Chapter XL

And all the people trembled,
And pale grew every cheek;
And Sergius the High Pontiff 755
Alone found voice to speak:
"The gods who live for ever
Have fought for Rome to-day!
These be the Great Twin Brethren
To whom the Dorians[67] pray. 760
Back comes the Chief in triumph,
Who, in the hour of fight,
Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren
In harness on his right.
Safe comes the ship to haven, 765
Through billows and through gales,
If once the Great Twin Brethren
Sit shining on the sails.[68]
Wherefore they washed their horses
In Vesta's holy well, 770
Wherefore they rode to Vesta's door,
I know, but may not tell.
Here, hard by Vesta's Temple,
Build we a stately dome
Unto the Great Twin Brethren 775
Who fought so well for Rome.
And when the months returning
Bring back this day of fight,
The proud Ides of Quintilis,
Marked evermore with white, 780
Unto the Great Twin Brethren
Let all the people throng,
With chaplets and with offerings,
With music and with song;
And let the doors and windows 785
Be hung with garlands all,
And let the Knights be summoned
To Mars without the wall:
Thence let them ride in purple
With joyous trumpet-sound, 790
Each mounted on his war-horse,
And each with olive crowned;
And pass in solemn order
Before the sacred dome,
Where dwell the Great Twin Brethren 795
Who fought so well for Rome!"

--_Macaulay_.

[1] Ten years after the siege of Rome by Lars Porsena, the Latins, under Mamilius of Tusculum, made a last attempt to force the Romans to restore the Tarquin kings. A battle was fought at Lake Regillus (B.C. 498) between the Latins and the Romans, in which the Romans were successful. Lake Regillus has disappeared and its exact site is no longer known. It is supposed to have been situated at the foot of the Tusculan hills, about ten miles to the southeast of Rome.

[2] Castor and Pollux were twin deities, the sons of Zeus (or Jupiter). Their birthplace was Sparta, in Greece, and there they had their chief temple.

[3] Ides of Quintilis. The fifteenth of July.

[4] lictors. The body-guard of the magistrates, armed with rods and axes.

[5] The Knights. The cavalry.

[6] Castor, and Mars. The temples of Castor and of Mars.

[7] Forum. The market-place, or public square.

[8] Yellow River. The Tiber, so called from its yellow sands.

[9] Sacred Hill. A famous hill about three miles from Rome.

[10] Martian Kalends. The first of March, on which a feast to Juno was held.

[11] December's Nones. December the fifth, on which was held a feast to Faunus, a god of the flocks and herds.

[12] whitest. We should say "a red-letter day."

[13] Parthemus. A mountain range in Greece.

[14] Cirrha's dome. The dome of the temple of Apollo at Delphi, near Cirrha, in Greece.

[15] Adria. The Adriatic.

[16] Lacedaemon. Sparta, which was governed by two kings representing two great families.

[17] Porcian height. Monte Porzio, near the scene of the battle.

[18] Corne. A hill near Tusculum.

[19] Fair Fount. A spring in the vicinity.

[20] Thirty Cities. The Latin cities, banded together in aid of the Tarquins.

[21]"One spot on the margin of Lake Regillus was regarded during many ages with superstitious awe. A mark, resembling in shape a horse's hoof, was discernible in the volcanic rock; and this mark was believed to have been made by one of the celestial chargers."--_Macaulay_.

[22] a Virginius. One of the family of the Virginii.

[23] The consul who was elected first was usually held in greater honour than the other.

[24] Gabii. A Latin city about twelve miles from Rome.

[25] Conscript Fathers. The senate. The original expression is _patres conscripti_ (_patres et conscripti_), _patres_ referring to the patrician element, and _conscripti_ to the plebeian element in the senate.

[26] Camerium. One of the Latin cities.

[27] Master of the Knights. Chief lieutenant.

[28] The Consuls usually had twelve lictors each; the Dictator twenty-four.

