LANVAL
 
 LANVAL 
 
 A DRAMA IN FOUR ACTS 
 
 BY 
 
 T. E. ELLIS 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED BY 
 JOHN fcf ED. BUMPUS, LTD. 
 350 OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W. 
 
 1908
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONS 
 
 King of Britain 
 Duke of Cornwall 
 Prince of North Wales 
 Prince of Devon 
 
 Knights of ARTHUR'S Court 
 
 An Armourer 
 Squire to GERAINT 
 Queen of Britain 
 
 Attendants to GUINEVERE 
 
 Knights, Captain, Men-at-Arms, Charcoal-burners, 
 Girl and Apprentices.
 
 ACT I. SCENE I. 
 
 THE ARMOURY, CARDUEL. 
 
 A large, bare vaulted room. Heavy studded doors. (C) opening on terrace. 
 (L] a small, spiral stair from turret. (R] a barred window and forge. 
 Piles of spears, several tournament shields and fragments of armour. 
 
 Bernardo and several apprentices. 
 
 BER. (to an apprentice^ painting] 
 
 Keep to the line, lad, let the field be bright 
 And the device well marked. 
 
 2 APP. So ! Master ? 
 
 BER. Pure 
 
 In line and colour. (To ist App.) Bring that vam- 
 
 brace here, 
 'Tis not ill done. 
 
 i APP. I thought it was well wrought. 
 
 BER. And so it is, but I'm not satisfied 
 
 With competence ; or I were still a smith 
 
 A common craftsman in far Mantua 
 
 And not Bernardo, once the armourer 
 
 Of Milan's court. See, here the work is rough 
 
 And somewhat careless. 
 
 i APP. Must I braize again ? 
 
 BER. Nay, let it stand till I have time for it. 
 
 Look you, my lad, this art of ours is rare 
 
 And needs long service. I am old enough 
 
 To know that I shall never learn it well. 
 
 (To others) Keep to it, lads. (To 3rd App.) Bring 
 
 that haubergeon 
 And test it well, for I believe it strained.
 
 2 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 3 APP. Here's a false ring. 
 
 BER. Then out with it, my lad. 
 
 Death 's a lean fellow, and needs little space 
 To make his entry. Rivet it again. 
 A life's no stronger than its slightest hour 
 Nor any armour than its weakest spot. 
 
 (While the apprentice works, Bernardo goes over to 
 the others.} 
 
 Have care of it. I mind in Milan once 
 
 I'll tell you sometime. Now go on with it. 
 
 How often, boy, must I repeat my words, 
 
 Though hard, a metal's not a rock to hack 
 
 As if it were a quarry, but a form 
 
 Worth some consideration. Yes, this steel 
 
 Has its own texture and its qualities, 
 
 And we must watch them. Iron has its use, 
 
 Bronze its own nature, steel its services, 
 
 All much akin, yet very different, 
 
 And I'd as soon take knife to my own flesh 
 
 As mangle metal with that tool of yours. 
 
 Work with the line and not across the grain 
 
 And see your play grows not too hot, for warmth 
 
 Draws out the soul of steel. Go on. 
 
 3 APP. 'Tis finished, master. 
 
 BER. Come, we'll test it then. 
 
 Give me a dagger. See, this is a life, 
 Here is the gorget, here would be the throat, 
 And I am fate in ambush 'gainst this life. 
 I strike it thus ; the work is sound enough, 
 Ready for fracture in to-morrow's deeds. 
 
 3 APP. It is a grief
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 3 
 
 BER. That such meet work is marred ? 
 
 It's nature's way. All's made for breaking here 
 
 This linked defence and grievous instruments 
 
 For its destruction. Yet we make them both. 
 
 Either our blades can bite thro' our strong mail, 
 
 Or else these links can turn our finest edge. 
 
 We dress the balance of the world, my lad, 
 
 For all the virtues and the strength of man 
 
 Fare ill in life without the armourer. 
 
 (Enter Gyfert (C).) 
 
 Ah, Gyfert ! Welcome ! 
 GYF. Welcome, Bernardo, too. 
 
 It's long since we did meet. 
 BER. I think 
 
 Eight months. 
 GYF. Is it so much ? I never thought 
 
 It was so long. 
 BER. Ye have been active then ? 
 
 Whence are ye come ? 
 GYF. Whence but from Logris, man. 
 
 We were drawn thither by some false reports 
 
 Of Saxon landing. 
 
 BER. You have need of me ? 
 
 GYF. A pair of tassets and some saddle steels. 
 BER. Come, let me see them. 
 
 GYF. They have had rough use. 
 
 BER. Truly they have. I cannot make them good 
 
 Before the morrow. 
 GYF. I'm not troublesome ; 
 
 Say in three days. 
 BER. You do not need them then 
 
 To-morrow ?
 
 4 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 GYF. No, why should we ? 
 
 BER. Tis the last, 
 
 The final meeting of our summer court. 
 
 To-day is Pentecost ! 
 GYF. I had forgotten it. 
 
 When one is serving on the boundaries 
 
 Of all known order, one is apt to miss 
 
 The nice discernment of each date and feast. 
 
 It's Pentecost. 
 BER. The Prince of Devon then 
 
 Will break no lance to-morrow. 
 GYF. He is proved. 
 
 These tests are good for practice, but the best 
 
 Of all our knighthood serve their cause apart. 
 
 But I am sorry that we took no hand. 
 
 Who did the best in recent tournaments ? 
 BER. Sir Lamorak. 
 
 GYF. Good ! He's a noble knight. 
 
 BER. Gawain. 
 GYF. Of course ! 
 
 BER. His brother Agravaine. 
 
 GYF. Sir Agravaine ? 
 BER. Aye, he is much advanced 
 
 In strength and favour. 
 GYF. I believe my lord 
 
 Loves him but little. 
 
 BER. He's a gallant soul. 
 
 GYF. And so are many. He has certain faults 
 
 Which spoil the liking men should have for him. 
 
 Your countryman, has he gained no repute ? 
 
 We thought him likely to do much. 
 BER. Who is
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 5 
 
 My countryman ? 
 
 GYF. Sir Lanval. 
 
 BER. He is not. 
 
 Why, he was bred in wild Armorica, 
 
 A land that will not suckle her own seed, 
 
 But casts them out to batten on the world. 
 GYF. They do her honour. 
 BER. There are no better knights 
 
 In Christendom. 
 GYF. But still Sir Lanval came 
 
 From Italy. 
 BER. True, an Italian lord 
 
 Adopted him. But he still bears these arms, 
 
 Argent a bend of vert, no heraldry 
 
 Of my far country. 
 GYF. What is his birth to me ? 
 
 Who worsted him ? 
 BER. No one ; he took no part, 
 
 Nor have I seen him for some days. 
 GYF. 'Tis strange. 
 
 1 often heard my master say no knight 
 
 In all this land was worthier in his sight. 
 
 Where does he lodge ? 
 
 BER. In the third ward, I think. 
 
 GYF. I have a message for him from my lord, 
 
 Which I had best deliver. In three days, 
 
 You said, Bernardo, these should be repaired. 
 BER. I'll see to it. (Exit Gyfert.) 
 
 Come, lad, now let us work. 
 
 The hour grows late. Here is Sir Lanval's blade. 
 
 This was not used in gentle passages, 
 
 But has been bitten by opposing swords.
 
 6 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 We must re-edge it. There's good stuff in this. 
 A proper weapon should lie thus in hand, 
 Leashed like a hound unto its handler's mind, 
 Straining and hungering for the sentient force 
 That shall oppose it. 
 
 3 APP. He's a worthy knight. 
 
 BER. None better, lad; they do not know him well, 
 
 Whom I have heard speak lightly of his strength. 
 There are not many in all Arthur's realm 
 Who can o'ermatch him. 
 
 3 APP. Yet he has no name 
 
 Or reputation. 
 
 BER. I remember him 
 
 In Mantua when he was young, unknown, 
 And saw him step from that subservience 
 To eminence. He often spoke with me, 
 And talked of arms and manners of defence. 
 Come, let us work. For in to-morrow's play 
 Is half war's danger ; no man must reproach 
 The aids we give him. 
 
 3 APP. The iron is prepared. 
 
 (Enter Lanval (C).) 
 
 LAN. At work, Bernardo ? 
 
 BER. We are pressed, my lord. 
 
 LAN. I think, Bernardo, you must dream of arms, 
 See heaven as a place of perfect mail, 
 With all its angels armoured in delight. 
 
 BER. We armourers give me the hammer, boy 
 Like to imagine that the case we frame 
 Outweighs in value all that it shall hold, 
 And that our work is the best part of nature's, 
 Seeing that man lies fenceless to the world
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 7 
 
 Unless we aid him. "Tis a small conceit. 
 LAN. But near the truth, for 'tis the shell, indeed, 
 
 That makes the man ; and his appearance serves 
 
 In place of armour 'gainst all estimates. 
 
 My blade is finished ? 
 BER. In a little space, 
 
 We would do justice to so fair a task. 
 
 (Lanval watches him working for a time.) 
 LAN. How would they fare, Bernardo, should ill chance 
 
 Arrest this service. 
 BER. Not so ill, my lord. 
 
 Mark you this boy, his skill shall equal mine 
 
 An I be spared to teach him. 
 
 LAN. Praise indeed ! 
 
 BER. It's true enough ; he has the touch, my lord, 
 
 The quality and feeling for this art, 
 
 But wants instruction. For I know full well 
 
 The certainty that's needed for this toil 
 
 Will halt and tremble. 
 
 LAN. Not for many years. 
 
 BER. But I grow old, for come next Martinmas 
 
 'Tis ten full years since I left Italy ; 
 
 I was not young the time that Mantua 
 
 Half worshipped thee. 
 LAN. I had forgotten it. 
 
 Then was the world laid wide before my feet, 
 
 And all adventures stood for my assay, 
 
 But now Bernardo, have you ever thought 
 
 Of turning hence ? 
 
 BER. I shall die here, my lord. 
 
 LAN. Sloven content! What piece of steel is this 
 
 Your practice moulds ?
 
 8 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 BER. A gauntlet for the joust, 
 
 Sir Agravaine's. 
 
 LAN. I gave it him. This guard 
 
 Is Meliard's, a present from myself. 
 This frontal here a portion of the suit 
 I gave long since unto Sir Astamor. 
 Here's much that once I could have called my own, 
 Mine ancient substance 
 
 BER. They are good pieces all. 
 
 We have so much of armour bent and hurt 
 By bitter onslaughts of the Picts and Scots 
 That we are 'mazed that from the hundred acts, 
 The fierce attainments and strange accidents 
 Of such a war this handiwork comes back 
 Worn, it is true, but none the less well fit 
 For future service. 
 
 LAN. I gave them my best, 
 
 And clad in kindness which they gained of me, 
 They have o'erpast me. So I strive in vain 
 And waste subsistence for their mockery. 
 And yet, Bernardo, when we met before 
 In Mantua, I did not do so ill. 
 There's not such difference in the make of man, 
 That I, who forced acknowledgment of worth 
 In Italy, in Britain should be shamed. 
 
 BER. Not shamed, my lord ; this land is proud and dull, 
 And harsher in the value which it sets 
 Upon its servants than all other states. 
 This people slowly puts suspicion off, 
 And slower still divests it of belief. 
 Be patient with them. 
 
 LAN. Patient, I am so !
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 9 
 
 I crave no honours or rewards, indeed, 
 
 For they are favours that a chance may bring 
 
 To be henceforth the inmates of one's life, 
 
 And so sustained, consulted hour by hour, 
 
 That the cramped soul no longer is the lord 
 
 Of its own being. Is it much I ask, 
 
 That they acknowledge that 1 serve them well ? 
 
 BER. The Duke of Cornwall praised your enterprise, 
 
 And swore no knight of Arthur's court could lead 
 To better purpose. 
 
 LAN. I may do them wrong ; 
 
 Perhaps it is my vanity that's hurt, 
 And they do right to overlook my power. 
 Who knows where lies the limit of his use ? 
 My blade is finished ? 
 
 BER. In a moment, lord. 
 
 For it, as thou, waits on accomplishment. 
 Sir, I am old, and have watched many knights, 
 And might make play to hearten discontent. 
 Have I thy leave ? 
 
 LAN. Bernardo, we are friends, 
 
 And both alike contemned and lightly held 
 In the opinion of these islanders. 
 
 BER. My lord, this humour is a youthful mood, 
 The fretting of a soul untrained, who feels 
 The bit of fortune curb his stride halfway 
 Adown the lists. There are more courses yet, 
 And to show sourness is ungenerous. 
 
 LAN. 'Tis kindly meant ; but I go hence to-night. 
 
 BER. To-night ? 
 
 LAN. At once. Bernardo, I am poor. 
 
 The huge equipment and vast sustenance,
 
 io LANVAL ACT i 
 
 Wherewith I came unto this island realm, 
 Are past and vanished. All mine armament 
 Have I not given to my friends or foes 
 Indifferent ? For I was taught a knight 
 Should be so free, so liberal and kind, 
 That none who asked should go without reward, 
 To this result. One simple suit is left 
 My sword and horse. 
 
 BER. My lord, let me provide 
 
 Arms for to-morrow. 
 
 LAN. I may not accept 
 
 A gift of you. 
 
 BER. For our old friendship's sake, 
 
 Let me provide such arms as fit your rank. 
 Why, in a tournay one can win the wealth 
 Of a vast province in a single stroke, 
 Take prisoners, or hold the petty kings 
 To guard or ransom. 
 
 LAN. I'll not take of you 
 
 What I must risk. 
 
 BER. Geraint ? 
 
 LAN. Has been my friend ! 
 
 Were his sweet friendship a small thing to me, 
 I'd ask of him, but I am not become 
 As yet a beggar. 
 
 BER. But the king is kind. 
 
 LAN. To some, perhaps. His kindness passed me by, 
 And I'll accept that treatment as the worth 
 I am to him. 
 
 BER. But he is just 
 
 LAN. Most just, 
 
 So I accept his verdict as my due.
 
 SCENE I 
 
 LANVAL 1 1 
 
 BER. The Queen 
 
 LAN. Bernardo, if 1 cannot ask 
 
 Help of my friends, I am not like to come 
 
 To such a pass. For I am not so made 
 
 That I can bend my humour to the needs 
 
 Of Queen and courtiers. Ask my Queen for aid ? 
 
 Cry out for my worth as pedlars cry their wares, 
 
 And pledge my honour for another cast ? 
 
 That were too foul ! Suffice it, 1 have failed. 
 
 I do not charge injustice to the world, 
 
 Nor blame mankind for blindness that my deeds 
 
 Are out of sight. I can accept defeat, 
 
 And with some sorrow put my dreams away. 
 
 BER. My lord, this court is not o'erfilled with men, 
 But its defences are hewn out from it 
 As flakes of metal from old armour fall. 
 Saxon and Scot, the Picts and outland men 
 Lie ever restless on our boundaries. 
 Each day may bring the messengers of war 
 And set our standards in the field again, 
 So do not leave us. 
 
 LAN. It is time I went, 
 
 For I am landless, houseless, penniless. 
 
 BER. Go not, my lord. I have none else to speak 
 The southern tongue, or raise remembrances 
 Of Italy. 
 
 LAN. Come with me then, my friend. 
 
 BER. I am too old, and must endure my days 
 
 In these grey places. Death were easier there, 
 For he comes laughing with the sun and dust. 
 I wish I could. 
 
 LAN. I shall be glad to think
 
 12 LANVAL 
 
 ACT I 
 
 That one regrets my passing. Come my blade ! 
 
 Is it not finished ? 
 
 3 APP. It is here 
 
 LAN. And fits 
 
 Its scabbard truly. Lad, the work is good. 
 
 Would mine were so. Bernardo, then, farewell. 
 
 I go to test my fortune in new lands, 
 
 And fate may bring me to this realm again, 
 
 Or hold me far from it. 
 BER. Farewell, 
 
 My lord and friend. I would that I could go. 
 
 At least I'll speed thee. 
 
 (Exeunt Bernardo and Lanval) 
 
 (The apprentices continue working) 
 (Enter Gawain and Agravaine, Meliard and Astamor (Z,).) 
 
 GAW. Where's the armourer, boy? 
 
 3 APP. But now gone out. 
 
 GAW. He will return? 
 
 3 APP. At once. 
 
 GAW. Good ! Heed me not ! I know that ye are pressed. 
 
 (Gawain goes to the back of the stage?) 
 
 MEL. But, Agravaine, thou dost not hear my words ! 
 AGR. I have much else to think of, Meliard. 
 AST. I dreamt this night, pardie, 
 
 An elf queen should my leman be, 
 
 And lie beneath 
 
 AGR. Enough ! 
 
 AST. She were cold else. 
 
 (Agravaine moves away impatiently.)
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 13 
 
 See, Meliard, he cannot even bear 
 
 The little mention of a covering. 
 MEL. Behold his meditation and his frown, 
 
 Which now relaxes while he sweetly smiles 
 
 On vacancy. 
 AST. He only loves his thoughts 
 
 And smiles on them. But still I do him wrong. 
 MEL. How, Astamor? 
 AST. Why, did he love his thoughts 
 
 But half as much as he does love himself, 
 
 He would out-shock the poets. 
 MEL. We hate pride 
 
 Out of an envy, when we have no power 
 
 To humble it. 
 AST. But only the good will, 
 
 God send us some one for the noble task. 
 
 (Meliard and Astamor go aside.) 
 
 AGR. Think'st thou, Gawain, this guard is wide enough ? 
 GAW. I think it is. 
 AGR. And see this blazoning ! 
 
 'Twill not look ill on to-morrow's field ! 
 GAW. It's well enough. I trust it may be marked 
 
 Of all to-morrow. 
 AGR. Borne in such a cause 
 
 As I uphold. 
 
 GAW. And what is that ? 
 
 AGR. My own ! 
 
 It cannot fail. 
 
 GAW. Be not too confident. 
 
 AGR. Why, I am borne upon the central stream 
 
 Of Fortune's current. Brother, blame me not ; 
 
 There is a sweetness in the taste of power
 
 i 4 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 Beyond all savours. 
 GAW. Be gentler, Agra vain e, 
 
 This pride of bearing will not make thee loved. 
 AGR. Loved ! What care I for any man's regard ? 
 
 And for the rest this manner has its use. 
 
 (Enter Geraint and Owain (C).) 
 
 GER. Welcome, fair cousin 
 
 GAW. Welcome, too, Geraint, 
 
 Wilt break a lance to-morrow ? 
 GER. No, Gawain, 
 
 For I have other business in my hands, 
 
 And grow too old for these slight practices. 
 GAW. My brother there is anxious to advance 
 
 His name and honour. 
 GER. There are many here 
 
 Who'll not deny him the occasion. 
 GAW. True, 
 
 But he flies high. 
 GER. Let him be satisfied ; 
 
 But I'll not stay thee, for the time at least. 
 
 Ye choose your arms for this fair tournament, 
 
 Wherein, no doubt, ye both will do great deeds. 
 
 I will not hinder, (he turns away] Welcome, 
 Meliard 
 
 And Astamor. All's well with you, I hope! 
 AST. Well met, Geraint. We fare much the same 
 
 As we did ever. 
 GER. (aside) And are likely to, 
 
 Until the Judgment. (To Owain) Let us sit 
 and talk. (They sit down.} 
 
 Tell me the news. How goes it in the court ?
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 15 
 
 Ow. In these last months there's been a bitter waste 
 GER. What of? 
 
 Ow. Of breath. There's been more ditty- 
 
 making, sighing, 
 
 And yammering than I care to keep count of. 
 GER. Well, let them have their play at least. 
 Ow. Play ? All the babes that can carry a sword with- 
 out being crushed by the belt, or hit a swinging 
 shield with a practice-spear are bellowing and 
 challenging like bucks. They'd be better of 
 a little blood-letting. War's a fine chastener 
 of manners. 
 
 GER. You take no part? 
 
 Ow. God knows I Ve seen enough of war's true self, 
 
 To need no practice in its semblances. 
 
 Our strife is over for the time, it seems. 
 
 I keep my breath, for I have need of it 
 
 For other purpose than this foolishness. 
 GER. And so I think. Within the year, Owain, 
 
 This dalliance turns to raucous speech of strife. 
 Ow. So soon? 
 
 GER. Aye, sooner than we think. 
 
 Ow. The Saxons will not come for such a meal, 
 
 Having so tasted of our stuff 
 
 GER. Not come! 
 
