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GLASTONBURY
Whereat once more the ancient eyes were fired:"I, I was Arthur's bishop, at his courtAnd in his church I ministered, and thenceWhen at the last the whole was overthrownWith wrath and ill designings, straight I soughtA place where I might die, too feeble grownTo endure a new beginning to my yearsWhen once the past was lost, and whelmed in tears.Hither I came, where, in the dawns of timeDim peoples, that the very stones forget,Lived, loved, and fought, and wove the riddling rimeOn a lake island mystically set.They passed, and after ages manifoldCame wandering sainted Joseph (even heThat tended God's frail body, and enrolledIn linen clothes of spicèd fragrancy).He brought the vessel, vanished now from earthThat wrought destruction to the Table Round,Since many deemed themselves above their worthAnd sought in vain, and perished ere they found."
Then Bedivere: "Alas the King! I sawThe unstayed overwhelming tide of war:And when the opposèd standards were unfurledOf Arthur and of Mordred, his base son,Ere yet the noise of battle was begunI heard the heralds crying to the world:
"'Ye that have sought out pallid harmoniesWhere never wind blows, save the gentle south:Ye that have trafficked on the sounding seasAnd fear nor cheerless rains, nor scorching drouth:
"'Ye that have piled the rich, full-ripened cropsOf word and measure, till the rime, grown proud,Did straight contemn the leaping mountain topsAnd lose itself in air, and riven cloud:

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