[29] Witch's Fortress. The town of Circeii, which Macaulay associates here with Circe, the enchantress.

[30] ghastly priest. The temple of Diana, in a grove near Aricia, had for its priest a runaway slave, who was to hold office until slain by another runaway slave stronger than he.

[31] Ufens. A river.

[32] Laurentian jungle. Marshy thickets near the town of Laurentum.

[33] Carthage. On the north coast of Africa. The Carthaginians were a commercial and sea-faring people.

[34] a woman. Lucretia. After she had been wronged by Sextus, she stabbed herself and died.

[35] Tibur. The modern city of Tivoli.

[36] Soracte. A snow-capped mountain about twenty-five miles from Rome.

[37] Apulian. Apulia was one of the divisions of Italy.

[38] targe. shield.

[39] Pomptine. The Pontine marshes in the southern part of Latium.

[40] Digentian rock. A crag near the river Digentia.

[41] Bandusia. A fountain.

[42] Auster. The word signifies "the stormy south wind."

[43] crown. The first Roman to scale the walls of a besieged town received a crown of gold.

[44] Calabrian. Calabria forms the "heel" of Italy.

[45] Pruning the vines entwined around the trunks of the elms.

[46] clients. Servants attached to the Patrician families.

[47] Titus. Son of Tarquin the Proud.

[48] Fabian. The Fabii were a famous Roman family.

[49] The Julian house claimed to be descended from Iulus, son of Aeneas.

[50] Velian hill. The Velian hill was not far from the Forum in Rome.

[51] Crest of Flame. The flaming crest on the helmet of Mamilius. See l. 434.

[52] From Aufidus to Po. In all Italy. Aufidus was a river in the south of Italy; Po, a river in the north.

[53] thy brother. False Sextus, supposed to be haunted by the furies (the Greek goddesses of Vengeance) for his crime.

[54] Capuan. Capua was a luxurious city in southern Italy.

[55] Samothracia. An island in the Aegean, where Castor and Pollux were worshipped.

[56] Tarentum. A Greek town in the south of Italy.

[57] Syracuse. An important city in Sicily.

[58] Eurotas. A river in Greece, flowing past the city of Sparta.

[59] Vesta. The goddess of the hearth.

[60] Golden Shield. The shield of Mars which had fallen from heaven during the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome.

[61] Celtic plain. The north of Italy, inhabited by Celtic tribes.

[62] Sire Quirinus. Romulus, the founder of Rome.

[63] The Twelve. In order to prevent the shield of Mars from being stolen, eleven others were made after the same pattern, and twelve priests were appointed to guard the twelve shields.

[64] High Pontiff. The chief priest.

[65] Asylum. Romulus was said to have promised a refuge to all fugitives, in the newly-founded city of Rome.

[66] the fire. In the temple of Vesta.

[67] Dorians. The Spartans belonged to the Dorian branch of the Greek people.

[68] Castor and Pollux were the special guardians of sailors at sea. When, during a thunderstorm, a light played around the masts and sails of the ship, Castor and Pollux were supposed to be present, watching over the fortunes of the vessel.

THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL.

PRELUDE TO PART FIRST.

Over his keys the musing organist,
Beginning doubtfully and far away,
First lets his fingers wander as they list,
And builds a bridge from Dreamland for his lay:
Then, as the touch of his loved instrument 5
Gives hopes and fervor, nearer draws his theme,
First guessed by faint auroral flushes sent
Along the wavering vista of his dream.[1]

Not only around our infancy
Doth heaven with all its splendors lie; 10
Daily, with souls that cringe and plot,
We Sinais[2] climb and know it not;
Over our manhood bond the skies,
Against our fallen and traitor lives
The great winds utter prophecies; 15
With our faint hearts the mountain strives;
Its arms outstretched, the druid[3] wood
Waits with its benedicite:[4]
And to our age's drowsy blood
Still shouts the inspiring sea.[5] 20
Earth gets its price for what Earth gives us,
The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in,
The priest hath his foe who comes and shrives[6] us,
We bargain for the graves we lie in;
At the Devil's booth are all things sold, 25
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay,[7]
Bubbles we earn with a whole soul's tasking:
'T is heaven alone that is given away,
'T is only God may be had for the asking, 30
There is no price set on the lavish summer,
And June may be had by the poorest comer.