 Why, I know well. No matter, let it pass 
 
 And tell me more. 
 Ow. This may please you, the Queen 
 
 Hath cast her favour on Sir Agravaine. 
 GER. I like him not. 
 Ow. Nor do the most of us. 
 
 He gained some honour in the Saxon war,
 
 1 6 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 And for that cause is by the Queen preferred, 
 
 And so by Arthur much advanced and loved. 
 GER. He irks my soul, for I have known him long, 
 
 And found his worth in no way equal to 
 
 His pride and scorn. 
 
 Ow. The queen doth favour him. 
 
 GER. And there are others who should have the power 
 
 To stay this braggart. 
 Ow. Who ? 
 
 GER. Lanval, for one. 
 
 Cador of Cornwall told me of his skill ; 
 
 And I have seen him deal as goodly strokes 
 
 As man could wish for. 
 Ow. How could we engage 
 
 Him in this passage ? 
 GER. Why, most easily. 
 
 But how is it Sir Lanval has not yet 
 
 Encountered him ? 
 Ow. He has not taken part 
 
 In joust or tournay since this court was held. 
 GER. Is he so backward ? 
 Ow. He may have cause to be. 
 
 At least I noted that amongst the hosts 
 
 Who got rewards and favours of the King, 
 
 He was not mentioned. 
 GER. Why ? Did not Cador, 
 
 With whom he served, advance his claim and due? 
 Ow. Maybe he did. Perhaps the King forgot, 
 
 Or else Cador. 
 GER. Perhaps 
 
 He had no Queen to plead for kindnesses. 
 
 1 am amazed ; but come, we'll alter it,
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 17 
 
 For this foul usage fits my cause too well 
 
 To let me miss it. (Geraint goes across to Gawain) 
 
 Ow. (aside) What a fiery fool ! 
 
 The devil take all those who have a mind 
 To cure injustice ; there'll be trouble here. 
 
 GER. Gawain ! 
 
 GAW. Good cousin ! 
 
 GER. I have a word for you. 
 
 (They talk apart.} 
 (Enter Bernardo, bearing a sheaf of blades.} 
 
 Ow. Blunt blades, Bernardo ? 
 
 BER. For the tournay, lord. 
 
 Ow. Best sharpen them. 
 
 BER. Why so, my lord ? 
 
 Ow. Why thus : 
 
 There are not enough Picts, Scots, Angles, Saxons, 
 or discontented folk in the kingdom for some of 
 us, so we must needs encourage carving amongst 
 our own friends. 
 GAW. 'Tis not our custom. 
 GER. A fair test, Gawain, 
 
 And for one seeking honour much encouragement. 
 
 Although inactive, I am glad I may 
 
 Do something now to lend reality 
 
 To the sped fashion of this mimic war. 
 
 I'll make a match. They say, Sir Agravaine, 
 
 That there is none who can withstand thy strength, 
 
 Or sleight of sword, amongst the younger knights. 
 AGR. Should fortune aid me, I believe I hold 
 
 As fair a chance upon to-morrow's field 
 
 As any man.
 
 1 8 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 GER. I marked thy confidence, 
 
 And such an air goes not with slender worth. 
 
 Now 'tis a passion with me to maintain 
 
 Fortunes unknown and beings indigent. 
 
 I am so hungry for the birth of power 
 
 That I must needs help all that's slight and young ; 
 
 Therefore I would, not doubting thy great 
 
 strength, 
 
 Make some slight wager that success doth fall 
 In other hands. 
 
 AGR. Do as thou wilt, Geraint, 
 
 But I must fear thy wager is ill found. 
 
 GER. Come then, I choose a knight of little name. 
 Hast thou a badge which he may challenge ? 
 
 AGR. No, 
 
 I bear no badge. 
 
 GER. 'Tis strange ! Hast thou no love 
 
 To be upholden ? 
 
 AGR. No, I bear no badge. 
 
 GER. What shall we hazard ? Stake our baronies, 
 
 All tracts and fiefs which have been our reward, 
 So shall the gainer be made rich indeed, 
 The loser whetted to renewed attempts. 
 
 AGR. Sir, the fair gifts the King has rendered me 
 For my attainments are not to be staked 
 In such a manner. 
 
 GER. They do sit you hard. 
 
 I'll give you odds upon my friend's behalf, 
 Trust all my fortunes to his skill. Thus I 
 Stake all the lordship I have gained in war, 
 The barren lands and castle-shadowed fields 
 Against thine arms ; thy horse and arms alone.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 19 
 
 AGR. Be it accepted. What paladin is this 
 
 I must encounter ? 
 GER. Lanval ! 
 
 AGR. No, Geraint, 
 
 I will not rob you. 'Tis too slight a task. 
 GER. Why, then, fulfil it ! Lanval is not here. 
 
 But if he proves not thine attainments false, 
 
 Then am I fool, and all mine estimates 
 
 Are straight degraded. 
 
 GAW. This is not right, Geraint. 
 
 GER. The match is mine, and I have staked my lands. 
 
 GAW. The greater folly 
 
 GER. Folly it may be. 
 
 But I stake these clean honours of the field 
 
 Against the favours of a gross intrigue. 
 
 Shall I be patient while true merit's checked, 
 
 And such a fashion strides unto success ? 
 GAW. You are too free, Geraint. 
 GER. I am no thrall, 
 
 Or a dependent, but the Prince of Devon. 
 
 This much I know, ye have used Lanval ill, 
 
 And I have justice at my side to aid 
 
 In his maintaining. 
 
 GAW. Let him prove himself. 
 
 GER. And that he shall. Bernardo, hast thou seen 
 
 Aught of Sir Lanval ? 
 
 BER. Sir Lanval is gone hence. 
 
 GER. Whither? 
 
 BER. He said he longed for Italy. 
 
 GER. He will return ? 
 BER. I know not. 
 
 AGR. I do know.
 
 20 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 He will return when this is overpast ; 
 
 I had not failed him if he wished to break 
 
 A lance with me. But he has never dared. 
 
 Therefore, Geraint, thy lands are forfeited 
 
 To my possession. 
 GER. Let that wager stand. 
 
 Be not too hungry for my lands, good sir. 
 
 I think this matter is more like to come 
 
 To bitter ending than ye dream of now. 
 
 1 think I heard ye say Sir Lanval feared ? 
 AGR. I said he feared, and I will stand by it. 
 GER. Witness, ye knights, a charge of cowardice, 
 
 A slur on honour, which must be redeemed 
 
 In the closed field. Am I not right, Gawain? 
 GAW. I fear it is so. 
 AGR. I am well prepared 
 
 To answer for it if, Sir Lanval dare ! 
 GER. Lanval is gone. I follow him at once. 
 Ow. (At the window) Too late, Geraint ; he passes even 
 now 
 
 Into the forest. 
 
 GER. By which path ? 
 
 Ow. He rides 
 
 Into the evening. 
 GER. I will follow him, 
 
 And though I rake the whole wide earth about, 
 
 I will not fail to bring him here again, 
 
 When I return ; then guard you, Agravaine. 
 
 Exit and Curtain.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 21 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A glade in the forest. Rocks, and a few huge, knotted trees. Late twilight. 
 Two charcoal-burners and a girl. 
 
 1 C.B. Come, man, let's be getting home. 
 
 2 C.B. Why, since we're free of the forest, let's make the 
 
 most of it. 
 GIRL. It's getting dark. 
 
 1 C.B. Aye, so it is. Come on, man. We've gone far 
 
 to-day : it's long since we dared come out here. 
 
 2 C.B. Oh, I'll come. An I were not so feared, I'd laugh at 
 
 it. First we daren't come out. Now we're feared 
 of staying, and none too happy about going back. 
 
 1 C.B. It's well the King and his knights have cleared the 
 
 forest ; we've less to fear now. 
 
 2 C.B. Help me, girl. Well, I like knights less when 
 
 they're doing well than when they're hard put 
 to it. 
 
 1 C.B. Why so? 
 
 2 C.B. Why, when they're pressed they've trouble enough 
 
 to fend for themselves, and they let us bide 
 quiet ; but when they're quiet and comfortable, 
 we're best clear of them. 
 
 1 C.B. Let's away. 
 
 2 C.B. I'm with you. There are too many odd qualms 
 
 in this valley for my liking. 
 
 1 C.B. Come on, then. Why, who's here? A knight. 
 
 2 C.B. More like some robber. Would we were well 
 
 home< (Enter Lanval (C).) 
 
 LAN. Good, these should know. Come hither, my good 
 folk.
 
 22 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 Know ye these paths ? 
 
 1 C.B. Nay, I do not. 
 
 2 C.B. Nor I. 
 LAN. Come, answer me, these thickets are your home, 
 
 And ye must know them, 
 i C.B. But, good sir, we came 
 
 Thus far by chance. We know the certain path 
 
 To Carduel. 
 LAN. But I would travel south. 
 
 1 C.B. South, you where's south ? 
 
 2 C.B. Why, anywhere but here. 
 LAN. What ails your speech, and why this trembling, 
 
 man? 
 
 I shall not hurt you. 
 i C.B. It grows over late ; 
 
 The sun 's near down. 
 LAN. I see you fear. Thou, girl, 
 
 Knowest thou the roads that lead beyond this 
 
 place ? 
 GIRL. Truly, my lord, I dare not overstep 
 
 These certain limits. 
 
 LAN. Is this truth? 
 
 GIRL. My lord. 
 LAN. Fear not, I shall not do you harm ! 
 
 Here will I rest, since I must have the day 
 
 To light my passage, 
 i C.B. We may go ? 
 
 LAN. Why not ? 
 
 God speed you. 
 (The 2nd Charcoal Burner offers to speak to Lanval.) 
 
 1 C.B. Fool, come on ! 
 
 2 C.B. He should be told.
 
 SCENE II 
 
 LANVAL 23 
 
 LAN. Stay, though, I need a service of you yet; 
 
 Light me a fire, for I'll sleep here to-night, 
 i C.B. We will, my lord. Stay, girl, and make a fire. 
 LAN. Not so, my friends, stay ye and make it. 
 i C.B. Night 
 
 Is hard upon us. (They make afire.} 
 
 LAN. Ye shall go full soon. 
 
 Tell me, what fear ye ? 
 
 1 C.B. My father near this place 
 
 Met with the death-dogs hunting ! 
 LAN. Oh, I know 
 
 That tale ! 
 
 2 C.B. But more, good sir, I know this vale too 
 
 well. 
 
 This wood is full of shadows, and the night 
 Goes not from it, but lurks the livelong day 
 In its deep places. One is followed marked 
 By a strange fear that waits for the night hours. 
 What was that sound ? 
 
 LAN. Nothing, my good soul. 
 
 Ye that do fear the length of all your days, 
 Find doubt at dawn, half courage in the day, 
 Terror at twilight. What the night can bring 
 Of added tremors I may not conceive. 
 
 2 C.B. My lord, the shadows are not still, but move. 
 The air is quiet. All should be quite still. 
 And yet this glade is pregnant with a sound, 
 And silent movement in the silence hangs. 
 The fire is made. 
 
 LAN. Then go, good fools farewell! 
 
 Why go ye not ? 
 
 2 C.B. My lord,
 
 24 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 LAN. Well ? 
 
 2 C.B. Speak ! 
 
 1 C.B. Nay, do thou speak. 
 LAN. (throwing them some money] 
 
 See, here is the reward 
 
 2 C.B. It was not that. 
 
 LAN. What then ? 
 
 GIRL. Oh, my lord, 
 
 Certain fair knights have wandered to this glade, 
 
 Seeking the fear that ever haunted it. 
 
 This hungry forest hath consumed their lives ; 
 
 No man has seen them, nor has any heard 
 
 Aught of their end at any time again. 
 
 Sweet sir, return, for to remain is 
 
 LAN. What? 
 
 2 C.B. 'Tis death, my lord. 
 
 LAN. Why, then, 'tis death. 
 
 The night is here. Go, ye good fearful things, 
 Lest your own fear play havoc with your lives. 
 Silence ! Enough ! I'll have no more of this. 
 
 (Exeunt charcoal-burners.) 
 Poor souls, they wander in a fitful dream ; 
 Born in the shadow, nurtured like the stuff 
 That grows so rank between the stagnant moat 
 And savage wall. The usage of their days 
 Is but a hope that they shall pass unmarked. 
 Unnoticed birth, unhindered life, and thence 
 Unhampered passage to a state unknown. 
 Existence cramped beneath the wings of fear ! 
 Poor souls, my sorrow is not half of theirs, 
 And yet suffices. (Lies down.) Sleep. Did I desire 
 To wish them well, I think to sleep is best,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 25 
 
 Since 'tis denied them to attain great ends. 
 
 (The stage grows dark and the fire burns low. 
 Presently a figure comes from the background 
 and begins to tend the fire. Lanval half 
 awakes.} 
 
 LAN. Returned so soon ? 
 
 TRI. The fire burnt low, my lord. 
 
 LAN. Dost thou not fear ? 
 
 TRI. I shall not fear here. 
 
 LAN. Thou needst not, girl, (dreamily] It's true more 
 
 danger lives 
 
 Amongst mankind than in the open woods. 
 The twisted branches that enframe the stars 
 Are not as tangled as men's motives are. 
 The fiercest shadows that can haunt a glade, 
 The forms of terror that infest bleak hills, 
 Are not as savage, nor as dangerous, 
 As fretful moods in passionate wild souls. 
 All nature's constant save in idle man. 
 Night is so sweet that I can wonder now, 
 As must the spirits who look down on us ; 
 We fret and trouble, spur our willing souls, 
 And yet see life outpace our earnest quest. 
 Why not be gentle, and say just good-night, 
 Sleep well, my dreams, sleep well, mine enterprise ; 
 To-morrow well, to-morrow. Tell me, child, 
 Why did thy comrades fear this place so much. 
 
 TRI. My lord, at times a phantom uses this 
 
 As her abode. She has the power to suck 
 The life and essence from all things she meets, 
 To creep about the heart of men with words
 
 26 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 And dim illusions, till her manner draws 
 The soul from them, as all blood-feeding beasts, 
 Once fixed, drain forth their poor drugged victim's 
 life. 
 
 LAN. What more ? 
 
 TRI. The power that in the darkness lives 
 
 Impalpable, is hers to lose or hold. 
 The mysteries that on all being brood, 
 Are hers to open. In the mists of night 
 She sits embowered, and strange thoughts surround 
 Her habitation. For her service wait 
 Wild visions ready, and fantastic dreams, 
 To make the circuit of the sleeping world, 
 And breathe their formless and suggestive speech 
 To souls that slumber. 
 
 LAN. (Seizing a brand from the fire) 
 
 No charcoal-burner this. 
 The form itself! But, God, how fair it is 
 Is this enchantment, or does mystery 
 In silence whispered, so infect my mind 
 That I see phantoms ? 
 
 TRI. Lanval. 
 
 LAN. Hast my name ? 
 
 Why, then, my soul has left its fleshly shape, 
 And stands to mock me. 
 
 TRI. Have no fear. 
 
 LAN. Not I ! 
 
 If thou be flesh, and of defiant sort, 
 A blade can test thee. If thou art not that, 
 But mere refraction of disordered thought, 
 Thou canst not harm me. 
 
 TRI. Nay, I shall not harm
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 27 
 
 Aught of thy being. Come, touch me if thou wilt ; 
 No need of steel, for that will hurt me not. 
 
 LAN. (coming near) So, 'tis the stuff, the substance of 
 
 this world, 
 
 And no slight spirit, vaporous form of dreams, 
 Born of the moonbeams and the mist of lakes, 
 Clasped in the woodlands. Thou didst speak my 
 
 name 
 I know thee not ! 
 
 TRI. But I do know thee well, 
 
 For I am flesh or spirit as I please, 
 For some incarnate in this woman's shape, 
 For some the fear and terror of deep glades, 
 For some the flame invisible that drifts 
 Out of the night, that fires the soul of men 
 To seek the strangeness of all wild desire. 
 
 LAN. They say the devil takes such shapes as this, 
 
 When he would tempt the constancy of knights ! 
 
 TRI. Nay, fear me not. 
 
 LAN. Nay, I fear not, but doubt 
 
 Why thou hast come to trouble me. 
 
 TRI. Do I 
 
 So trouble thee ? I come but from my place 
 To taste the fever of this sickly earth, 
 And also 
 
 LAN. Also ? 
 
 TRI. I have come too close 
 
 Unto this world. My being has been snared 
 Into its uses. 
 
 LAN. What meanest thou ? 
 
 TRI. Is there need 
 
 To ask of me ? Nay, Lanval, I have come
 
 28 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 Out of the quiet of the middle world 
 
 To plead with thee, I, Triamour, 
 
 One of the daughters of the middle world. 
 LAN. Let me hold fast my senses, for they reel ; 
 
 I know this world ! 
 TRI. There is a world as well, 
 
 That lies so close unto your being's self, 
 
 Is so entwined amid your secret thoughts, 
 
 That its existence is not known of you. 
 
 This is the vapour that doth shelter man 
 
 Lest he be scorched by the fierce heat of truth. 
 LAN. How may this be ? 
 TRI. Speak not of it, but say 
 
 I came not vainly ! 
 
 LAN. How shall I believe? 
 
 TRI. That I do love thee ? Look into mine eyes, 
 
 And say if malice or deception lie 
 
 In ambush there ! 
 
 LAN. I dare not. 
 
 TRI. Am I then 
 
 Not fair enough ? 
 LAN. So wonderful and strange ! 
 
 I dare not let my straining ears take hold 
 
 Upon thy speech. 
 
 TRI. Thou wilt not hear me ? 
 
 LAN. No ; 
 
 For such a beauty is too dangerous 
 
 For mortal feeling. 
 TRI. I am shamed. Unkind 
 
 Thou art and cruel. (She moves away.) 
 
 LAN. Can I endure it so, 
 
 Or will my lips enforced cry the words
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 29 
 
 My soul compels them ! I have but my soul 
 To stake on it. Stay, Triamour ! 
 
 TRI. Farewell ! 
 
 My own state waits me. 
 
 LAN. May I not attain 
 
 Unto that world ? 
 
 TRI. But by mine aid alone ; 
 
 And since no pleasure or sweet feeling comes 
 Of this my presence, let us be apart. 
 
 LAN. Stay but a moment. 
 
 TRI. We shall meet no more 
 
 At any time ! 
 
 LAN. Nay, be thou merciful. 
 
 Forgive my failing. 'Twas my craven soul 
 That shrank in doubt from this dread novelty, 
 But for a time. The fashion of my fear 
 Was more amazement than true dread. So swift, 
 So strange was thy sweet coming that my mind, 
 But half awoken from fantastic thoughts, 
 Lost mastery upon itself. But now 
 My fear is swung to terror of long days 
 Without thy presence. 
 
 TRI. This is no constancy, 
 
 To spurn me first and then implore mine aid. 
 Have care, Sir Lanval, this is no slight quest ; 
 And slender souls that are not steeled of love, 
 May fail their entry and be ever lost 
 In the cold void that lies about these gates. 
 Art thou my knight, sworn to my services ? 
 
 LAN. Let me be so, though I had never thought 
 To do love-service. 1 will pledge my soul 
 Unto thy being.
 
 30 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 TRI. Bear witness to it, dreams, 
 
 All evil hauntings that infest the air ! 
 Now shall remorse and foul disaster watch, 
 And blasting visions hang upon thy course. 
 See that thou fail not. 
 
 LAN. On my soul be it ! 
 
 TRI. Look on the world, for it may be henceforth 
 Thou shalt not see it. Bid the earth farewell 
 And all its usage. 
 
 LAN. I'll not mourn for it. 
 
 Sour and displeasing it has been to me, 
 Unfriends of mine most of its habitants, 
 And I can leave it with no pain at heart. 
 
 TRI. Ours is a better and a stranger world, 
 
 Its gates swing open in the darkling hours 
 Upon the path of perfumes of the night. 
 Harken, ye wardens of the middle world, 
 Spirits of flame that stand at this world's edge 
 A soul would enter ! Let me touch thine eyes 
 And put the fabric of this world away, 
 A time-worn garment to be cast aside 
 On such a moment. Come, it is the hour ! 
 
 (As she touches his eyes there is darkness and con- 
 fusion. A rush of wild music. The stage 
 remains dark for some moments^ then gradually 
 lightens^ but remains darker than before. 
 Triamour and Lanval have vanished. A 
 horn is heard in the distance^ then again 
 nearer?)
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 31 
 
 (Enter Geraint and Gyfert, the latter dragging one of the 
 charcoal-burners ; with them one or two men-at-arms, 
 with torches.} 
 
 GYF. Was 't here, fellow ? 
 C.B. Aye, for sure, 
 
 We left him here. 
 GER. 'Tis a wild spot, fit for unholy deeds. 
 
