalibur? Merlin. Wilt thou be sworn? King Arthur. Yea, Merlin, I will swear. Merlin. Renounce thou by thy knighthood love and lust; Swear by Christ Jesu's wounds that thou wilt live A spotless knight, and I will win the Sword. King Arthur. I cannot, Merlin. Merlin. What, thou wilt not swear? King Arthur. I cannot, Merlin. Lust I fling away, And, by God's grace, I keep myself from sin If He will help me. Love I hold mine own; For I have sworn an oath to Guenever And I will keep it if I lose the crown. Merlin. Bethink thee, king, for England hangs on this; Excalibur is gone. Amba**adors But lately come from out disdainful Rome Already are returning to their king That threats thee with invasion. Grimly war Shall compa** England with a ring of d**h Advancing dauntlessly upon thy throne Where thou art shrinking in a woman's arms. What shall they profit thee if thou art bare Of thy most sure defence, Excalibur? King Arthur. Forsake thy vision, Merlin: let me go And hide me in the refuge of my love. I am not of such metal as a king Is fashionèd, and I shall fail thee sore If thou dost wield me. Give me Guenever, And let me sink in dim forgetfulness The while thou find'st a weapon to thy mind. I may not serve thee. Merlin. Yet perforce thou shalt; I know thy temper and it suits me well, Despite thy softness. None may save this land And bring the kingdom of the living God Upon this earth, but only thou thyself. Deny thy destiny and hell prevails, The night descends, and man shall grope in vain Through murky shadows for the hand of God, Nor find it ever. Seize the Sword and reign! So shall thy name be blazoned on the page Of God's great chronicle of blessèd saints That do His service for His people's sake. King Arthur. Give back my lady and I do thy will; Yea, Merlin, even to the uttermost And latest, lingering drop of mine own blood; Deny me, and I give thee back the crown. Merlin. What profits me my wisdom when I wage Uneven warfare 'gainst hot-headed love That weighs a beating heart against the world? Needs must I meet thy humour. Hear me, boy; The rune is written. "Now Pendragon's seed Shall slay Pendragon for Pendragon's lust." Read thou the import. Yet a little while And Morgan bears a child within whose veins Runs, dark and turbid, great Pendragon's blood. By him thou diest, king! King Arthur. And in this wise, For mine own wanton act, the doom shall fall. So be it, Merlin. Ye have space to act And I to do thy bidding, ere the wrath Of God is on me. Give me Guenever, And when I go the crown shall fall again Unto Pendragon's seed. (A long pause.) Merlin. Yea, that is well. And in despite of destiny I yield Unto thine inclination. King Arthur. Pledge thy word, Thine honour, and thine oath to give me her That I do love, the Lady Guenever, To make her queen. Merlin. That thing I soothly do, Wilt thou be sworn? King Arthur. Yea, Merlin, I will swear. Merlin. Then, by God's wounds and by thy body's faith, Swear to forsake all lust forevermore, But live unstainèd and devoid of sin. King Arthur. By Jesu's Blood and by the faith I owe Unto my knighthood I do swear the oath. Merlin. Come thou with me, the day is not yet lost Though perilled grievously, for nevermore May I compel the false and paynim witch To render up Excalibur. Be true Upon thine oath; we may save England yet, Though hardly. (He leads Arthur to the brink of the Mere.) Stand thou by me while I call Upon the loathly witch to hear my voice, And by the power of the awful spell That by God's grace I weave around here, yield The Sword of Joseph to thy waiting hand. Art ready, boy? King Arthur. Here stand I, Merlin: speak! Merlin. When thou dost see an arm from out the Mere, Robed in white samite, lift above the flood, Grasp thou the proffered hilt. King Arthur. I will obey. Merlin. Morgan le Fay, by grace of Him that lives Lord God of Heaven and Earth, and by the spell So awful and so potent, of the king Great Solomon of Israel, obey! Around the Magic Mere I weave the rune That locks thee helpless in an iron ring. From thy duresse thou may'st not win away, Thou lewd and miscreant fayter, without scathe Unless ye render ransom. Yield the Sword That with mal-engine thou didst win away. Yield thou the Sword! (A sound of wailing rises from the lake.) Must I then ask again? I give thee warning, lightly yield the Sword, For if thou haltest till the lifting moon Mounts skyward by the breadth of half a hand I'll damn thee down to hell! (Clouds obscure the moon and a fierce wind rushes across the lake. The wailing increases to a shriek.) Yield thou the Sword! Dost think to fright me with the stour of storm, And let me my quest with futile din? Thou art a**otted, Morgan. Yield the Sword! (The storm bursts with a tempest of thunder and lighting) Ha, ha! ye fight with weapons weak with rust! Howl, tempests, 'til ye blast the shrinking earth; Blaze, all ye lightnings, split the sky in shards And hurl the reeling stars in torrents down, Ye cannot move me from a mighty quest. I bandy words no longer. Yield the Sword Before my heart beats thrice within my breast Or thou art damned! Yield thou Excalibur! (A pale, greenish light rises and illuminates the surface of the lake. Within Arthur's reach an arm arises, brilliantly lighted, holding Excalibur. He seizes it and brandishes it in the glare of lightning. The light vanishes and the moon bursts through the clouds.) Angelic Voices. Hail, Pendragon! Lord of the Sword. Crownèd of England saviour and king. Arise! O thou servant of God, for the dawn burgeons white on the world and the Lord Christ has armed thee to-day. The Sword is won. and hell in confounded! Back from England cowers the curse. The Sword Excalibur comes, follows fast the Kingdom of God that He will raise at thy hands. The Table Round He has established, so art thou warded with knighthood anointed by God with the unction of blessing. Go forth on the Quest for the crowning high symbol of God in His world. The Holy Grail reft from the holding of man in his pride of will and of wisdom awaits the winning of them that acknowledge the Wisdom of God nor exalt themselves over His Will. The Holy Grail the Sword and the Table fix the foundation of God's Holy City. Guard thou Pendragon's inheritance Build thou the City of God. Curtain.