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 35
And over it softly her warm ear lays:
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 40
And, grasping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul for grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green, 45
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf or a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace,
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves, 50
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,-- 55
In the nice[8] ear of nature which song is the best?

Now is the high-tide of the year,
And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back, with a ripply cheer,
Into every bare inlet and creek and bay; 60
Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God so wills it;
No matter how barren the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green.
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well 65
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes, but we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear and grass is growing;
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near, 70
That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,
That the robin is plastering his house hard by:
And if the breeze kept the good news back,
For other couriers we should not lack; 75
We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing,--
And hark! how clear bold chanticleer,[9]
Warmed with the new wine of the year,
Tells all in his lusty crowing!
Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how; 80
Everything is happy now,
Everything is upward striving;
'T is as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,--
'T is the natural way of living, 85
Who knows whither the clouds have fled?
In the unscarred heaven they leave no wake;
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth, 90
And the sulphurous rifts[10] of passion and woe
Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,
Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.
What wonder if Sir Launfal[11] now
Remembered the keeping of his vow? 95

PART FIRST.

I

"My golden spurs now bring to me,
And bring to me my richest mail,
For to-morrow I go over land and sea
In search of the Holy Grail;[12]
Shall never a bed for me be spread. 100
Nor shall a pillow be under my head,
Till I begin my vow to keep,
Here on the rushes[13] will I sleep,
And perchance there may come a vision true
Ere day create the world anew." 105
Slowly Sir Launfal's eyes grew dim,
Slumber fell like a cloud on him,
And into his soul the vision flew.

II

The crows flapped over by twos and threes,
In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees, 110
The little birds sang as if it were
The one day of summer in all the year
And the very leaves seemed to sing on the trees
The castle alone in the landscape lay
Like an outpost of winter, dull and gray; 115
'T was the proudest hall in the North Countree,[14]
And never its gates might opened be,
Save to lord or lady of high degree;
Summer besieged it on every side,
But the churlish stone her assaults defied; 120
She could not scale the chilly wall,
Though round it for leagues her pavilions tall[16]
Stretched left and right,
Over the hills and out of sight;
Green and broad was every tent, 125
And out of each a murmur went
Till the breeze fell off at night.

III

The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang,
And through the dark arch a charger sprang,
Bearing Sir Launfal, the maiden knight, 130
In his gilded mail, that flamed so bright
It seemed the dark castle had gathered all
Those shafts the fierce sun had shot over its wall
In his siege of three hundred summers long,
And, binding them all in one blazing sheaf, 135
Had cast them forth; so, young and strong,
And lightsome as a locust leaf,
Sir Launfal flashed forth in his unscarred mail,
To seek in all climes for the Holy Grail.

IV

It was morning on hill and stream and tree, 140
And morning in the young knight's heart;
Only the castle moodily
Rebuffed the gifts of the sunshine free,
And gloomed by itself apart;
The season brimmed all other things up 145
Full as the rain fills the pitcher-plant's cup.

V

As Sir Launfal made morn through the darksome gate,
He was ware of a leper, crouched by the same,
Who begged with his hand and moaned as he sate;
And a loathing over Sir Launfal came, 150
The sunshine went out of his soul with a thrill,
The flesh 'neath his armor did shrink and crawl.
And midway its leap his heart stood still
Like a frozen waterfall;
For this man, so foul and bent of stature, 155
Rasped harshly against his dainty nature,
And seemed the one blot on the summer morn,--
So he tossed him a piece of gold in scorn.