 Question him, Gyfert. 
 
 GYF. Aye, my lord. If we but find the track of him, 
 I'll lay this dog's nose to it, and if he follow 
 the line untruly, we have rope and trees. 
 C.B. Spare me, my lord. Indeed, we left him here ; 
 
 He bade us leave him. 
 GYF. Here's a fire, my lord, 
 
 And warm as yet. 
 GER. He cannot then be far. 
 
 A plague of this darkness. Bring the torches by. 
 GYF. Now for a cast ! Speak to it truly, my ill-favoured 
 
 brachet. Give tongue, fellow ! 
 C.B. Truly, my lord, we made this fire for him, 
 
 And then, being fearful, for he seemed distraught, 
 
 Prayed him return. He bade us leave him here. 
 GYF. His cloak ! 
 GER. Unmarked? 
 
 GYF. Save of the soil, my lord. 
 
 GER. He may have wandered. Curse this night and 
 
 gloom. 
 
 GYF. It grows the wilder for the touch of dawn. 
 GER. What fit of madness made him choose this place 
 
 To rest him in ? 
 GYF. This fellow saith it holds 
 
 An evil name.
 
 32 LANVAL ACT i 
 
 GER. Most like, the while he's in it ! 
 
 Where are his tracks ? 
 
 GYF. Confusion, 'tis too hard 
 
 In this ill light ! 
 
 GER. We'll try by day. (to man-at-arms) Go, thou, 
 
 And bid them bring the horses and our gear, 
 The while we find some spot more fit to use 
 For our encampment. Listen, fellow, now 
 If we find not this knight alive and well 
 Upon the morrow, 'twill go hard with thee. 
 
 C.B. The evil spirit that doth haunt this glade 
 Hath taken him ! 
 
 GER. What tale is this ? 
 
 C.B. My lord, 
 
 It is well known this place is dangerous, 
 A valley favoured by the dogs of hell ! 
 
 GER. Well, well ! You're likel/ to know more of hell 
 Unless we find him ! 
 
 GYF. 'Tis a gallows face ! 
 
 Here's a good branch. 
 
 C.B. Oh, no, my lord. 
 
 GER. Enough. 
 
 Less noise, fool. Gyfert ! come, we'll on ; 
 Bring him away ; the moon is overcast. 
 
 GYF. If it were not, this dog would howl to it. 
 
 (Exeunt.) 
 
 Curtain.
 
 ACT II. SCENE I. 
 
 Three months elapse between Acts I. and II. 
 THE MIDDLE WORLD. 
 
 Lanval is sleeping. Triamour rises and watches certain 
 shadows passing across the stage. A low sound of horns 
 goes with them. 
 
 TRI. Go! Speed you, shadows ! Come not near to us, 
 
 For we are ringed with virtues, and your ends 
 
 Call not to them. Sweet dusk of dreams be close, 
 
 Let no red thinking thread our pleasant hours 
 
 With strands of riot. 
 LAN. Triamour. 
 
 TRI. (turning to him} Be still ; 
 
 The clouds are passing. 
 LAN. Aye, it seems to me 
 
 The light has changed. 
 TRI. Is there a difference 
 
 Already ? 
 LAN. Surely this harsh colouring 
 
 Fashions a change from the grey, silvered state 
 
 Wherein I entered! 
 TRI. Has it changed my face? 
 
 Or form ? 
 LAN. I thought you once a wondrous flower, 
 
 White in the darkness of moon-mocking woods ; 
 
 But now the flush of suns unknown to me 
 
 Has made you strange.
 
 34 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 TRI. Think not of it. This state 
 
 Is flamed and tinctured by the mind of man, 
 Who sees it not. Gross motion makes us storms, 
 Blue, hanging thunder and swart shadowing : 
 And gentle peace breeds us a gentler moon. 
 We have our nights when reeling man goes down 
 To savagery : then from the striving birth 
 Comes amber dawn. 
 
 LAN. But now the skies are filled 
 
 With bronze and golden harness, like the breasts 
 Of kings in war. 
 
 TRI. A sun is setting now. 
 
 Man has his seasons as the natural earth, 
 High-hearted springs, calm, open summer times, 
 Wherein he weaves his kingdoms and his thoughts, 
 And hopeless autumn, when his fabrics fall 
 Before the onset of the wolfish winds. 
 Then shrinking days die out in such a glare 
 As we can see. 
 
 LAN. We watch an autumn, then ? 
 
 TRI. Rome was its summer. These reflected fires 
 Foretell a winter. 
 
 LAN. And we watch ? 
 
 TRI. In peace 
 
 We '11 mark the season of man's brute despair, 
 And see its beauty. From the tumbled shreds 
 And rotting squalor of enfeebled years, 
 We'll patiently await the wondrous birth 
 Of a new spring. 
 
 LAN. I cannot understand. 
 
 What is this place ? 
 
 TRI. This is the quiet land :
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 35 
 
 The ever-restful pleasaunce of sweet ghosts, 
 
 The lawn and arbour of the gentle folk, 
 
 It needs no knowledge. 
 LAN. Wherefore ? 
 
 TRI. Here all space 
 
 Is but a dream ; all life a vision ; time, 
 
 A thing unknown. 
 
 LAN. How can I think of it ? 
 
 TRI. Here thought needs not expression for its use, 
 
 And souls rend not their substance in the war 
 
 They wage with silence, but exist in peace. 
 
 Here sleep the old ambitions and lost loves, 
 
 And from the wrack of lives in anguish spent, 
 
 Souls spring like flowers ; for here is nothing gross, 
 
 The very essence and material 
 
 Of this existence are in phantasies. 
 
 For there is nothing coarser than a dream 
 
 In all the regions of the middle world. 
 LAN. But I have flesh and garb of man. 
 TRI. In such a shape I chose thee from the world. 
 
 I would not change it. 
 LAN. Were I worthier 
 
 I should not be ashamed. 
 TRI. Am I so much 
 
 That I am feared ? 
 LAN. All exaltation 's here, 
 
 Vision, whose fashion is nobility, 
 
 Purged splendour of a sloven world, 
 
 Why hast thou brought me to the place of gods ? 
 
 I am but man. 
 TRI. O love of mine, be still. 
 
 Man grows from man : in time from man shall grow
 
 36 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 The gods again. Meantime, is there a state 
 Of greater pleasure and content contrived 
 In the dull broodings of the fettered earth 
 Than this we look on? 
 
 LAN. It is fair indeed. 
 
 TRI. Here, like the gods, shall we immortal watch 
 Eternal change : see the free spirits stride 
 To vaster issues, and conception breed 
 Fairness on fairness ; we shall view the souls 
 Who rest in patience rising like the mists 
 When as God's trumpets cry the call to life. 
 Will you not thank me ? I have striven much 
 To do thy pleasure. 
 
 LAN. I am sick at heart. 
 
 TRI. Why so ? 
 
 LAN. Thy sweetness is so much to me 
 That I am withered in my impotence. 
 I cannot match thee. Had I been a man 
 As I am not 
 
 TRI. Nay Lanval 
 
 LAN. Hear me out. 
 
 Had I been something, something even slight, 
 
 One that great nature sets apart and fits 
 
 To certain purpose, I were not ashamed. 
 
 But I 'm a callow 'prentice unto life 
 
 As yet, a clumsy handler of my soul, 
 
 Lacking the gifts of knowledge, strength and age. 
 
 Dearest, canst thou believe me faithful and yet 
 
 know 
 
 I hold thy love to be but patronage ? 
 Affection squandered on a thing unproved 
 
 TRI. And my poor judgment is it nothing worth?
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 37 
 
 I, who have tested, tricked and played with man, 
 Have I no wisdom ? 
 
 LAN. Thou art overwise. 
 
 TRI. And yet I drew thee from a million shapes 
 And forms of being. I am satisfied. 
 
 LAN. But I am not. I have myself to please 
 The hardest master of censorious thoughts 
 That one could wish for. 
 
 TRI. Dost thou not serve me 
 
 And my commandments ? 
 
 LAN. In all faith. 
 
 TRI. Why then 
 
 Misdoubt my judgment? 
 
 LAN. I have kept my pride. 
 
 I'll be no peasant spying on the gods, 
 No tranced servant of a common lust, 
 But a clean being from all bondage free, 
 From crippling custom and base prejudice, 
 Wherein the folly of the world is held. 
 I cannot love thee ; as a thing of us, 
 The mere companion of the films of earth, 
 I worship thine existence, and will stand 
 Equal or nothing. 
 
 TRI. Here's a flame indeed, 
 
 For one who lately did abjure the world, 
 I think, for me ! 
 
 LAN. God help me! I forswear 
 
 My recent oaths. I have not only loved, 
 But set my being to a hopeless end, 
 Namely, to match what I have not deserved, 
 And force my substance to strange attributes. 
 
 TRI. Tired so soon ? Do I then weary thee ?
 
 38 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 It is my presence brings this restlessness. 
 Well, I'll be kindly, and for remedy 
 Of this distraction leave you to yourself. 
 
 LAN. Nay, Triamour. You take my words amiss. 
 
 TRI. Thou dost not love me. 
 
 LAN. How can I do more 
 
 Than swear myself unto thy services ? 
 Would hotter words prove greater faith in me ? 
 If protestation's measure of one's truth, 
 I am o'erthrown. The stumbling syllables 
 Which I can utter mock what I can feel ; 
 But yet believe me. 
 
 TRI. So I will. Be frank. 
 
 What troubles thee ? 
 
 LAN. Thought, only thought. 
 
 TRI. Have the cold phantoms of the foolish world 
 
 Still hold on thee ? Come ! these are but the pangs 
 And fearful wonder of strange happenings. 
 Soon thou shalt slough the vesture of thy form 
 As doth the snake in spring. Such little things 
 Are wrapped like rags about all little souls, 
 That the vile texture of their garment makes 
 Beggars of men. But we'll be free of this, 
 And in affection watch while circling years 
 Drift like the vultures. Empires are to us 
 But huge flushed clouds, and manners but the 
 
 change 
 
 From sleet to sunlight. Here is happiness, 
 And peace, untinctured of perverted thoughts 
 That bring contrition. 
 
 LAN. Watch, always to watch ! 
 
 I want no freedom, yet I would be free.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 39 
 
 I have an envy of this god-like state, 
 And am not of it. 
 
 TRI. I will bring to thee 
 
 Spirits of every fashion, and strange souls 
 In whose communion discontent shall die, 
 Since lam not enough. 
 
 LAN. Nay, Triamour, 
 
 I would not others. 
 
 TRI. Lanval, tell me, then,. 
 
 What is this sickness? 
 
 LAN. Give me a little time. 
 
 My withered hopes have had no space to fall, 
 But hang about me as the crisped leaves 
 In mournful autumn. It is hard to tell 
 But I do love thee ; and affection should, 
 Like the grim father of the early gods, 
 Swallow all other offspring of the mind. 
 Yet it does not. For in this place of dreams 
 A dream has trapped me. Ay, I am forsworn. 
 I, who should have no glamour but thine eyes ; 
 I, who should hear no music but thy words, 
 Heed other motions. 
 
 TRI. What is this ? 
 
 LAN. The while 
 
 I was half sleeping, there was borne to me 
 A faint far clamour, like the distant call 
 Of hunters in the forest, and I saw 
 Long, lordly lines of very noble forms 
 Passing beyond me ; then my pleasure passed, 
 Our dalliance was forgotten, and I heard, 
 In place of our sweet music, the foul clang 
 Of brass in action, and the dance of steel
 
 40 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 On shields opponent, and into my ears 
 
 Stole the sweet thunder of a thousand hooves, 
 
 The hissing of the arrows, and the shrill 
 
 Keen note of the wind-cutting spears. Again 
 
 I saw the light on lance-heads in the dawn ; 
 
 Long legions creeping from the morning mists ; 
 
 The death-haze standing on embattled ranks; 
 
 The shaft of sunset on the armoured slain, 
 
 And breathless victors leaning on red swords. 
 
 There is no music like the tread of hosts, 
 
 Nor any glamour that can match the sight 
 
 Of set battalions meeting in the field. 
 
 I have confessed, (a pause] So silent! Is my 
 
 fault 
 Beyond forgiveness ? 
 
 TRI. Listen, there's no fault 
 
 In anything except in ignorance. 
 The fault was mine. Nay, hear me; thou hast 
 
 heard 
 
 The horns of action, and beheld the souls 
 That God has fettered. 
 
 LAN. What are they? 
 
 TRI. Such souls 
 
 As have been clasped too firm in earthly bonds ; 
 Strange lives that sprang in unauspicious days, 
 And being baulked of their short-lived desire, 
 Do restless surge against their impotence. 
 They scorn the favour of this subtle world ; 
 Death quenched their fire and not experience, 
 And so encircled of their own dead aims, 
 They wander waiting for new times to dawn. 
 
 LAN. What's this to me ?
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 41 
 
 TRI. The call of life ; for none 
 
 Can feel this presence who is not enforced 
 To like attainment. 
 
 LAN. Am I called to them ? 
 
 TRI. Aye! mine's the fault! I took a shallow grief, 
 A sulking sorrow, for full man's despair ; 
 Baulked vanity, for clean disheartened pride ; 
 And a child hindered, for a tortured soul. 
 
 LAN. If I am slight it's not from lack of will, 
 
 Nor have I boasted my poor strength to be 
 More than it is. If I have shamed your choice, 
 Blame not my poverty. 
 
 TRI. I blame thee not, 
 
 Naught but myself. Now, Lanval, arm and go ! 
 Go hence ! The impulse of thy life is strong ; 
 Go out from fairness, peace, and gentle love, 
 Into the clouded passion of the earth ; 
 The sombre struggle of fate-ridden hours, 
 The grey injustice and the thousand shapes, 
 Wherein the brute shows like a beggar wrapped 
 In rags of soul. 
 
 LAN. But, Triamour ! 
 
 TRI Go now, 
 
 And swiftly. (She turns away.} 
 
 LAN. (Arms himself slowly.} Surely I have much to learn. 
 I was led hither for some mockery, 
 But it was needless. For on earth the skies 
 Cry scorn on all ; the very heedless stars 
 Look down on us, as some cold audience 
 Might watch the striving and the end of man. 
 One can bear all when there is no escape. 
 
 (He buckles on his belt.}
 
 42 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 'Twas not ill thought to tempt me with a dream, 
 And add relation to one's misery, 
 
 (half drawing his sword} 
 For here's a mistress that at least will hurt 
 More than myself. (Triamour turns to him.) 
 
 TRI. Wilt thou not understand ? 
 
 Can I, a daughter of the middle world, 
 Brook rivalry ? Nay, I am not for one 
 Who has not found the saltness of desire ; 
 But for a being who has much endured, 
 Has rent the garment of his vanity, 
 Made ashes of ambition, and come free 
 Of common striving. But I blame thee not. 
 Go to the world, and I will watch on thee, 
 And bring thee honour and accomplishment, 
 With this condition, that thou speak no word 
 Of me or of our meeting. Swear to me 
 Thou wilt remember. 
 
 (The shadows are seen again at the back of the 
 stage.) 
 
 LAN. God give strength to me, 
 
 The pledge I gave of my whole self endures. 
 Drive me not forth ! 
 
 TRI. See how they envy thee, 
 
 Whom thou hast envied. Nay, it must be so ; 
 None live within this strange environment 
 But those whose purpose serves some single end, 
 Whose souls acknowledge some plain mastery. 
 
 (The stage grows dark.) 
 
 LAN. The constant dusk is deepening into night ; 
 Give me thy hand, I can no longer see, 
 These mysteries are faint.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 43 
 
 TRI. Remember this, 
 
 Our meeting is more sacred than belief, 
 And evil fortune will attend the day 
 Thou speakest of it. 
 
 LAN. I'll remember. God ! 
 
 What is this gloom? 
 
 TRI. The sullen grasp of earth. 
 
 (The stage darkens until only Triamour is 
 
 visible.) 
 
 Pass now and swiftly, for my heart is wrung. 
 If Powers may hear me, let thy ways be fair! 
 Swart phantoms, clad in habit of cold pride, 
 Who drive men's souls relentless to dark ends, 
 How strange are ye ! Out of accomplishment 
 Can come but grief, out of endeavour pain. 
 Closed be these gates. Earth comes to earth again. 
 
 (Darkness. The scene changes to the Forest.) 
 
 SCENE II. 
 THE FOREST. (DAWN.) 
 
 Geraint is sitting moodily over a dying fire, the men-at-arms 
 are asleep behind him. Only Gyfert is awake. 
 
 GER. (to himself) A foul quest this. The world moves 
 
 on apace. 
 
 I sicken for the west, and the clean winds ; 
 These forests cramp the soul with silences.
 
 44 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 God, for an empty brown stone-studded space, 
 
 And the faint seas beyond. Gyfert ! 
 GYF. My lord. 
 
 GER. We'll turn again. We cannot find him here, 
 
 And there are doings in the world to-day 
 
 Which claim attention. 
 
 GYF. We shall find him yet. 
 
 GER. No doubt. His bones, a cap of steel, some links 
 
 Of rusted mail, and rotting leather shreds, 
 
 Foul with decay. Well ! if that is the end 
 
 Of my endeavour, I'll not waste my days 
 
 In finding it. 
 
 GYF. And leave it so ? 
 
 GER. How else ? 
 
 I am not glad to prove myself a fool, 
 
 A butt for fools of my own sort. Enough ; 
 
 I'll never trust my judgment of a man 
 
 Before my sense again. Rouse up 
 
 These laggards. 
 GYF. (pointing to ist charcoal-burner} 
 
 Prince, what shall we do with this? 
 GER. He came near hanging : without cause, I think ; 
 
 Give him my purse and our protection hence, 
 
 And if his absence has endangered him 
 
 With his liege lord, our warrant for his cause. 
 
 Rouse them. 
 GYF. Up, Beric ! up, ye sweltering dogs ! 
 
 Up, you ! 
 
 i C.B. My lord, an evil spirit 
 
 GYF. (throwing him a purse} Take 
 
 That dose to cure it. 
 i C.B. Good, my lord.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 45 
 
 GER. No thanks 
 
 For such bare justice. I did never think 
 To much believe you, but your talk of ghosts 
 And bitter phantoms has persuaded me 
 Enough to leave the forest. 
 
 (A horn in the distance.} 
 Why, a call ! 
 Answer them, Beric, if they sound again. 
 
 (A horn, closer.} 
 
 Sound, man ! (The man-at-arms sounds a call.} 
 
 Stand fast, we know not who they are. 
 Loosen your blades. 
 
 (Astamor and the ist charcoal-burner appear (C)} 
 
 2 C.B. Here, sir, they be 
 
 AST. Geraint ? 
 
 GER. Astamor, is it ? 
 
 AST. Surely. 
 
 GER. Then well met, 
 
 Sir Astamor. 
 AST. Well met, Geraint, I come 
 
 Hot-foot to bring you summons to our war. 
 GER. War? 
 AST. Aye, and no small one, in the pagan term. 
 
 The fire is up. The northmen have come down, 
 
 And the red Gaul from westward. Work's to 
 hand. 
 
 You have not found him? 
 GER. No, nor shall I find 
 
 Aught but the knowledge I was fool to seek. 
 AST. I hoped to hear some better news than this. 
 GER. It's pitiful. Three months of wasted search
 
 46 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 Prowling in thickets, wandering in groves, 
 Hampered by fools, who blubber and protest 
 That phantoms, vampires, ghosts, and all the brood 
 Of silly spirits haunt this miry wood. 
 
 AST. I can believe them. 
 
 GER. I am willing to, 
 
 Sobeit I get clear of this curst place, 
 All mud and thorn. I tell you, Astamor, 
 I dream of trees, long, endless, endless lines 
 Of bleached foul trunks, and hills so cloaked in 
 
 leaves 
 
 They have no shape : but tell me, Astamor, 
 How came this war ? 
 
 AST. In old and usual wise, 
 
 A messenger from some far fort besieged, 
 A rumour spreading from the common folk, 
 And then appeals, reports, and fearsome signs. 
 Then at the last plain statement of the case, 
 Two towers have fallen on the Clyde, the Gaul 
 Comes inward from the west, is helped 
 By the winged northmen. 
 
 GER. Is it so ! How far 
 
 Have they pressed on? 
 
 AST. I know not. They say 
 
 Caer Rhiddock 's ta'en. 
 
 GER. Then we can waste no time. 
 
 Gyfert, our harness ! Bid them saddle up 
 And tend our horses. We have far to ride. 
 My horse and arms ! 
 
 (Confusion and hurry. Gyfert proceeds to arm 
 Geraint while he talks to Astamor.) 
 
 AST. How is it, Geraint,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 47 
 
 Lanval has 'scaped you ? 
 
 GER. That I cannot tell. 
 
 He has not taken ship, that much I know ; 
 I found his cloak and campment : then the gods, 
 The fairies or the devils must have seized 
 Upon his body. 
 
 AST. You give him good scope. 
 
 GER. I swore I'd rax the whole wide earth for him. 
 
 Well ! circumstance has made me break my pledge. 
 
 The state a man is born to sets about 
 
 His life like iron. He may wish and swear 
 
 His hours to service of his own desires ; 
 
 But circumstance, position, and the rest 
 
 Of the vain follies of the world rise up 
 
 And sometime baulk him. I accept this war 
 
 As recreation, but I shall come back 
 
 To this pursuit. 
 
 AST. Too much persistency 
 
 To spend on such an object. 
 
 GER. (aside to Gyfert) Closer still ; 
 
 The buckle's slack: Well, I am not so sure 
 Of its unworth. I do not stake my lands 
 Without some faith : and 1 still hold myself 
 As shrewd a judge of men as any. Let it be ! 
 God sparing me, I'll prove my estimates. 
 
 (The two charcoal-burners wander off.} 
 Meanwhile, I lose enough to whet my taste 
 For further effort. Are your horses near ? 
 
 AST. Not far. No doubt some of these sullen dogs 
 Did murder him. 
 
 GER. I thought of hanging them 
 
 For that suspicion. But they're innocent ;
 
 48 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 I 'm sure of it. 
 
 AST. Well, if you think so 
 
 GER. Come ! 
 
 We waste the hours. How far to Carduel ? 
 AST. One day's hard riding, though I squandered ten 
 
 In finding you. 
 GER. To horse, then. 
 
 (Enter ist charcoal-burner, running.} 
 
 1 C.B. Oh, my lord, 
 
 A ghost ! a spirit ! 
 
 GER. Yet another one ? 
 
 You are prolific. 
 
 2 C.B. See, my lord, it comes. 
 
 (Enter Lanval ( C) ; he stops abruptly on seeing 
 the others, and they look at each other for a 
 moment.} 
 
 GER. Were I not schooled to madness, I might be 
 Almost astonished. "Tis the man himself. 
 Welcome, Sir Lanval. 
 
 LAN. Welcome thou, Geraint. 
 
 GER. (aside} There's the most heartfelt greeting of my 
 life. 
 
 AST. Welcome, Sir Lanval. 
 
 LAN. Welcome, Astamor. 
 
 What do ye here ? 
 
 GER. I seek an errant knight, 
 
 One who stole forth from Carduel its court, 
 Who was too peevish or too proud to ask 
 Aid of his friends. 
 
 LAN. And have you found him? 
 
 GER. Aye,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 
 
 49 
 
 I think we have. Sir Lanval, 'twas ill done 
 
 To slink from us in such a fashion. 
 LAN. I ? 
 
 Is'tl ye seek? 
 GER. Whom else ? Think you we spend 
 
 Our days in this dank brake in search of churls 
 
 Or madmen who choose this as their retreat ? 
 
 But I'll not blame thee, though I lose three months. 
 
 Suffice it all ends well. 
 LAN. Three months ! 
 
 Is it so long? 
 
 GER. Hast lost the count of time? 
 
 AST. He seems half dazed. 
 
 Hast thou been wounded, man, 
 
 Or in a sickness ? 
 
 LAN. I am well enough. 
 
 GER. Then the adventure ! Come, the whole of it ; 
 
 We'll hear no less! 
 
 AST. Aye, Lanval, tell it us. 
 
 LAN. What shall I tell you ? Ye seem real men, 
 
 And have the texture of this earth. But I 
 
 Have touched such dreams and viewed such phan- 
 tomry, 
 
 That ye seem but the mist of being. God, 
 
 How thin and vap'rous is reality ! 
 AST. This should be magic. 
 GER. Wait. 
 
 LAN. I mixed 
 
 My flesh with shadows, and I wrung my soul 
 
 In impotent dumb conflict with a wraith 
 
 That was myself. How quickly they can pass 
 
 The golden twilights and flushed dawns that turned
 
 50 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 Never to day. The ringed, wide, brazen lakes 
 Shining in purple-shadowed forestry, 
 And gaunt pale mountains fretted like the teeth 
 Of some sea dragon. Oh, the wealth of it 
 Dies in my mind ere I can find my words. 
 
 (Geraint examines his armour critically.) 
 
 GER. Strange speech, indeed. Where have you gotten 
 these 
 
 New arms ? They shame Bernardo's fairest craft. 
 AST. What workmanship ! 
 GER. Aye, see this, Astamor. 
 
 Come, Lanval, tell us. 
 LAN. How had I these arms? 
 
 I had them of the fairest hands. No more 
 
 Can I forget so soon. I may not speak. 
 
 AST. Thou dost but edge our interest 
 
 LAN. I am 
 
 In honour bound. 
 AST. But surely we may hear 
 
 Some outline of the tale. 
 LAN. E'en now 
 
 I speak too much. 
 
 GER. This is not gentle. 
 
 LAN. No ; 
 
 But still, Geraint, I have been put in bonds 
 
 For silence. 
 GER. Then thou hast the right of it. 
 
 A knight may hold his peace if he so please, 
 
 And a word pledged is better worth than all 
 
 Our wondering. Keep silence if you will ; 
 
 I '11 not regret it. For myself one word
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 51 
 
 I pledged myself to find you and return 
 
 To Carduel. 
 
 LAN. And wherefore? 
 
 GER. I admit 
 
 My purpose would look fairer if I said, 
 
 I sought you in pure friendship ; but the case 
 
 Deals more with hate than love. 
 
 LAN. What, then ? 
 
 GER. I swore myself to prove thy worthiness, 
 
 And staked sufficient value in thy power 
 
 To make me hot to see it shown. 
 LAN. 'Twas kind 
 
 To so uphold me. 
 GER. I'm no flatterer, 
 
 But even honest with myself at times ; 
 
 So the belief which I have held in you 
 
 I put at issue. (He hesitates.} 
 
 AST. Come, be short, Geraint, 
 
 The sun is high. 
 GER. I so upheld your cause 
 
 That I have pledged you to the closed field, 
 
 And our twin honours are at stake. I claim 
 
 This service of you. 
 LAN. Gladly I accept 
 
 Such terms of service. 
 AST. We do linger here 
 
 While war's abroad. 
 GER. I was too hot, perhaps, 
 
 Thou wilt forgive me that I staked thy life. 
 LAN. Geraint, I thank thee ; 1 am heartened now 
 
 To try another cast with fortune. I am glad 
 
 To meet occasion that my fate may bring,
 
 52 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 If I may gather honour. 
 
 GER. We shall speak 
 
 More of this later. Now to horse and war. 
 
 God, how I hate this forest and its peace ! 
 
 I hate all peace and worship only change 
 
 Save in man's mind. For we have been becalmed, 
 
 Lain stript and idle on the burnished sea 
 
 Of dull existence, but the winds are up ; 
 
 Soon all our lives like labouring cogs shall dance 
 
 Through trough and ridge of fortune to our port, 
 
 With every rush of the torn restless waves 
 
 To sharpen us. Our horses, Gyfert. 
 
 (Geraint and Astamor go to back and call for their 
 horses.) 
 
 LAN. So 
 
 The stream's in flood, 1 must plunge into it, 
 And be borne deathward. There are mysteries 
 Which ring our purpose, flex our aims, and drape 
 Our subsequence. But I have seen so much 
 That I am baffled with strange lights. The course 
 Of one unknowing is so simple clean, 
 His quiet pleasure in an end achieved, 
 His certainty of honour and his faith 
 In gentle doings, I knew all of them. 
 But I am meshed in a strange web of dreams, 
 Limed to the thread of thoughts yet unconceived, 
 And faced by Nature, the grim spider form, 
 Who traps and spares not. O God, curse the hour 
 I ever saw her ! No, all gods be thanked 
 That led me to it. Better it is to see 
 And be a madman than to keep one's sense 
 And happily be blind. But I am wrecked
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 53 
 
 In all my hopes, for I, like any fool, 
 Stand staked for ever on the motionless 
 High rocks of love. All visions shift and veer, 
 But there's a phantom stands beside my path 
 Both loved and feared. 
 
 (The horses are led on at the back.} 
 GER. Sound us a rally. 
 
 (The man-at-arms sounds a call.) 
 LAN. Life ! 
 
 I think too much. My soul's a sanctuary 
 For every folly : to accomplishment 
 I lend my being. 
 
 (Lanval rises and goes towards Geraint and Astamor.) 
 i C.B. Let him not come near. 
 
 There's some devil gotten into his shape, and such 
 company may be fit for knights, but it's o'er 
 warm for us. 
 
 (Lanval slops at the charcoal-burner^ who shrink 
 
 away from him.) 
 
 LAN. Why, 'tis the same. My old night-fearing friends 
 Still in unease. Well, I do owe you much. 
 Ye were the heralds of those fateful hours, 
 Truly quaint guardians for the gates of night ; 
 But ye shall share my fortunes. 
 
 (throwing them a purse) 
 
 GER. Lanval, come, 
 
 We've far to ride. 
 
 (Exeunt all except the charcoal-burners.) 
 i C.B. Let the purse be, man ; it's fairy 
 
 gold, and turns ashes : aye, and brings ill luck 
 with it.
 
 54 LANVAL ACT n 
 
 2 C.B. I would all our ashes were the same solid stuff. 
 
 1 C.B. The half is mine. 
 
 2 C.B. Nay, friend, ye can still think it's ashes. A very 
 
 kindly devil it is. Think you they'll lose any 
 more knights ? It is a smooth, profitable busi- 
 ness. 
 
 1 C.B. 1 came near hanging in it. 
 
 2 C.B. Well, I'm thinking I'd risk hanging once a year 
 
 for this profit. 
 
 1 C.B. I'm glad we're clear of 'em. The forest's ours 
 
 again. Where's our stack. I'll follow you. 
 
 2 C.B. Lead you for to-day. I'd rather see your back 
 
 than show you my own. 
 
 (The i st charcoal-burner goes off sullenly.) 
 Sure, some of them might be lost for charity to 
 poor men, and no great harm. At least, the 
 Saints be praised for a fair dawn. 
 
 Curtain.
 
 ACT III. SCENE I. 
 THE QUEEN'S TOWER, CARDUEL. (Two years later.) 
 
 Large bay window at back of stage. A door (LC) leading to Queen's 
 apartments. Another (L) leading to knights' part of Castle. Door (R) 
 to stairway leading to the lists. 
 
 AST. Still, Meliard, we shall see well from here. 
 MEL. How can one judge the value of a stroke 
 
 From such a distance ? 
 AST. We are high, 'tis true, 
 
 But since our service keeps us to this room, 
 
 We must make shift to watch as best we can. 
 MEL. How long, think you, will our attendance last? 
 AST. I do not know. They say that messengers 
 
 Have come from Persant. 
 MEL. War again ? 
 
 AST. No doubt. 
 
 MEL. I'd not have missed this meeting for the half 
 
 Of what 1 own. What think you, Astamor, 
 
 Is not Sir Lanval stouter than that stiff 
 
 And lustful ruffian Agravaine ? 
 AST. Take care ! 
 
 There are some here who love him. I do not, 
 
 And yet I'm cautious of too much disdain. 
 MEL. Lanval should gain ! 
 
 AST. But he is wounded, man ! 
 
 MEL. Wounded ? 
 AST. He got a bitter hurt of late ; 
 
 A Pictish shaft through the left shoulder. 
 MEL. Hurt,
 
 56 LANVAL ACT m 
 
 And he will yet risk all in this debate ? 
 AST. Oh, it concerns a very trifling fact ; 
 
 He was accused of cowardice. 
 MEL. That charge 
 
 Was folly on the face of it. 
 AST. Of course ; 
 
 Yet, Meliard, we both of us were there, 
 
 When this strange charge was first of all preferred. 
 
 Strange, that we saw no folly in it then ! 
 MEL. Their conflict should be very hotly fought. 
 AST. Lanval's the defter in the use of swords, 
 
 And has the better eye for measure 
 
 MEL. But his wound 
 
 And Agravaine's great strength ! 
 AST. Well, we shall see, 
 
 It's close on noon, for look, the shadows shrink. 
 
 (Enter Owain 
 Ow. Hast seen Geraint, Sir Astamor? 'Tis time 
 
 We brought our man to his pavilion. 
 AST. No Owain, 
 
 I have not seen him. 
 
 Ow. Wherefore wait ye here ? 
 
 AST. It is our day for duty. We attend 
 
 The pleasure of the King. 
 Ow. He needs you not : 
 
 I come from him in council with Cador, 
 
 The Duke of Cornwall. 
 MEL. Then we can go down 
 
 And watch this combat. 
 
 Ow. I will answer for it. 
 
 MEL. Come, Astamor. 
 AST. You are sure, Owain ?
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 57 
 
 Ow. No, I am not. I said I'll answer for it. 
 
 God speed you, Sirs. (He turns away.] 
 
 AST. Come then, Sir Meliard. 
 
 (Exeunt Meliard and Astamor.) 
 
 Ow. Aye, haste away and scuffle for your place. 
 
 Stare with the rabble. Feathers, voices, spurs, 
 
 Are all your being, and suit cockerels 
 
 As well as knights. God ! I'd as soon have set 
 
 Two dogs by the ears and had a reeking barn 
 
 Of goggling rustics for their audience 
 
 As touch this business. All in honour's name ? 
 
 Oh, honour, virtue, grace, nobility, 
 
 What fools you make of men ! 
 
 (Enter Geraint.) 
 At last ! 
 Is Lanval armed ? 
 
 GER. Bernardo is with him. 
 
 Ow. We shall be late. 
 
 GER. Well, let them wait for us 
 
 Who forced the quarrel. 
 
 Ow. I did think, Geraint, 
 
 That you had puddled in this mud as much 
 As our opponents. Why I am compelled 
 To take a hand in this fantastic shift 
 I cannot think. 
 
 GER. I claimed your services : 
 
 He is my friend. 
 
 Ow. Well, God deliver me 
 
 From such a friendship. It's a kindly act 
 To urge one's friend into a bitter cleft 
 Where, if he gains, there's little profit found, 
 And if he lose the certainty of shame.
 
 58 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 GER. I know, Owain, 1 have done wrong in this, 
 But I was stung by some foul incidents 
 And, in my groping for an instrument, 
 My hand lit on him. I regret it now 
 For I have found he has a quality 
 Which shames my purpose. I like him too much 
 To turn his deeds to my advantages. ; 
 I'd give my hand to be well clear of this. 
 
 Ow. Hot head, soft heart, these are the devil's aids. 
 
 GER. May be, and yet strong arm outweighs them both. 
 But here he comes. 
 
 (Enter Lanval and Bernardo ().) 
 
 Bernardo, hast thou armed 
 Him soundly? 
 
 BER. Prince, had I a son to quip 
 
 For such engagement, I could furnish him 
 No better. 
 
 Ow. Good. Thy shoulder, Lanval, smarts ? 
 
 LAN. It troubles me a little. 
 
 Ow. Have a care 
 
 To well protect it. 
 
 LAN. Trust me. 
 
 GER. That we do. 
 
 (A sennet off.) 
 
 Ow. The marshals to the lists. Let us go down. 
 
 (Exeunt.) 
 
 (Enter Guinevere and her maidens (LC). The Queen seats 
 herself in a high chair and the maidens go to the window?) 
 
 LYN. 'Tis a fair field, and see the marshals come 
 
 Into the lists. 
 ALYS. Who is the knight that bears
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 59 
 
 Bezants on azure? 
 
 LYN. 'Tis Sir Astamor. 
 
 ALYS. A noble knight. 
 HEL. See how the common folk 
 
 Press on the barriers ! 
 ALYS. It is said they love 
 
 Sir Lanval's cause. What are the arms, Lynette ? 
 LYN. Mounted three courses with the lance alone, 
 
 The points unbated. One being overthrown 
 
 But still unhurt, the dagger and the sword 
 
 On foot. 
 
 ALYS. To death ? 
 
 LYN. Until one yield himself, 
 
 Or else to death. 
 ALYS. I hope they will not press 
 
 Their quarrel harshly. It were sad to lose 
 
 So fair a knight as either of these men. 
 LYN. No, for my part I hope it is to death. 
 
 To see life hang despairing, calm, and hard 
 
 Upon its frontier ! That is good to watch 
 
 Worth one's attention ! 
 HEL. See, they clear the lists ! 
 
 Now comes Sir Lanval. (Murmurs.) 
 
 ALYS. How the people cry ! 
 
 HEL. Salutes the marshal and retires to arm. 
 ALYS. Sir Agravaine in silence does the like. 
 LYN. They love him not. How should they know 
 what flame 
 
 Lives in high hearts. Has a man in him 
 
 A churlish manner, then the people shout 
 
 Like cries to like. 
 ALYS. And if Sir Lanval win ?
 
 60 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 LYN. As he will not 
 
 ALYS. Then can the common folk 
 
 Show some sound judgment. 
 LYN. Agravaine will prove 
 
 Himself the better. 
 
 HEL. I think not. 
 
 Qu. Lynette ! 
 
 What friends support the causes of these knights ? 
 LYN. Sir Colgrevance and Pertinas are friends 
 
 To Agravaine. For Lanval, Prince Geraint, 
 
 Owain, the son of Ryence of North Wales, 
 
 Are the supporters. 
 Qu. So ! A savage pair, 
 
 Geraint, Owain : they will not lightly seize 
 
 On enterprise, but make them well assured 
 
 That they sustain no vessel of slight strength. 
 
 I have heard much of this strange Lanval's power, 
 
 But know him not beyond the courtesy 
 
 That's natural to all of kindly birth. 
 
 But ye should know. How is it, Alysoun, 
 
 That one who is apparently upheld 
 
 By qualities beyond the common scale 
 
 Comes not among us ? 
 ALYS. Lady, I know him not 
 
 Save by report, as kindly, generous, 
 
 Beyond most men. 
 Qu. That's but a vaporous 
 
 And stale description. Dost thou know, Lynette, 
 
 What the man is ? 
 LYN. I think a common sort 
 
 Of comely, cunning, poor adventurer, 
 
 Who has a choice of fashions to advance
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 6 1 
 
 His scheme of action. This is his device : 
 
 He loves not ladies, has a brow of care, 
 
 And feigns a wealth of projects in his mind 
 
 To get a name for virtue and great gravity. 
 Qu. Is he a fool ? 
 LYN. I said not so. 
 
 Qu. Helene, 
 
 What do men say of him ? 
 HEL. Much good. 
 
 He's strong, and gentle ; and most subtly learned 
 
 In warlike practice. 
 Qu. 1 have heard as much ; 
 
 Yet many men with half these qualities 
 
 Are better known. There's something strange 
 in him. (A trumpet?) 
 
 Tell me what passes. 
 ALYS. The heralds cry the cause 
 
 Of this encounter ; now announce the names 
 
 And titles of the knights. Their friends 
 
 Bring them to answer. 
 
 {All go to the window except Guinevere.) 
 HEL. It will not be long, 
 
 I hope. 
 
 LYN. The signal. (A trumpet?) 
 
 See, they meet. Well struck ! 
 Qu. What is't, Lynette ? 
 LYN. Each lance clean-hearted broke. 
 
 They bring fresh spears. 
 Qu. The vantage ? 
 
 LYN. Both unhurt. 
 
 Sir Lanval reeled. 
 HEL. But Agravaine gave ground.
 
 62 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 LYN. Nay, he did not. 
 
 HEL. Look, they ride again. 
 
 LYN. Down ! He's down ! 
 
 HEL. Said I not so, Lynette ? 
 
 Qu. Who is o'erborne? 
 
 LYN. Sir Agravaine is down. 
 
 (Guinevere also goes to window?) 
 
 Full on the gorget, down both man and horse. 
 
 He may retrieve it ; he is skilled and fierce. 
 
 He's up and draws. See, Sir Lanval lights. 
 
 Now shall the sword prove their arbitrament. 
 GUIN. They are well matched. 
 
 LYN. This cannot long endure. 
 
 (Murmurs?} 
 
 Sir Agravaine, he's beaten to his knees. 
 GUIN. He falls. 'Tis finished. 
 
 (Shouts and applause without.} 
 LYN. Oh, incredible ! 
 
 And Lanval holds his life within his hands ; 
 
 Lanval that has no touch of human fire. 
 Qu. Peace! He will spare him. 
 
 LYN. And thou canst be calm ? 
 
 Qu. Silence ! I know Sir Lanval is at heart 
 
 Of kindly nature. Though Sir Agravaine 
 
 Has been at fault, as is so clearly proved, 
 
 This degradation shall bring him no harm. 
 LYN. Nay, but the victor doth become possessed 
 
 Of all the vanquished. He may straight condemn, 
 
 Oh, not the gallows ! 
 Qu. Peace. Go, Alysoun, 
 
 And bid Sir Lanval come attend me here. 
 
 (Exit Alysoun
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 63 
 
 Be swift. 
 ( The other maidens leave Lynette and Guinevere.) 
 
 What is it, fool, dost love 
 Sir Agravaine ? 
 
 LYN. No, but 'tis horrible 
 
 To see a gallant and sweet-favoured man 
 Lie at the feet of a grim follower 
 Of power and war ; a priest of policy, 
 A sour disciple of the arts of state 
 In whom's no pleasure, gaiety or wit, 
 But sullen strength. 
 
 Qu. Think'st thou to so deceive? 
 
 1 see thee, girl. Thou lov'st this Agravaine, 
 And yet for fear would'st not acknowledge it, 
 Thinking that I by heaven, have a care, 
 Thoughts have a habit of becoming deeds. 
 This that thou lovest lies within the reach 
 Of the dread gallows. Therefore, have a guard 
 Upon thy tongue. There are ends as ill 
 That wait on women who have not the gift 
 Of gentle silence. (Re-enter Alysoun.) 
 
 What answer, girl ? 
 
 ALYS. Sir Lanval bade me say, 
 
 That, once disarmed, he would attend on thee. 
 
 Qu. Nay, it is urgent. Go thou, girl, again, 
 Bid him attend me armed he is unhurt ? 
 
 ALYS. He has no wound. 
 
 Qu. Go then, and bid him come 
 
 Instant, accoutred even as he is, 
 Say that I have some reason for request, 
 And earnestly for his attendance plead. 
 
 (Exit Alysoun.)
 
 64 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 Mark me, Lynette, I think this Agravaine 
 
 Has been thy lover. Is it not so ? Fool, 
 
 What gain is there in a denial. Think ; 
 
 Were I in anger, should I not be kind, 
 
 Smile on thy love and shortly be avenged ? 
 
 And so I will. I'll beg of Lanval, now, 
 
 His life and body. Thou shalt have them both. 
 
 Things that are fallen are of me despised, 
 
 And interest that I have once displayed 
 
 Can, like a garment, be soon cast aside. 
 
 I'll pledge him to thee. Wished I for revenge, 
 
 Or were I jealous, I could wreak no ill 
 
 So dangerous. 
 
 LYN. If I am meat for scorn, 
 
 What food can fill or satisfy the gods 
 That watch on thee ? 
 
 Qu. Have a care, Lynette, 
 
 For I am minded to be generous. 
 As for this man who is reputed cold, 
 Whose virtues live but in state services, 
 I'll handle him and fashion his device 
 Unto new purpose. Go ! 
 
 LYN. Good lady, 
 
 Qu. Go. (Exit Lynette.) 
 
 Make me not harsh. 
 
 Why am I curious now, 
 To try the texture of this novel man, 
 Whose gravity is so unnatural ? 
 Doth not knights' duty learn them to serve us ? 
 Yet, otherwise, he lacks not knightliness ; 
 In truth his manner is of seemly sort, 
 And I do wonder wonder overmuch !
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 65 
 
 Enough, he comes ! (Enter Lanval.) 
 
 Sir Lanval, pardon me 
 That I enforce thee to attend me here ; 
 I have no right to ask of thee a boon, 
 But my request is not for mine own cause ; 
 Another sorrow has made me thus bold. 
 Wilt grant a favour ? 
 
 LAN. I shall be most glad 
 
 To do thy pleasure. 
 
 Qu. I pray thee, sit by me ; 
 
 Nay, but thy arms will hamper thee. 
 
 LAN. Not so. 
 
 Qu. Let me unarm thee. Nay, it is but just, 
 Since thou wilt grant of thy great courtesy 
 My little asking, that I should be swift 
 To do thee service. (She disarms him.} 
 
 Now come, sit by me 
 And I will tell thee what the gift shall be 
 Which thou hast granted ; is it not ? 
 
 LAN. 'Tis so. 
 
 Qu. I have a maid attendant on myself, 
 
 Who is possessed of love for Agravaine, 
 
 And now he lies the prisoner of thine arms, 
 
 Proved to be false, caught in a calumny, 
 
 And, if thou wilt, upon the edge of death ; 
 
 I ask his life : it is not hard to give 
 
 Out of the riches of the hour of gain 
 
 So small a guerdon. 'Tis a piteous thing 
 
 Thatone maid's hopes should hang upontheword 
 
 The chance flung breath of careless victory ! 
 
 LAN. Madame, I pray you I had never thought 
 To push advantage to so foul an end :
 
 66 LANVAL 
 
 ACT III 
 
 The world's too fertile in quaint accidents, 
 And change of fortune, to let anger live 
 Beyond its moment. This question overpast, 
 I am so glad to turn to other thoughts 
 That I can keep no malice. There are souls 
 Who, once awakened by the conflict, flushed 
 By quick successes may not hold their hand ; 
 I did not think I seemed as one of them. 
 
 Qu. Forgive me, Lanval. But there are some men 
 Born to be bitter ; bred in warlike times, 
 Whose only passion is to range the world, 
 And by its harshness frame their circumstance. 
 Such know no kindness, but are wrought by years 
 Until their texture is indifference. 
 From them the sorrows, gaieties and change, 
 That give the colour to existence, fall 
 And are rebutted as the idle waves 
 By the calm rocks. Even here they move, 
 Behind our pleasures, shadows of grim use. 
 And thou art stern, I thought thee one of them. 
 
 LAN. Thou did'st misjudge me. 
 
 Qu. Truly I did so : 
 
 I ask thy pardon. 
 
 LAN. Nay, there is no need ; 
 
 But I am grieved thou did'st anticipate 
 My own poor purpose, since Sir Agravaine 
 Is my possession. I did mean to ask 
 For thine acceptance of his person, arms ; 
 His word is pledged as surety for his life 
 That he will serve thee. 
 
 Qu. 'Tis a kindly gift : 
 
 But, though I thank thee, I do need him not.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 67 
 
 LAN. I had hoped else. He is of comely build ; 
 Fit to take part in revels, used to courts, 
 Skilled in the custom of all palaces, 
 Holding, in short, the qualities I lack. 
 
 Qu. I need him not. I would not speak of him. 
 Press me not, Lanval, for 1 fear thy speech 
 Has in it something of the thoughts debased, 
 That have their kennels in the courts of kings. 
 Never can I shew any favour, smile, 
 Look kindly on, or help young enterprise, 
 But the foul whispers of the watching herds 
 Sneer shame on me. Surely thou didst not 
 Think evil of me ? 
 
 LAN. Art thou not my Queen ? 
 
 And am I not the servant of this realm ? 
 How then shall I find space to heed such talk ? 
 About the passage of our lives there drifts 
 A constant eddy of foul mutterings, 
 Which have no import, truth, or evidence. 
 However clean, our souls must wade waist-deep 
 In ribaldry. Though we disdain such stuff, 
 Full half the world can feed on nothing else. 
 I may have heard ; I have not noticed. 
 
 Qu. True, 
 
 As all that 's in thee ! How could they have said 
 Thou wert ungentle, slandered ladies, spoke 
 Indifferent of them ! 
 
 LAN. Calumny. 
 
 Qu. I thought 
 
 Was half afraid to ask of thee a gift. 
 Report did have it thou wast near a boor ! 
 
 LAN. It flatters seldom.
 
 68 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 Qu. Lanval, wilt thou blame ? 
 
 Ye that hold honour high are hard, 
 Swift to rebuke. We women may not seek 
 To find expression in our little strength, 
 So faulty are we and of such slight power, 
 Yet we may kindle sleeping things to fire, 
 And by awakening form a part of them, 
 Till, by good fortune, we may see our spark 
 Light such a beacon that its luminance 
 Makes all men fairer. Thus 1 caught men up, 
 Tested and failed, and then cast them aside. 
 Have I done wrong ? 
 
 LAN. I cannot think so. 
 
 Qu. Thou 
 
 Wilt never fail me : Lanval, bear my badge ; 
 Be thou my knight ! 
 
 LAN. I may not do so. 
 
 Qu. But to refuse me is no courteous act. 
 
 Must I believe the common talk was just ? 
 I '11 not believe it. Thou art not unkind 
 Nor cruel. 
 
 LAN. (Aside) God ! those words again ! 
 
 Qu. Nay, hear ! 
 
 I stand apart, the watcher of this court, 
 Hungry as any for the spring of worth, 
 And I have listened through the dull sour years 
 To foolish babbling and vain braggart speech : 
 Never have I seen such a one as thee. 
 The power men value, state and exercise, 
 Is in my handling ; honour, worship, all 
 
 LAN. Honour and power are very far apart. 
 
 Qu. Look at me, Lanval. Have you lust for place,
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 69 
 
 Desire for rule, all these are in my gift. 
 There shall be nothing, nothing in the world, 
 To be denied thee. 
 
 LAN. Madam, my deserts 
 
 Have not earned this. 
 
 Qu. I know your merits well, 
 
 And love you for them. Will you make me speak, 
 When any soul should surely recognise 
 My meaning ? 
 
 LAN. I may not. 
 
 Qu. Why not ? 
 
 Am I not fair ? We shall soon forget 
 
 The foolish customs, detriments that bar 
 
 Our intercourse, for what are they to us ? 
 
 For 1 do love thee. Is it shame? What's shame, 
 
 But discipline to suit a baser sort ? 
 
 LAN. 1 pray you, spare me. 
 
 Qu. Put me not away, 
 
 For we are lifted to a pinnacle 
 Whereon stands nothing but ourselves alone, 
 And all else is a sleeping cloud, a mass 
 Of gentle, distant, white inconsequence. 
 
 LAN. I will not. 
 
 Qu. Wherefore? Hast another love ? 
 
 LAN. Nay, I have none. 
 
 Qu. What can then impede 
 
 Our loves' progression ? If though lov'st me not, 
 My simple passion shall infect thy blood. 
 Such fire lives in me that my flesh is flame, 
 And I know well, life has no ore to stand 
 So fierce a blast, but that its metalled veins 
 Must yield their substance.
 
 yo LANVAL ACT in 
 
 LAN. What of my fealty, 
 
 Shall I dishonour all I hold most firm, 
 And play the traitor to my King ? 
 
 Qu. What bonds 
 
 Of such convention stand against plain life ? 
 Can man play master to the natural world, 
 Make laws to hold the elements in place ? 
 Why, it is foolish. Let the passions reign, 
 For in their presence all existence stands 
 Free and unfettered. 
 
 LAN. I will not betray 
 
 My life for lust. 
 
 Qu. This is false modesty 
 
 The state wherein the shackled soul is blind, 
 And may not face the common light of day. 
 If I can bear it, wilt thou be afraid ? 
 Come, kiss me, Lanval. I do thee no harm. 
 Why art thou harsh ? 
 
 LAN. Let me go, I say. 
 
 Qu. Why should I so ? 
 
 LAN. My fealty is pledged. 
 
 Qu. So be it, Lanval. Fealty 's the term ; 
 A fair excuse ; and now I see it clear, 
 Life scorns not love unless well fortified 
 By love itself. Thou hast a paramour, 
 And this aped virtue is the mask of vice. 
 Why, I was fool to think there lived a man 
 That spotted not his arms with that disgrace. 
 I pray thy pardon. I myself prefer 
 The common practice that will not disguise 
 Humanity beneath the hypocrite : 
 And I must think I shall be made a sport,
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 71 
 
 A credulous poor being that believed 
 In manhood's truth ; my love a jest of clowns, 
 Worn as a garish triumph in base lists! 
 Shall I endure it ? 
 
 LAN. And shall I endure 
 
 This constant insult ? If my purpose stand 
 So much assured that no appeals of thine 
 Avail to move it, is that a just cause 
 For insolence ? 
 
 Qu. Insolence ? 
 
 LAN. What else? 
 
 Think'st thou a man should speak as much to me, 
 And pass unharmed ? There is a limit, too, 
 To a queen's tongue! I bear as much as most, 
 And I am patient unless pricked too far! 
 
 Qu. Thus do I gall thee ! Be it a challenge then ! 
 Swear to me, Lanval, by the blood of Christ, 
 By thine own honour and thy knighthood's oath, 
 By everything that can ensure thy soul 
 Unto the devil if thou art forsworn 
 Hast thou a love ? 
 
 LAN. I love many things : 
 
 Much of the world and more that may be hid 
 Beyond its limits. 
 
 Qu. Hast thou not a love? 
 
 A keen desire to any woman ? Strange 
 Thou dost not answer. Nay, take time, my lord, 
 Evasion springs not easily to lips 
 That speak of honour ; and it is even so, 
 The sudden idol of a people's choice, 
 The fortunate applauded aspirant 
 Has human failings. Nay, I blame thee not,
 
 72 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 Many are thus ; shamed to acknowledge sins, 
 That did they know it are of greater worth 
 Than all their virtues. But, I fear, the king 
 Is but ill-served with traitors in his court ; 
 His council, aided by sleek hypocrites, 
 Earning rewards of virtue undeserved. 
 Therefore I term thee coward, recreant knight, 
 A chance-bred upstart of presumption born ! 
 Thou hast deceived me. Take it as a gain 
 That slime can match the sheen of metals true, 
 And filthy favours mock clean services. 
 Need I say more ? I pray thee let me pass ! 
 
 LAN. One moment, madam : I have some defence. 
 
 Qu. Defence ! I doubt not there 's a pretty talk, 
 But I have little patience to endure 
 Tts full recital. There are taverns near 
 And other places of foul ill-repute 
 Which can enjoy it. 
 
 LAN. Madam, at the least, 
 
 Hear my excuse. 
 
 Qu. If there were excuse, 
 
 What is 't to me ? Either thou canst not 
 Be natural or courteous in thy ways 
 Either thou art a shadow lacking strength ; 
 Something inhuman that has crept to us, 
 Wearing the fashion of a very man, 
 And by enchantment gaining men's renown ; 
 Or else shame bids thee cover up thy life, 
 Lest the foul taint of thy dishonoured love 
 Smirch thine existence till men turn from thee, 
 And all men know thee for the loathsome thing, 
 The recreant, base coward and defiled !
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 73 
 
 Which shall it be ? 
 
 LAN. Neither, by all Heaven ! 
 
 My strength is proved and I am not ashamed. 
 I know I may not hold free speech with thee, 
 Though I endure as much as man can stand 
 Of insult ! But this goes too far, 
 And slurs the fairness of my love. 
 
 Qu. I knew 
 
 Some drab 
 
 LAN. Enough. If there be fault in us, 
 
 It is that I am worthless and deserve 
 The stale abuse I have received. But she 
 Is much beyond it. God ! you offered me 
 The present usage of an ugly lust, 
 The vileness of corruption, when I know 
 Someone so fair beyond the mould of earth 
 That she transcends all beauty that thou hast, 
 As much as dreams, that come to sleeping gods, 
 Outweigh the sweetest of men's slender thoughts ! 
 There 's not a maiden that doth wait on her 
 But is thy match in beauty, in all else 
 Thy better ! Pass, I will not stay thee now. 
 
 (Exit Guinevere.) 
 
 Why did I speak ? My God ! Did I not swear 
 Myself to silence ? Never again, O fool ! 
 My tongue has sped me. Why could I not rule 
 So base a passion ? Fool that I am, O fool ! 
 
 (Enter Owain, overhearing his last words.} 
 
 Ow. Fool ! It is true, he has some wisdom then ! 
 
 (Enter Geraint, Astamor and Meliard.) 
 Well wrought, Sir Lanval. 
 
 GER. Said I not so, Owain ?
 
 74 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 I knew he had the power. Well fought, my friend ; 
 
 Henceforth our fortunes shall go hand in hand. 
 
 Come, look not stern, for this should be the day 
 
 To crown thy service. 
 AST. Sir Lanval, here 's my hand, 
 
 I have misjudged you. 
 MEL. I the same. 
 
 GER. I knew. 
 
 Curtain. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A Council Chamber in the Castle of Gar duel. Broad windows (CR) opening 
 on to the ramparts. A curtained door (L). 
 
 Arthur, Gawain, Cador. 
 
 (Arthur paces up and down, then looks out of the 
 window. Gawain and Cador exchange glances. 
 Presently Arthur comes back to table.} 
 
 ARTH. Truly, our time gives us but little ease, 
 
 And scarce a space wherein to rest our limbs : 
 No sooner have we slipped our wearied arms 
 From their hacked harness than the trumpet breeds 
 Another discord. Again, and yet again ! 
 They hunt us hard, these senseless, savage hordes 
 Who waste their lives indifferent on our spears 
 And yet return new-hearted to their task. 
 Where shall we soil
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 75 
 
 GAW. Sire ? 
 
 ARTH. Where shall we be bayed ? 
 
 We shall soon lack the strength to meet our foes 
 In the full field. Then shall we need to lurk 
 Behind our walls or in the forest deeps. 
 Then discontent, long drugged with victory, 
 Will wake again. Our lovers will fall off, 
 And all who nourish malice in their hearts 
 Be quick and active. 
 
 GAW. There are none. 
 
 ARTH. Gawain, 
 
 Thou knowest well that there are many here 
 Who love me not. The bondage of our fears 
 And common ills hold many in my train. 
 Let but success once turn her face from me, 
 And then the substance of this state is gone, 
 Its shape dissolved, and all its elements 
 Content to snatch existence as they can. 
 
 GAW. You do not trust us ? 
 
 ARTH. Nay, I do, Gawain. 
 
 1 know thy nature ; thine, good Cornwall, too, 
 And many others : but I know the mass 
 No less than you. No matter, let us turn 
 To present measures. Thou art sure, Gawain, 
 Of these advices ? 
 
 GAW. Sire, there is no doubt 
 
 The Picts are up, have crossed the Linnuis 
 And march on us. Also the messengers 
 Bring word the Angles are renewed and helped 
 From out their coasts. 
 
 ARTH. God ! Is there no end 
 
 To their resources ? Let me think. The Picts
 
 76 LANVAL ACT m 
 
 Will prey and ravage : thus at Arthuret 
 
 We may withstand them. Tell me now, Gawain : 
 
 What forces have we ? 
 GAW. Here ? Geraint, alone, 
 
 And his own levies. 
 
 ARTH. They are now at hand? 
 
 GAW. An hour will find them. 
 ARTH. They shall lead the van. 
 
 The men of Cornwall ? 
 
 CAD. I shall need three days. 
 
 ARTH. So much? 
 CAD. Thy pardon, Sire, I had not thought 
 
 That this occasion could have grown so swift. 
 
 My men were weary with long services, 
 
 And well deserved a little space of ease. 
 
 If there be blame, I trust it may be mine. 
 ARTH. Three days, Gawain. Send word unto Owain, 
 
 To gather up the forces of North 'Wales. 
 
 Send a swift summons to our own estate, 
 
 Our personal adherents and all knights 
 
 Who owe us service. 
 GAW. I will go. 
 
 ARTH. No, stay. 
 
 What think you, lords, shall we encounter first 
 
 The painted men, or bend our courses straight 
 
 Against the Angle ? 
 GAW. 'Gainst the Picts, say I. 
 
 They have a foothold in the northern lands, 
 
 And ever hang upon our outer march, 
 
 Primed for eruption. 
 CAD. But the Anglian hosts 
 
 Are numerous, well armed and grimly wrought.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 77 
 
 The Scots and Picts are but fierce savages 
 Whose wild invasion has no cause or aim, 
 But bloody instinct bids them burn and slay 
 Like a disease. These we can cure in time, 
 But the white Angles have a dangerous end ; 
 They mean our conquest and have interest in 
 Our whole destruction. 
 
 ARTH. True; and more, the force 
 
 We have at Chester should make sure the pass 
 Of Arthuret. Therefore, let us go 
 Against the Angles. Go, Gawain, and raise 
 Our utmost forces. I would march from here 
 Within five days (Exit Geraint.) 
 
 O ! I am tired, Cador (goes to the window). 
 I front the menace of this age alone. 
 
 CAD. I serve you still. 
 
 ARTH. Nay, I mean not that. 
 
 You hear the murmur of my court below ? 
 
 CAD. I hear it. 
 
 ARTH. Strange they cannot realise 
 
 How close we lie to very bitter days. 
 We can see far. 
 
 CAD. The tower is high. 
 
 ARTH. The woods 
 
 Are deep in shadow. Clouds and ever clouds 
 Lie on the rim that circles us. How long 
 Before the storm burst? All my life is cloud, 
 And I am like a shadow in a mist. 
 The constant greyness rots my very heart 
 And leaves me faithless. I have built my schemes 
 Higher than this, and still I cannot see 
 For clouds.
 
 78 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 CAD. Nay, Sire, this poor despondency- 
 
 Befits you not. 
 
 ARTH. Eight battles have I won ; 
 
 Two fortresses ; but I have lost as much 
 In confidence. For there 's a change, Cador, 
 In quality, 1 cannot understand, 
 Amongst my people. 
 
 CAD. I am still the same. 
 
 ARTH. I think you are ; but we are growing old. 
 The phantom outposts of a vanished world, 
 The weary servants of a state long dead 
 Such are we. Time outstrides our slender use, 
 And I have only striven for an end 
 To find it worthless. God must have some plan 
 Which we in faith most diligently baulk. 
 
 CAD. What can I say? 
 
 ARTH. Some comfort. No ! More truth 
 
 Lives in your silence than a wealth of words. 
 
 CAD. (laughs^ and is silent for a time.) 
 
 You look too far. As like as not this realm 
 Is doomed ! 
 
 ARTH. I think so. 
 
 CAD. Let it be. The end 
 
 Is no great matter ; it provides a phase 
 Of pleasant action and sweet enterprise : 
 If we are old, this ominous strange hour 
 Should give us pleasure : we can round our lives 
 With a fine end. Man lives too easily : 
 His birth concerns him not ; his youth 
 Is spent in learning ; often all his life 
 Is waste incarnate. Therefore he is glad 
 To make his end a picture and a grace
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 79 
 
 He lacked before ; so we '11 end worthily 
 And drag the mass in spite of them to act, 
 Make cowards heroes, common men high souls : 
 Thus shall we do more service to the world 
 Than conquerors 
 
 ARTH. High speech ! 
 
 CAD. My King, be strong ! 
 
 ARTH. The stamped fire smoulders, and oppression fails 
 To quench its ardency. I '11 stand. 
 I will persist : our breed 's too hot to end.! 
 No more exalting : common measures now ! 
 We must make sure these Saxons gain no ground. 
 After Mount Badon we did press them hard, 
 And by our swiftness had the space to foil 
 Their certain purpose. All 's to do again ! 
 Since we must strike, let it be quick and sure ! 
 Therefore, I purpose to detach the best 
 Of all my forces for thine own command 
 To hold these Angles, till I am assured 
 Of the true moment when I may deal well 
 And strongly with them. 
 
 CAD. I do understand. 
 
 ARTH. Take whom thou wilt, for there 's a need in this 
 Of subtle leading. 
 
 CAD. I '11 take Lanval, then : 
 
 After Mount Badon he served under me, 
 And I was holpen better than I dared 
 
 Expect of him. 
 ARTH. He is a noble knight, 
 
 Much loved of me. Your commendation proves 
 That we have yet amongst our younger men 
 
 Something of worth. 
 CAD. For his nobility
 
 8o LANVAL ACT in 
 
 And all his virtues, whatsoe'er they are, 
 I do not care. He has an eye for ground, 
 The trick of leading and the qualities 
 Which make a soldier. He may have as well 
 A hundred traits most notable and fair. 
 But virtues never won a battle yet, 
 And noble thoughts are but poor armoury 
 When steel 's in question. 
 
 ARTH. Cador, enough of this 
 
 Stale babbling talk. I am now concentrate 
 And set upon the problem of this hour. 
 Trouble me not : I am at chess with fate, 
 And faiths, opinions, personal device 
 May be considered, weighed, but not abused 
 By answering. I have my text and view, 
 My sight of honour. I know well enough, 
 The world is coloured different for each soul, 
 That vice and virtue are convenience, 
 But for the action of my simple self 
 I have rough rules. There is a justice set 
 Which, good or ill, suffices for the time, 
 O'erstep it not ! 
 
 CAD. Pardon, Sire. 
 
 ARTH. Go now, 
 
 And haste our measures. No, no words, go now. 
 
 (Exit Cador.) 
 
 ARTH. I grow too harsh. O God, I do not dread 
 The chance of battle, favour of the field 
 Strange as it is, so much as the grim fall 
 That one endures by constant savagery. 
 Strife gets a hold upon the growth of man 
 As fire upon a thicket. There will stand
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 8 1 
 
 But the bare trunks where once a forest swelled ; 
 
 Our leaf and flower will be all consumed, 
 
 And all our lawns be ash, grey shifting ash. 
 
 Flame could not bite, was not our herbage rank 
 
 And dry and sapless ? Let it go, the stuflF 
 
 Is better burned. Aye, all our imagery, 
 
 Our time-worn fashions, fruitless, lush beliefs 
 
 Shrivel and smoulder to enrich the soil. 
 
 Still, there are roots no fire can reach to them ; 
 
 Though we seem bare, our tangled strength remains 
 
 The base of things. Plain service to the world, 
 
 Common fulfilment, common life and blunt 
 
 Plain honour. Off, all foul complexity ! 
 
 And folly reign ! (Enter The Queen.) 
 
 ARTH. Ah ! Guinevere, well met. 
 
 I need thy presence to divert my thoughts, 
 For I do feel this time looks hungrily 
 Upon us all. But we will now forget 
 Its sullen meaning. 
 
 GUIN. Thou did'st send for me ? 
 
 ARTH. True, I did so. We meet not often now, 
 For 'twixt the pleasures of a gentle court, 
 And the bare motion of a state at work 
 There is much severance. 
 
 GUIN. Thou hast need of me 
 
 For other usage than the tale of hours 
 Of solemn counsel, measures, means and ends ; 
 At least I trust so, for I have no love 
 For the gross detail of this governance. 
 
 ARTH. Why, Guinevere, thou knowest all too well 
 I irk thee not with aught of government ; 
 But bid thine eyes look gently on the world
 
 82 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 And see but fairness. All that 's grim and harsh 
 Becomes mine office. Do I use thee ill ? 
 
 GUIN. Do I complain ? 
 
 ARTH. But thou art not so kind 
 
 As thou wast once. I would not thus intrude 
 
 Necessity upon thy pleasures' room 
 
 Were I not driven. But a king 's no man, 
 
 His soul is swallowed in his offices, 
 
 And though he guides he 's but the instrument 
 
 Of his endeavour. 
 
 GUIN. What is it ? 
 
 ARTH. We march 
 
 Once more against our enemies, and thus 
 I am compelled to close our Court again. 
 There '11 be no pleasure, feasting, tilt, or joy 
 Within these Halls for many weary days. 
 The age grows angry, and our climate turns 
 To bitter autumn. 
 
 GUIN. If it must be so 
 
 I shall not care. 
 
 ARTH. So should every Queen 
 
 Accept such knowledge. I am heartened now 
 To front the worst our sullen fortune brings : 
 Let us forget it. I have troubled thee 
 With terms thou hatest ; I '11 do so no more, 
 But turn myself into the gentle world 
 Wherein thou livest. I will try to think 
 Of pleasant phrases. In my mind break lance, 
 Hunt in the forest, fly my hawks abroad, 
 Assume the manner of steel sweetly hid 
 In silk and samite. Will it please thee, sweet ? 
 
 GUIN. How can I tell?
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 83 
 
 ARTH. Nay, come, be kindly now, 
 
 Forget the shadows that live over us, 
 And be content to welcome the dull beams 
 That glance between them. Tell me, did'st thou see 
 The recent combat ? Sir Lanval, I am told, 
 Overthrew with ease Sir Agravaine, his foe, 
 And might have slain him. 
 
 GUIN. True, 
 
 I did behold it. 
 
 ARTH. He 's a worthy knight. 
 
 It is not often that I grant the field 
 On such a question. Many make their name 
 A cause of battle : hang their honour out 
 As 't were a sign to lure some customer 
 To challenge it. Then they grow overbold, 
 Assume a greatness from a lack of trade, 
 And earn a lesson. 
 
 GUIN. Men can gain a cause 
 
 By other methods than their skill or strength. 
 
 ARTH. By what means? 
 
 GUIN. Foul means, 
 
 Or else enchantment. 
 
 ARTH. Nay, thou art unjust, 
 
 And hast been so since the first day he came 
 Into my court. I know I was at fault 
 In my neglect of his good qualities, 
 And came near losing some sweet services 
 By lack of notice. That is remedied, 
 And it doth shame me that I once forbade 
 Him his advancement. 
 
 GUIN. It will shame thee more 
 
 To lack discernment, find thy judgment false.
 
 84 LANVAL ACT m 
 
 ARTH. I shall not do so. There is none I trust 
 More heartily. Why, I am even now 
 Content to lay the safety of this realm 
 Within his keeping. Cador of Cornwall asks 
 For his assistance : is he too deceived ? 
 
 GUIN. And wherefore not ; is it the privilege 
 Of kings to be deceived ? This man 
 That stands so high in all your estimates 
 Is but a traitor. 
 
 ARTH. This is intolerance 
 
 Mated with folly. 
 
 GUIN. Can I not shew cause 
 
 For accusation ? 
 
 ARTH. I will hear it out. 
 
 GUIN. Did not Sir Lanval leave this Court in wrath 
 Two years ago ? 
 
 ARTH. Have 1 not said, I know 
 
 I was at fault? 
 
 GUIN. He left in wrath unmarked 
 
 Because his merit was unrecognised, 
 Or that the wastage of his life had left 
 Him no subsistence. Since in idle pomps 
 He aped the manner and the shape of kings, 
 Scattered his gold to all that asked of him, 
 So came at last to be impoverished, 
 His fellows' scorn ! 
 
 ARTH. Then they lacked courtesy 
 
 To so disdain him. 
 
 GUIN. Beggared, he left the court ; 
 
 Within three months returned with Prince Geraint, 
 Who swore to trace him for some wager made 
 With Agravaine.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 85 
 
 ARTH. For the cause, I think, 
 
 That Agravaine had called him coward, here 
 During his absence. 
 
 GUIN. It may be so, I know 
 
 That he returned enriched, who had been poor, 
 Within three months : now, aided by Geraint, 
 He climbs to honour, and his falseness masks 
 In easy gifts and prodigal display. 
 
 ARTH. This may be foolish but not treasonable. 
 
 GUIN. Whence came this wealth ? He will not speak of it, 
 Whither he travelled, how he fared or lived. 
 
 ARTH. Is that a treason? Am I king to spy 
 
 On free men's action ; hoard the life and ways 
 Of my own followers as a miser gold ? 
 Beyond the measure that our honour needs, 
 And our state's standing, I have nought to do. 
 Let cease this folly. 'T is not well to cast 
 Such calumny on any knight unless 
 Some proof be present. 
 
 GUIN. But I have a proof. 
 
 ARTH. Some dull suspicion born of prejudice. 
 
 GUIN. Not so, great King, but just that evidence 
 
 Of nature's turning that will bring thee grief. 
 Out of the shadow of suspected aims 
 I would have woven some sufficient tale, 
 Whereby the guilty might find punishment, 
 And thine own soul remain unwrung by shame. 
 But I have lost the counsel of thy heart, 
 And lack thy kindness, even thy belief. 
 
 ARTH. Nay, Guinevere, my fashion has not changed. 
 If I am short, I pray thee, pardon me. 
 The iron savour of these days is foul
 
 86 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 And clogs the palate. I stand like a hart, 
 Bayed by such dangers and so many forms, 
 I cannot watch them. Am I harsh ? Forgive ! 
 But I would not that thou shouldst mingle with 
 Such bitter business. 
 
 GUIN. I would not, my lord, 
 
 Were I not hungry for thine honour's sake, 
 Which I see threatened. 
 
 ARTH. Thou ? 
 
 GUIN. "Tis true. 
 
 But one hour since I bade Sir Lanval come 
 Into my presence. I did then intend 
 To plead with him, since he had won the life 
 Of his opponent. He had power and right 
 Over his person. 
 
 ARTH. That was not well done. 
 
 These questions lie 'twixt men, and men alone, 
 And ye the watchers have no part in them. 
 I do not grant the right of the closed field 
 To make a plaything. 
 
 GUIN. Sire, I found Lynette, 
 
 One of my maidens, loved Sir Agravaine, 
 And was so moved by pity to this course. 
 
 ARTH. There was no need to fear so ill an end. 
 
 GUIN. I could not know, I liked Sir Lanval not, 
 And thought him cruel. 
 
 ARTH. Did he refuse thee ? 
 
 GUIN. Nay. 
 
 ARTH. Then be content : there 's naught of harm in this. 
 
 GUIN. But after that I spoke with him alone. 
 
 ARTH. And what of that? 
 
 GUIN. Canst not guess th' offence ?
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 87 
 
 Must I be forced to put my shame in words? 
 
 Sire, thou dost know the baseness that 's in man, 
 
 And how success can feed his soul with flame, 
 
 Until the fever of his arrogance 
 
 Inflames his senses, and destroys restraint 
 
 In all his nature. 
 ARTH. In some men, perhaps, 
 
 But not in this one. Nay, thou wast deceived, 
 
 I '11 not believe. 
 GUIN. Can I say nothing, then, 
 
 With truth in it? 
 ARTH. I cannot so believe. 
 
 It is too easy in the air of Courts, 
 
 When silken speech takes precedence of truth, 
 
 And the world swings in a vain round of ease, 
 
 To find lust hidden in most common words. 
 
 Ye women live in a thick air of dreams, 
 
 In talk of love, light music of the same, 
 
 Until the thoughts become so bound by it 
 
 They cannot wander. 
 GUIN. Yet thou wilt not believe 
 
 Men grow infected ? 
 ARTH. All folly 's possible, 
 
 But I have trusted and will not believe 
 
 A knight of mine can fail in fealty. 
 
 (Enter Gawain.) 
 GAW. Thy pardon, sire, I have sent forth the call 
 
 To bid our forces gather with all speed ; 
 
 Also fresh news from Persant in the north. 
 ARTH. What now, Gawain ? 
 
 GAW. The Angles march in strength. 
 
 ARTH. Whither?
 
 88 LANVAL 
 
 ACT III 
 
 GAW. Toward the wood of Celyddon. 
 
 ARTH. 'Tis not unlikely. Bid all haste, Gawain ; 
 Within five days we set our standards up, 
 And if it be they seek the forest ways, 
 We shall not fail them. Let our cause be known 
 So may the fire of our intent take hold, 
 And all the hate that smoulders in our souls 
 Flame to fresh fury. 
 
 GAW. Sire, Sir Lanval waits 
 
 To speak with thee if thou hast space to hear 
 Of his petition. 
 
 ARTH. Let him enter. Go 
 
 And bid all barons that have love for us 
 Or for their land, call up their vassalage. 
 
 (Exit Gawain and enter Lanval.) 
 Welcome, Sir Lanval, what would'st thou of me ? 
 
 LAN. Permission, sire, to leave this Court at once, 
 To render up my offices and place. 
 
 ARTH. At such a time? 
 
 LAN. Sire, I have a quest 
 
 That I would follow. 
 
 ARTH. Strange, could'st thou 
 
 Not find some leisure in our days of peace 
 For such a purpose ? 
 
 LAN. I would not have asked 
 
 This boon of thee, did not my fealty 
 Demand it of me. All the faith I have 
 Doth urge me to it. 
 
 ARTH. 'Tis impossible 
 
 At such an hour. I cannot spare a lance. 
 The tide that threatens our existence 
 Tunis to its onset. I am not well pleased
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 89 
 
 That thou, Sir Lanval, should'st ask this of me. 
 
 LAN. Sire, I entreat thee. 
 
 ARTH. 1 will hear no more. 
 
 Since I have use for thy slight services, 
 The Duke of Cornwall shall have aid of them. 
 Avoid my presence. (Exit Lanval.) 
 
 GUIN. Now wilt thou believe ? 
 
 Nay ! 'tis no matter, let all seek my love ; 
 Each battle-brute entreat me like a drab. 
 How should mine honour or thine own outweigh 
 One lance's value ? Let him, being scorned, 
 Taunt me with praises of his paramour, 
 Swear her handmaidens are more fair than I. 
 What is an insult, or gross laughter's scorn, 
 Beside the merit of a practised sword ? 
 The King of Britain, lauded through the world, 
 Must prostitute his honour to the need 
 Of keeping servants. Oh, the shame of it ! 
 
 (The Queen breaks down and weeps.) 
 
 ARTH. Come, Guinevere, what need is there of tears? 
 
 (She turns away from him. He walks up and down 
 irresolutely.) 
 
 God ! How misfortune and ill chance attend 
 My course together. Why should Lanval come 
 And ask this of me ? Shame, perchance regret, 
 It must be ; yet, the gateway of my faith 
 Was barred so firm with confidence in him, 
 It hardly yields to reason. Oh ! I could 
 Be parched with anger, had not life withdrawn 
 All wrath from me and poured into my soul 
 Nothing but sorrow. 1 am sick to think
 
 90 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 Of this base happening. (To Guinevere.) 
 
 Dearest, trust in me : 
 If I have been thus slow to apprehend 
 Thy cause of grief, I will be swift to heal. 
 
 GUIN. Nay, touch me not, for I have lost thy love 
 For such a loss there is no remedy 
 And I am lonely, left to be the butt 
 Of scorn and insult. 
 
 ARTH. Nay, I have not changed, 
 
 Come, tell me all, for surely there should be 
 No shame between us. 
 
 (He sits down by Guinevere.) 
 I can scarce be wroth 
 
 That men grow mad, with such a fairness close 
 Unto their being. 
 
 GUIN. I did so believe, 
 
 And had such comfort of the fancied love, 
 Thou might'st have borne me, that I cannot bear 
 The trickery of words that have no truth. 
 
 ARTH. Nay, Guinevere 
 
 GUIN. I think thou would'st be kind, 
 
 But it is better to be honest now. 
 
 ARTH. Indeed, I love thee as I ever did. 
 
 Thou art to me a very favoured isle, 
 Full of sweet shadows and kind silences, 
 Where, by good chance, the sea-chafed mariner 
 May call at times. Alas, that voyages 
 For the grim commerce of disordered life 
 Make me infrequent! 
 
 (Guinevere rises and goes apart.'] 
 
 GUIN. The same farce of words. 
 
 (Arthur rises to follow her.}
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 91 
 
 Nay, touch me not, for I will not be gulled 
 By any speech. 
 
 ARTH. Come, what is this strange mood ? 
 
 GUIN. I do refuse thy love. Now be assured 
 And tell me that denial matters not, 
 And thou dost love a hundred fairer maids 
 Than I. So slow! Thy very lackeys hold 
 That answer at their lips. (Arthur turns away.) 
 
 Nay see, my lord, 
 
 Since love is perished I must use this shame 
 To trick thy quiet to a nobler fire. 
 
 ARTH. (turning to her] 
 
 Have I not said that I remain unchanged, 
 The same bewildered servant of thine eyes, 
 As when thy father King Leodegrance 
 First led thee to me ? Hast forgotten, sweet, 
 That war and wonder ? 
 
 GUIN. And thou lov'st me still ? 
 
 ARTH. How should I not ? (He tries to draw her to him ; 
 
 she stays him.) 
 
 GUIN. No, touch me not. 
 
 ARTH. How strange ! 
 
 Thou 'It not believe me faithful ? 
 
 GUIN. Well, perchance ! 
 
 Yet how can I believe it, give me proof. 
 
 ARTH. (eagerly} What proof you will ! 
 
 GUIN. Some earnest that this love 
 
 Looks further than its consummation, and enrings 
 My life. 
 
 ARTH. What then ? 
 
 GUIN. If protestation 's true, 
 
 Its act is fulness. If our lives are twin,
 
 92 LANVAL ACT in 
 
 My shame is thine. I come to sanctuary, 
 Hang to the ring of honour and demand 
 More than protection. I have been ashamed, 
 Hunted of clashing, careless, stranger knights, 
 Both sought and scorned. Shall I appeal in vain ? 
 The King is justice and my husband's man, 
 Surely, I cannot be denied of both. 
 
 ARTH. What would you ? 
 
 GUIN. Judgment. Is it not enough 
 
 That I should love that one should offer love 
 And thus offend me ? Must I bear as well 
 His constant presence, the vile memory 
 Of insolence ? 
 
 ARTH. (aside] He was of gentle birth, 
 
 Of good condition, learned in all arts 
 That live with honour, and I have found in him 
 Many sweet gifts and gentle qualities. 
 
 GUIN. And I have none,! I am not gentle, sweet, 
 Nor worth a kindness ! I was sure thy love 
 Ran not beyond the sating of thine hours 
 Of leisure. Now at least we have this gain : 
 Henceforth we shall not any more pretend, 
 But hold our course apart. (She goes away from him.} 
 
 ARTH. (attempting to restrain] Nay, Guinevere 
 
 GUIN. I'll not be handled. If thou must fondle, send 
 For this beloved and foul-speaking knight. 
 Nay, let me speak. Since thou wilt do for me 
 Nothing, since nothing is the very weight 
 Of all my honour, since all ill conceived 
 Against me 's nothing, let this nothing be 
 Hereafter our relation. So from this time forth 
 Between us nothing ! (She moves away.}
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 93 
 
 ARTH. Must it be so ? O God ! 
 
 Why will the lust that lurks in living things 
 
 Afflict men's being. What 's the man to me ? 
 
 Stay, Guinevere, I grant thy cause ! (Going to door] 
 
 Gawain ! 
 (Enter Gawain.) 
 
 Arrest Sir Lanval, keep him in thy ward, 
 
 Then bid Geraint, Owain and Cornwall here. 
 
 I have a cause which must be tried of them, 
 
 And swiftly. 
 GAW. Sire ! 
 
 ARTH. Go, bring them here, I say. 
 
 (Arthur sits down sorrowfully.) (Exit Gawain.) 
 
 GUIN. My King, I thought thou hadst forgotten me 
 
 And feigned a love from kindness. 
 ARTH. An ill thought, 
 
 And a harsh proving ! 
 
 GUIN. We '11 forget it. 
 
 ARTH. Aye, 
 
 Perhaps we shall, for time 's a thief of thoughts ; 
 
 But it is bitter to be told of deeds 
 
 That sully knighthood, and to hear of men 
 
 Of noble bearing fallen into fault. 
 
 How many souls wilt thou drag down to death 
 
 Before the end ? Me, too, perhaps ! 
 GUIN. ( Flinging her arms round him) My King ! 
 
 Curtain.
 
 ACT IV. SCENE I. 
 
 (Three days later.) 
 
 A COUNCIL CHAMBER, CARDUEL. 
 
 Geraint and Agravaine. 
 
 AGR. But have some patience 
 
 GER. Patience ! Here 's the world 
 
 Aflare with swords ; and we are cramped and held 
 For ministration, when our spurring hosts 
 Should ride spear-levelled. 
 
 AGR. They'll have ended this 
 
 Within the hour. 
 
 GER. Have ended ! Aye, but how ? 
 
 Lanval 's accused of a gross falsity, 
 An idle, paltry, and low-seeming crime. 
 But were he guilty (as I '11 not believe), 
 His penalty would far outweigh the deed. 
 The standards of our justice should not be 
 Alike for peace and passion ; but the vice 
 Of quiet should be worth in war. 
 
 AGR. They say the King demands his death. 
 
 GER. The Queen, 
 
 I think more likely. God ! what foolishness 
 To let the practice of the sexes twine 
 Within our usage. 
 
 AGR. A strange heresy !
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 95 
 
 GER. Strange, dost thou find it? Here's a soul of 
 strength, 
 
 As thou should'st know ! 
 AGR. None better ! 
 
 GER. He may be 
 
 Condemned to death or degradation now. 
 
 For what offence ? An insult to a queen ! 
 
 What is an insult to a queen to me? 
 
 A hundred insults to a hundred queens ? 
 
 Is he the slighter if his tongue have slipped ? 
 
 Is he less able in the talk of blades, 
 
 For such a faulting? But thou hast some cause 
 
 To much mislike him ! 
 AGR. I do not, Geraint. 
 
 He overthrew me ; therefore he must be 
 
 One of the noblest, best, most valiant knights 
 
 In all the world. 
 GER. Five days ago he spared 
 
 Your life. 
 AGR. And now to make a pretty tale, 
 
 I should save his ? I would 'twere possible. 
 
 But I await this verdict. How can I 
 
 Divert its issue ? 
 
 GER. I shall show you means. 
 
 AGR. I shall be glad. Oh, the sweet rogue, the rogue ! 
 
 To think he had this hidden ! I was tricked, 
 
 As all of us. 
 
 GER. What mean you ? 
 
 AGR. Why, I 'm kind 
 
 To all that have a likeness to myself. 
 GER. You think 
 
 That of him?
 
 9 6 LANVAL 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 AGR. Surely. Rascal that he is, 
 
 I almost love him ! 
 GER. By God's will, he '11 die 
 
 Before he knows it. 
 AGR. Each to his taste. Here come 
 
 Our solemn judges. God help me, or I'll laugh. 
 (Enter Cador, Gawain, and Owain.) 
 
 My lords, the King impatiently attends 
 
 Upon your judgment. 
 CAD. In a little time 
 
 We shall decide it. 
 AGR. But, my lords, the knights 
 
 And barons murmur. 
 CAD. Go, disturb us not. 
 
 (Exit Agravaine. Gawain and Owain talk apart.') 
 GER. And now, Cador? 
 CAD. Geraint, he has confessed. 
 
 He did compare some paramour of his 
 
 To Guinevere : maintained her fairer far 
 
 Than any damsel of the court. How then 
 
 Shall I believe this taunt was unprovoked 
 
 By some denial ? 
 GER. But he still maintains 
 
 His innocence upon the greater charge. 
 CAD. This is no time to play with subtlety. 
 
 I would have saved him were it possible. 
 
 He loved some woman. It is hers to save, 
 
 At least to prove that vile malignity 
 
 Bred not his words ; and where can she be found? 
 
 Prove her existence ! 
 GER. How can I do so? 
 
 I know her not.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 97 
 
 CAD. Will not Sir Lanval tell 
 
 Her name and habit ? 
 
 GER. I did ask of him ; 
 
 He would not tell it ; only he said to me 
 That never from her should his assistance come. 
 
 CAD. I greatly fear this woman never lived. 
 
 Hast thou, Gawain, heard aught of his desires ? 
 
 GAW. He was much noted that he paid no heed 
 To such adventures. 
 
 CAD. Dost thou know, Owain ? 
 
 Ow. Am I a man to trouble in such case? 
 
 CAD. How can I doubt ? His guilt is evident. 
 
 GER. I think myself his innocence is plain. 
 But have him guilty, 't is convenient, 
 And saves you labour. Cornwall, are you mad ? 
 This man did you some service in the past, 
 And now to serve some fool's fantastic shift 
 Of loyalty, you'll smile his life away 
 His who could aid you ! 
 
 CAD. I, as well as thou, 
 
 Know Lanval's worth. But I will not offend 
 
 The King I serve to save nobility. 
 
 True, it is folly to destroy a soul 
 
 For following nature. True, I cannot tell 
 
 If he be guilty or most innocent. 
 
 True, we shall lose a man of some account ; 
 
 But I'll not risk disunion in our arms, 
 
 The King's suspicion, and the thousand ills 
 
 That have their birth in idle clemency. 
 
 GER. Will that be justice ? 
 
 CAD. Care I if it 's not ? 
 
 I judge this case for plain commodity.
 
 9 8 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 We are too near the savagery of war 
 
 To let one life prevent our purposes. 
 
 Justice itself is but a luxury 
 
 That states which stand beyond their neighbour's 
 
 hopes 
 
 Can well afford. One can do wrong, Geraint, 
 Sobeit action does not foul the wheels 
 Of man's intention. 
 
 GER. So said I, Cador. 
 
 We need no shackles of the common mind. 
 Our lists are open, let all run who can ; 
 What matters guilt? 
 
 CAD. What matters innocence? 
 
 You have a liking for the man, I know ; 
 Not without cause. For you he is a shape 
 Bright in our shadows with the light he draws 
 From your affection. We, indifferent, 
 See but a motion irksome, irritant 
 In our estate. 
 
 GER. I see you mean him ill. 
 
 CAD. I never wished a harm to any man 
 
 In all my workings. But in nature's course 
 I have wrecked many. See, Owain is wroth, 
 And the grim chariot of our life rolls on. 
 
 Ow. (who has been looking from the window) 
 
 God 1 To be hampered in one's natural work 
 For such a case 1 Here see the clustered spears, 
 The glaives and axes of the gathered tribes 
 Waiting for us ! Our banners are unfurled, 
 The lazy standards and forked pennons droop 
 And lisp in air. And we alone are dull, 
 ' Wasting the hours that give our homes and lands
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 99 
 
 To strangers' holding ! 
 CAD. Patience, good Owain. 
 
 Let not the presence of this movement mar 
 
 Our graver judgment. 
 GAW. Why should we delay? 
 
 Are we not bound by laws of chivalry ? 
 
 We much condemn such action as this man 
 
 Acknowledges. For to excuse this fault 
 
 Were to lend men too great a power of scorn. 
 
 We have some name for honour in the world. 
 
 Shall we give cause that all may say of us, 
 
 u Thus do his vassals honour Arthur's wife ! 
 
 " This is the kindness and nobility 
 
 " Of British princes ! " ? Is not all our state 
 
 Based upon customs which this man offends ? 
 
 The law condemns him. 
 
 (Re-enter Agravaine.) 
 GER. And how oft, Gawain, 
 
 Hast thou gone free when, had the law received 
 
 Some strict enforcement, thou hadst earned more 
 pain 
 
 Than Lanval has ? 
 GAW. Am I the prisoner ? 
 
 And must I answer for my honour now ? 
 AGR. I hope not, brother. I am here prepared 
 
 To be a witness. I could tell a tale 
 
 Of forest meetings, love-quests sought, achieved, 
 
 Some say unwillingly. 
 GER. And more, Gawain. 
 
 How used you Pelleas ? 
 GAW. As well as I 
 
 Shall answer for. My failing gives no grace,
 
 100 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 No right of entry to our counselling. 
 
 Stay by your rhyming Agravaine, and leave 
 
 This cause to us. 
 AGR. My I not then disclose 
 
 My poor opinion? 
 GAW. Poor it is ! 
 
 AGR. Of you, 
 
 No doubt, my brother. But of other men 
 
 A little different. 
 
 GAW. This concerns you not. 
 
 AGR. There ye mistake you. I am much concerned ; 
 
 Ye try a lust, and who 's more competent 
 
 Than 1 to judge it? Is there lechery? 
 
 I am its master ! There 's no crime of love 
 
 But I have touched it. 
 CAD. Agravaine, our time 
 
 Brooks not such hindrance. 
 AGR. Nay, I help your dense 
 
 Old wrinkled thoughts. Our King 's enangered, 
 hot 
 
 Upon his purpose. Judge as best you can, 
 
 He will accept it. 
 Ow. Why must we be let 
 
 By one who 's proved a liar ? 
 AGR. Is it worse 
 
 To be a liar than a butcher ? Then 
 
 I hope that Lanval's guilty. He may come 
 
 To be as fair a rascal as I am. 
 Ow. We '11 push him to a better end. 
 AGR. No doubt, 
 
 For death 's your woman ! A foul taste, Owain, 
 
 To wish your mistress common.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 101 
 
 CAD. This address 
 
 Will do your man small service. 
 
 AGR. I could never hope 
 
 To help him much. I had to speak or laugh, 
 And laughter would have hurt you more than 
 words. 
 
 CAD. I see small cause for it. 
 
 AGR. Why look, Cador ; 
 
 Of you I will say nothing, for I think 
 You 're kindly minded : but behold Owain, 
 Our swart old savage handler of the sword, 
 A judge of love! Gawain, the advocate 
 Or all the virtues, and the father too 
 Of sundry bastards ! 
 
 GAW. Come, this goes too far ; 
 An' I were not your brother 
 
 AGR. You would lack 
 
 Even a conscience. 
 
 Ow. (to Cador) Will you still endure 
 
 This chattering fool ? 
 
 CAD. Must I be judge as well 
 
 Of your opinions on each other's fame? 
 Drink in this vile detraction while our arms 
 Await their leaders ? Ye do much mistake 
 The office ye fulfil. We '11 speak 
 Only of this which lies before us now. 
 No more, Geraint, I know your arguments. 
 Our task is simple. We have but to prove 
 The value, measure, and extent of ill. 
 Is folly sin? I think this man's more fool 
 Than traitorous. 
 
 GAW. I do regret, Cador,
 
 102 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 This idle treatment of the very crime 
 
 That suckles evil. Is not chivalry 
 
 Ordained to tread such humours to the ground ? 
 
 CAD. Aye, so it is. I value it myself 
 
 As just a charm to school souls passionate, 
 But not a custom whose infraction needs 
 Dread penalties. 
 
 GAW. But still it is our law. 
 
 f If knightliness be nothing, what are we ? 
 
 Ow. Great talkers, at the least. 
 
 CAD. Tis true. 
 
 Well, now, to finish : for some foolish speech, 
 And still more foolish action, we condemn 
 The likeliest leader who served under me. 
 How punish him ? 
 
 GAW. Death is the simplest way 
 
 To free ourselves from all embarrasment. 
 
 CAD. And thou, Owain? 
 
 Ow. I say kill, hang, or burn. 
 
 I for myself think that he 's innocent ; 
 But this displeasure that his trial gives 
 Can serve for guilt. All 's guilty which will stand 
 Between our nature and its purposes : 
 So I condemn him for his innocence 
 That fawns on folly. 
 
 CAD. What say'st thou, Geraint ? 
 
 GER. Nothing as yet. 
 
 AGR. (Aside to Geraint) It will go hard with him. 
 
 How strange it is that men hate most the deeds 
 In others which they practice of themselves. 
 What foolishness ! 
 
 GER. I have a stroke to play
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 103 
 
 Beyond their humour. 
 
 CAD. 1 like it not. This man 
 
 Deserves not death, for we must not use laws 
 To lop our trunk of its most worthy limbs. 
 Upon the basis of some idle words 
 Shall we build scaffolds ? 
 
 GAW. Is it not enough 
 
 That our agreement smoulders into wrath ? 
 What skill or courage balances the state 
 Of festering discord and half-veiled mistrust, 
 That we must enter if he stay with us ? 
 Come, let the winds of resolution sweep 
 Away this mist wherein our souls do stand 
 Fiercely opponent. 
 
 Ow. Cornwall, let him die. 
 
 Why should this life hold all of us in leash, 
 When we are straining to take up the scent, 
 And run our quarry ? 
 
 CAD. If it must be death 
 
 GER. I say it shall not ! 
 
 GAW. Three are well agreed. 
 
 GER. I am not with you. Let this sentence pass, 
 And while I live it shall not be fulfilled, 
 Not if the blades of Devon can forbid 
 Its execution. 
 
 GAW. Are we slighted thus ? 
 
 This is rebellion ! 
 
 GER. Call it what you will 1 
 
 There is a limit to all fealty. 
 I know no oath that I have ever sworn 
 Which bids me help injustice with my arms, 
 Or stand by quiet whilst ye brush aside
 
 104 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 A man's existence for your several ends. 
 
 Must I endure it ? Must I sacrifice 
 
 My friend to ease the workings of your craft ? 
 
 Ye plead the motion of this war demands 
 
 Lanval's destruction ; but I think ye need 
 
 The power and forces that I now command 
 
 No less than that. Choose ye ! If Lanval dies, 
 
 No man of Devon shall lay hand to blade ; 
 
 Assist, acknowledge, or play party with 
 
 Your purpose. 
 
 AGR. (Aside) Now swell with righteous rage ; 
 Have at him, brother ! 
 
 GAW. Is this a time for threats, 
 
 An hour wherein to gender civil strife ? 
 
 GER. 'T is not my seeking. 
 
 CAD. I know well, Geraint, 
 
 We cannot spare thee. Yet it is ill done 
 If thou dost seek from out our poverty 
 To force acquittance of a natural crime. 
 
 GER. 1 ask but justice. 
 
 CAD. Am I a vampire then, 
 
 Who gluts himself upon the blood of man ? 
 Come, let us reason. We must needs condemn. 
 Were we to quit him, could our King believe 
 That we who held his honour in such scorn 
 Were true and faithful ! Would he not suspect ? 
 And God ! the need is heavy on us now 
 Of confidence. I wish this man no ill, 
 Dost thou, Owain ? 
 
 Ow. I liked him well. 
 
 CAD. And thou? 
 
 GAW. Before this failing he had all the gifts
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 105 
 
 Of chivalry. 
 
 CAD. See thou, Geraint, we seek 
 
 His condemnation not of our own selves, 
 But of the flood wherein our persons merge. 
 Did not occasion so constrain our ends, 
 We 'd soon acquit him ; so he 'd live again, 
 Chastened of sorrow, to redeem his fault, 
 And future deeds do penance for all hurt. 
 
 GER. Can they not still ? 
 
 CAD. There is no future now, 
 
 But only present. 
 
 GER. He might still atone, 
 
 And do you service. 
 
 CAD. I do wish he could. 
 
 Most wrongs are deeds in idleness conceived, 
 Which have the fashion of true worth in them 
 Born at ill times. 
 
 GER. Can he have no escape ? 
 
 I do supppose that it seems foul in me 
 To have no passion for this state and realm. 
 Yet 1 have served it and done certain deeds 
 For its advancement. Aye, the four of us 
 Have knit the threads of Britain in a web, 
 To stay all onset. This we did as friends, 
 And now this friendship will not grant a life 
 For friendship's sake. And, sirs, he used you well. 
 I am not 'customed to plead thus with men, 
 Nor am I prone to waste my love on such 
 As need excuses. Discord 's in the air, 
 Then drive me not to severance of our bonds. 
 
 GAW. What power have we that are the instruments 
 Of law and custom ?
 
 I0 6 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 CAD. Ask us not, Geraint, 
 
 To shrink from judgment I 
 
 AGR. (Aside) How noble are we all ! 
 
 This virtue 's catching ; we shall have a plague 
 Of this same honour ! 
 
 Ow. Hearken now, ye lords, 
 
 And let my bluntness put an end to words. 
 I held a liking for this fellow once, 
 Since I believed he scorned, as well -as I, 
 The love adventures, idle quests and aims, 
 In fact, all folly that this court adores. 
 Since he proved foolish I have lost all care. 
 Had but the fool denied this idle taunt, 
 And straight acknowledged that heloved the Queen, 
 We might have saved him. I advised you kill. 
 Death's cheap enough, and we have learnt long since 
 How to inflict it. Since Geraint withstands 
 The better issue, I'll not baulk his love, 
 Though I despise it, and believe that harm 
 Will come of it. I bid you banish him. 
 Proclaim him guilty, honourless and foul, 
 Henceforth degraded from this company. 
 Let him go out and see this court no more. 
 So shall this cause which doth offend all ears 
 Be dead and ended. 
 
 CAD. What say'st thou, Gawain ? 
 
 GAW. Owain is right. Let it be banishment. 
 
 GER. My friend degraded ! Better death than that ; 
 I 'm fouled with him. 
 
 CAD. Enough, the King is here. 
 
 (Enter Arthur and a company?) 
 
 ARTH. Your verdicts, lords ! Ye dally overlong.
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 107 
 
 CAD. Sire, we agree. 
 
 GER. Nay, I do not. 
 
 CAD. We three 
 
 Have thus determined that Sir Lanval leave 
 This court for ever, having been proclaimed 
 Unworthy of true men's respect. His name 
 To be unknown among us. 
 
 ARTH. It is well. 
 
 (Enter Gyfert and some of his men to Geraint. 
 Others to different knights.} 
 
 GER. Is there no court in all the world but this ? 
 
 While I am prince my home is open court 
 
 Unto Sir Lanval. 
 ARTH. It is not well, Geraint, 
 
 To so outface me, nor to lay thy speech 
 
 Against the manner of thy peers' consent. 
 
 I did not think Geraint should prove him false. 
 GER. Were I to yield and idly acquiesce 
 
 In such gross judgment as these barons give, 
 
 Who trim their sails by breath of their desires 
 
 And let the import of their careless heart* 
 
 Go cloaked as justice, I were false indeed. 
 
 False to myself and falser still to thee ; 
 
 But I '11 be honest and confess my thoughts. 
 
 Shall I from fear of the disdain of these 
 
 Refuse a shelter to what soul I will ? 
 ARTH. Thy fealty doth bind thee to my cause, 
 
 And this defection is as sour a crime 
 
 As e'er was thought on. 
 GER. But there is no need 
 
 To fear defection. None shall say Geraint,
 
 io8 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 The son of Erbin, failed in his account. 
 This much for me. Unto the King I owe 
 All body service. While my limbs and power 
 Of blade^or lance rest with me they shall be 
 Thine instrument ; and while this life is mine 
 God, king, or devil shall not tear from me 
 What I protect. 
 
 GAW. Is this not treason ? 
 
 ARTH. Stay. 
 
 Proclaim the verdict of these lords abroad ; 
 Let all the followers and our retinue 
 Know that Sir Lanval is adjudged as base, 
 False to his order, to his fealty, 
 To all that's honest. 
 
 GER. (Aside) Gyfert ! 
 
 GYF. Here, my lord. 
 
 GER. Go to Sir Lanval ; I 'm his surety, 
 
 And bring him to me. We shall lead the van. 
 
 GYF. I will, my lord. 
 
 ARTH. I could be wroth, Geraint, 
 
 For 1 have trusted much to thy great soul ; 
 But all prove false. So we '11 not speak of it, 
 For this dishonour is to me the man, 
 And for my kingship I '11 endure it so, 
 Being no longer man, but only king. 
 Amid the turmoil of these troubled days 
 The mist and wrack where wallows all our state, 
 My happiness, my pleasure and my faith 
 Are all gone down. Let then my honour go 
 And sink with them. Geraint, take thou thy task. 
 
 GER. 1 lead the van. 
 
 ARTH. I have not yet deprived
 
 SCENE i LANVAL 109 
 
 Thee of thine office. Go, be false or true 
 As it shall please thee ! I must cringe to man 
 And beg his service. 
 GER. Sire, if I offend 
 
 Or wrong thy service, may the devil tear 
 
 IVIy soul alive from its still quivering flesh, 
 
 And may have done, the very oaths sound false ! 
 
 I 'm sick of speech ! God's curse upon our talk, 
 
 And all the damnable dim sympathies 
 
 That cloud our passage. To the proof I go. 
 
 Let all I am stand to the test of war. 
 
 (Exit Geraint.) 
 
 Curtain. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 Another part of the forest. The ground rises at back of stage to a ridge. 
 Beyond in the distance a line of wooded hills faint in the moonlight. As. 
 the Act continues the dawn begins, and towards the end of the Act a red 
 light beats up out of the valley. When the scene opens it is nearly dark, 
 the moon slanting through the branches in places. 
 
 Time. Three days elapse between Scenes I. and II. 
 
 The two charcoal-burners are conversing in a low tone. 
 
 1 C.B. And now you Ve dragged me four mile and more, 
 
 what 's the trouble ? 
 
 2 C.B. Do you know the light of burning thatch ? 
 i C.B. Surely.
 
 1 10 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 2 C.B. Well I 've seen it away north, and I Ve seen a. 
 mort of men down over the ford, and that 's 
 enough to bring me to the woods. I fetched 
 you along to be neighbourly. 
 
 1 C.B. And them over the ford, they '11 be knights ? 
 
 2 C.B. They're none of ours, and anyhow we're best 
 
 clear of them. 
 
 1 C.B. Foreigners? 
 
 2 C.B. Tis likely. There's a sight of strangers cutting 
 
 into the land, or we'd have had no need to shift 
 hereabouts. And now we're best away south 
 again. 
 
 1 C.B. Why, we're safe enough here. Though I'm not 
 
 fond of the woods after dark. There's more 
 in them than I care to meet. 
 
 2 C.B. Likely enough. I'll not call you a liar for that. 
 
 But speaking of fears, do ye mind a knight that 
 was lost, and came near getting us hemp collars? 
 
 1 C.B. Sure I do. 
 
 2 C.B. He's lost again. I saw him yester noon, a-ravaging 
 
 through the woods like a rutting stag. 
 
 1 C.B. Never! 
 
 2 C.B. I 'm honest enough. 'T is the same man. 
 
 1 C.B. D' ye think they '11 pay for his finding again ? 
 
 2 C.B. He seems middling precious. Any way, I 
 
 marked him down. Yes, I've harboured him. 
 Now if any tufter comes, we'll stand fast and 
 make our price. 
 
 1 C.B. Halves. 
 
 2 C.B. I '11 give you your share, no more. He's my find. 
 
 1 C.B. You're a mean stoat. 
 
 2 C.B. See here, man, I 've treated you neighbourly.
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL in 
 
 Look yonder, where our huts are. What's 
 there ? 
 
 1 C.B. Smoke! 
 
 2 C.B. Aye, you've need to be glad you 're not being cured. 
 
 1 C.B. Let's get out of this! 
 
 2 C.B. And leave my find? Not I ! It wants an hour of 
 
 dawn : we're sure enough till the light comes. 
 
 1 C.B. Still ! I heard a branch crack. 
 
 2 C.B. This side. (Enter Bernardo.) 
 BER. Just to this ridge ! I dare not go beyond. 
 
 If he have passed it, there's an end of all. 
 Why, what are ye ? 
 
 2 C.B. Poor men, sir. 
 
 BER. Stand away : 
 
 If old, I 'm not unhandy. Of what race 
 Are ye ? 
 
 2 C.B. Good sir, my father was a minder of cows, but I 
 have an uncle that was follower of a great lord 
 at Bassa, till they hanged him. 
 
 BER. Of what profession are you? 
 
 2 C.B. Of my uncle's, sir. 
 
 BER. What's that? 
 
 2 C.B. Why, doing well until you're hanged 
 
 for it. Doing as you're told and keeping away 
 from any that can tell you ; making a profit 
 with two spears' length start of the dealer ; 
 being a very firm upholder of all wars where 
 others do the fighting. My trade is charcoal 
 burning. 
 
 BER. You know this country? 
 
 2 C.B. Well enough. 
 
 BER. Have you
 
 112 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 Or your companions seen a wandering knight ? 
 2 C.B. A wild fellow in a mail shirt, wandering and 
 cursing ? A man that goes fingering the rough 
 bark of trees, and frowning and stumbling all 
 across the woods ? Such a one ? 
 BER. It might be so. 
 
 2 C.B. I'll lead you to him at a price. 
 
 BER. There is no need. (Lanval enters behind and halts 
 
 in (C) of stage.} 
 Sir Lanval ! Good, my lord 
 
 Will you not answer ? (Lanval turns away} 
 
 2 C.B. There 's ungratefulness ! 
 
 He's come a-purpose, lest we might be paid 
 
 For finding him. 
 BER. Sir, I have known you long 
 
 And merit not such usage. 
 LAN. Is there not 
 
 A single refuge or forgotten spot 
 
 Where this dogged custom fails ? 
 BER. My lord, 
 
 I heartened you some years ago, when dull 
 
 And discontented you abjured this land, 
 
 So hear me now. 
 LAN. Bernardo, all my rage 
 
 Was vented then upon the world. But since, 
 
 I Ve learnt to blame myself, not circumstance. 
 BER. Is this the man that faced all Mantua, 
 
 And held his honour up against the world ? 
 LAN. Aye, this is he. What would you of the ghost 
 
 Which once was man? 
 BER. My lord, I knew you well 
 
 When I was active. But the bitter clime,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 113 
 
 The raw fierce action of this troubled state 
 Has wrinkled us together. And we yearn alike 
 For the fair spaces of the southern coasts. 
 
 LAN. I shall not see them. Nor do I desire 
 To gain such ease. 
 
 BER. My lord, in Italy 
 
 LAN. I have forsworn it. I have cursed all lands, 
 And yet, Bernardo, thou dost not believe 
 That 1 am guilty ? 
 
 BER. Nay, my lord, I know 
 
 It is not just. 
 
 LAN. Such faith should soften me, 
 
 Whom certain ills have hardened. 
 
 BER. O my lord, 
 
 Come hence with me. 
 
 LAN. Wherefore should I ? 
 
 BER. There's room 
 
 For honour yet abroad. 
 
 LAN. Is there a court 
 
 In Christendom where it will not be known 
 That 1 'm dishonoured ? Let the stripling fools 
 Who follow fame seek honour at my hands : 
 For here 's a man whose death would bring them 
 
 worth, 
 
 Since I am one with savage, beast and thief, 
 And not as worthy as the butchering lords 
 That foul these borders. No, give me a bell, 
 And let me sound my coming to all men 
 As do the lepers : let them step aside 
 And shirk the wrong they gave me. 
 
 BER. But my lord 
 
 LAN. No, no, Bernardo. Leave me as 1 am.
 
 U4 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 These woods are kinder than the paths of men : 
 They give me shelter, but the bitter souls 
 Whom I have served have taken everything. 
 I squandered on them liking, wealth and life, 
 And they return me scorn. What is there left ? 
 They 've had my service, honour, youth and name ; 
 They sucked my being : at a harlot's word 
 They spat me out. This mire is honesty. 
 This thicket clearness, and the sleeting night 
 Warm covering, while I remember them. 
 
 BER. Your wrath is just, but bear a little while 
 
 With the sour treatment of the world. And then 
 We '11 toss the past, its broken shafts and shields 
 Into a corner. 
 
 LAN. Can faith live so long ? 
 
 You should know man. 
 
 BER. I do. 
 
 LAN. Yet you'd persuade 
 
 Me back to them. Nay, I am better here. 
 Naught 's fair in dreams but some reality, 
 And in the real nothing 's good but dreams. 
 Here I come closer to essential things, 
 Here will I stand before the veil of life 
 And wait its lifting. 
 
 BER. But, my lord, our foes 
 
 The white-shield Angles lie beyond this vale, 
 Lovers of blood who spare no living thing. 
 
 LAN. And what of them ? They can but add my death 
 To my account, and that's a certain debt 
 Which all must pay. They'll pile no infamy 
 Upon my name ; they '11 not first fondle me, 
 Then spurn me like a dog. I shall be glad
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 115 
 
 To meet with them ; for such sword-ending is 
 
 Most honourable treatment. 
 BER. Hark, my lord, 
 
 I hear men's movement in the valley, feet 
 
 That crush the bracken. Come away, my lord. 
 LAN. Stand to it, fool, this is as kind a spot 
 
 As we shall find. (A noise in the valley.) 
 
 1 C.B. Come away, man, there are some good thick 
 
 places near here. 
 
 2 C.B. He owes me something for finding him. 
 
 1 C.B. You'll be paid with a clout, if I know the look 
 
 of man. 
 
 2 C.B. Well, let 's get away, then. 
 
 (Exeunt the two charcoal-burners.) 
 LAN. Go thou, Bernardo. 
 BER. Nay, my lord, I stay, 
 
 At least stand here in shadow. * They may pass. 
 (Enter from back Geraint, Gyfert and 
 
 several men-at-arms!) 
 GER. Back, Beric, tell thy captain that his posts 
 
 Must watch the ford; if 'saulted, hold their ground 
 As best they can, and bid him send to me 
 Report of any movement. (Exit man-at-arms.) 
 
 (To remainder) Take your rest. 
 You sent a runner, Gyfert, to the south ; 
 Has he returned? 
 
 GYF. Not yet, my lord. 
 
 GER. We've swinged 
 
 The hornets' nest, and left them buzzing. 
 
 (Gyfert goes to the ridge and comes back.) 
 GYF. Still 
 
 As yet.
 
 n 6 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 GER. Too quiet, they'll be up anon 
 
 And we shall feel them. Oh, a thousand men ! 
 Only a thousand of my moorland glaives, 
 And all the rest of Britain could stand off 
 And see me match them ! 
 
 G YF. (Moving across the stage) We Ve a clear space here 
 At least for action. Out, you skulking dogs ! 
 
 (He sees Bernardo and Lanval.) 
 Out of the shadow ! 
 
 GER. (Striding across to Gyfert) Why, what's here? 
 
 Old man ! 
 
 This is no place for long-beards. By the saints ! 
 Bernardo ! Lanval ! Sure the fates have changed 
 Their ancient purpose : but how came ye here ? 
 Why, Lanval, didst thou fly me ? I had meant 
 As surety to bring thee to this war, 
 Where we might gather honour. Thou art come 
 Alone, unarmed ! 
 
 LAN. I came of my own will, 
 
 With but one purpose, to be free of all 
 The cankering trouble of your squalid state, 
 But I can find no refuge. Let me go, 
 I seek some covert like a wounded beast, 
 Where I can brood to death. 
 
 GER. I know the cause 
 
 Of this despair. Give me your hand. Think now 
 I hold dishonour ? Has my grasp a lack 
 Of strength in it ? 
 
 LAN. Thou hast been friend to me 
 
 Beyond my merit. I have been so pricked 
 In comradeship that I must do the last 
 Good deed of kinship. Let me go, Geraint,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 117 
 
 I am pollution, although innocent. 
 I shall infect the fashion of thy days, 
 Draw the black wings of sour suspicion down 
 Upon thy being. I am a man condemned, 
 Pronounced degraded, and no innocence 
 Can change my fashion. Let me go. I spoil 
 Thy whole existence. I am outcast now. 
 
 GER. I need thy service. 
 
 LAN. My best service is 
 
 To stand as far as may be from thy path. 
 
 GER. I tell thee, Lanval, I '11 not hear of this. 
 The swollen torrent of grim circumstance 
 Swept us together, and upon its flood 
 Have we come down. I know not why we met, 
 Nor do I care so greatly for the cause 
 Of our adherence. It is possible 
 To make a virtue of one's tendencies, 
 When by some chance an instinct follows straight 
 On kindly endings. I am not acting now 
 As chosen helper of true worth distressed, 
 But I do this because I'll not be baulked 
 Of what I please ; and, to be frank, I think 
 My liking for thee is but selfishness. 
 Condemned or not, I hold my course the same. 
 Let us abide it. 
 
 LAN. Is it not enough 
 
 That I must suffer for such sodden crime 
 As I ne'er dreamt on. Is it not enough 
 That I must drift upon the sullen stream, 
 Like some wan lily of the autumn time, 
 In which the fairness and the flavour 's dead ; 
 A thing repugnant, destined to the ooze
 
 n8 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 That beds the river ? God ! the little good 
 That I can do thee is to leave this place, 
 Or to rush idly on my fate beyond. 
 
 GER. I say thou shalt not. If need be, I stay 
 
 Thy passage hence, e'en by the force of arms. 
 
 Come, man ! I thought there was more mettle here 
 
 Than such abasement shows. Art thou 
 
 So much a coward that the foolish fates 
 
 Have but to strike and thou art recreant ? 
 
 Honour 's no virgin to be easy soiled 
 
 By life's first contact. There is naught we lose 
 
 Which we may not hack out of time again, 
 
 If we but hold the courage to outface 
 
 Our bitter fortunes. 
 
 LAN. Think not that I fear 
 
 To see my life out : but foul influence 
 Rules all my doings. 
 
 GER. Thou hast cause for wrath, 
 
 But rage should not be wasted on oneself 
 While work's toward. Dishonour's drowned 
 
 in blood, 
 And names grow taintless in the fire of war. 
 
 LAN. Why wilt thou drag me to the profitless 
 And empty quarrel of this bitten realm ? 
 I am aweary of it. 
 
 GER. And I am no less. 
 
 Lanval, see this, my will has been the spur 
 Of all thine action. I have linked my life 
 To thine : and so have I accepted share 
 Of all thy burdens. In the ills thou hast, 
 I am a partner : if thou knowest shame, 
 1 am not scatheless. Twice have I withstood
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 119 
 
 The carelessness and idle scorn of man 
 
 From faith in thee. Once, 1 did stake my lands 
 
 And my subsistence on thy hardiness. 
 
 I was not wrong : again I staked belief 
 
 And risked my honour and my upright name, 
 
 Which, believe me, I love as much as thou, 
 
 Upon the shadow of thy good repute. 
 
 Now our acquaintance is no longer new, 
 
 And time puts our relation to the proof. 
 
 Let us be honest. I have stood for thee, 
 
 Enacted treason, spurned old comradeship 
 
 To stand thy helper. Now it seems I lied, 
 
 And all I did for honour is become 
 
 A very falseness. 
 
 LAN. How ? 
 
 GER. I was constrained 
 
 By some strange liking for another type, 
 A stamp of being distant from myself, 
 To spend my life, my power and influence 
 Upon a man in whom I snuffed the scent 
 Of a clean being. Now are we at holds. 
 
 LAN. Say on, Geraint. 
 
 GER. All men speak ill of thee : 
 
 I count opinion lesser than the turn 
 Of any pennant. But I doubt all now. 
 I cannot think that this spiritless poor husk 
 Is the same man I chose from out the herd 
 Who strove for honour. Was I too deceived, 
 And do men rightly call thee but a dog, 
 A common trickster and a hypocrite? 
 
 LAN. Wilt thou believe it ? 
 
 GER. Only from thy lips,
 
 i2o LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 Yet these strange actions must incline me to it. 
 
 The thought 's not sweet, but still be frank with me, 
 
 For 1 meet disillusion as all else, 
 
 Stoutly enough. 
 LAN. I had but this to lose ! 
 
 God ! is there yet another rag to tear 
 
 From beggary? 
 GER. Now it is thine to loose 
 
 Or bind our friendship. I did never ask 
 
 A service of you but to turn its use 
 
 To your advancement. I have served your cause 
 
 In many fashions and not selfishly. 
 
 You squandered substance and I spent my years, 
 
 Now those you dowered have forgotten you, 
 
 And you, I fancy, have forgotten me. 
 
 Yet should you care to pay my years with hours, 
 
 And let me hold illusion to the end, 
 
 It will not grieve me. Lanval, stand by me, 
 
 Play man to my man ! Be again to me 
 
 The friend I trusted. 
 
 LAN Wilt compel me then ? 
 
 GER. That 's not my answer. 
 LAN. I '11 not say " accept," 
 
 But "take" my life: for I have nothing left 
 
 Beyond the usage of my hands. Take this, 
 
 Cast it to feed what purposes you will. 
 
 It has no merit, value or regard ; 
 
 Such as it is, I give it a free gift 
 
 From now till death. 
 GER. And I will take it so. 
 
 Fate's herald holds the trumpet to his lips, 
 
 And we stand ready in the lists of life
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 121 
 
 To challenge fortune. But thou hast no arms ! 
 Bernardo 1 
 
 BER. Prince. 
 
 GER. Have you equipment near? 
 
 BER. Not far, my lord. 
 
 GER. Go thou and bring it here. (Exit.") 
 
 My course is laid, and not a storm of change 
 Shall turn me from it. (Enter Gyfert.) 
 
 GYF. Our runner is returned. 
 
 He found Owain with levies of North Wales. 
 They come to help us. 
 
 GER. Could he hear no word 
 
 Of the King's forces ? 
 
 GYF. No. 
 
 GER. The dawn is near ! 
 
 Advise me, Lanval. I do need thy skill, 
 Should Arthur come not ere the light reveals 
 Our present weakness, we shall be hard set 
 To hold this passage. (Enter Captain.} 
 
 Do they move ? 
 
 CAPT. My lord, 
 
 There is a sound of motion in their camp, 
 And certain horsemen have already crossed 
 The ford beneath us. 
 
 GER. Can ye hold them ? 
 
 CAPT. No. 
 
 I think, my lord, they move with the intent 
 To seize upon the vantage of this ridge 
 Before the day. 
 
 GER. They may not so intend. 
 
 What think'st thou, Lanval ? 
 
 LAN. I believe it true.
 
 122 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 It is their custom to attack at dawn, 
 If they suspect not we shall be renewed, 
 And know our forces to be much reduced, 
 They will endeavour to destroy at once 
 This band of ours. I counsel thee attack 
 And bring confusion. 
 
 GER. We have not the strength. 
 
 LAN. The Duke of Cornwall cannot now be far, 
 Owain is near. If we do lose this place 
 The issue 's doubtful. Check them, and surprise 
 Leaves them half-hearted, unprepared to meet 
 Our armies' onset. Hold them at all costs. 
 
 GER. Should Arthur fail ? 
 
 LAN. We fall in either case, 
 
 If we oppose them not. 
 
 GER. Gyfert, my arms. 
 
 (Enter a man-at-arms.") 
 
 MAN. My lord, their forces have o'erpast the ford, 
 
 And drive our posts. (Alarms and noise off.) 
 
 GER. Back ye, and hold the ground 
 
 (Exeunt Captain and man.) 
 Until my coming. Up, all Devon's men, 
 Let battle-hunger seize upon your limbs, 
 And bring you aching for the food of death. 
 
 LAN. Come, let us go. 
 
 GER. While thou art still unarmed ? 
 
 LAN. (To Gyfert) 
 
 Lend me a sword. 
 
 GER. No, Lanval, I command 
 
 This much obedience. Till Bernardo brings 
 His armament, do thou hold here the half 
 Of these my forces to be our support,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 123 
 
 And then employ them as occasion turns. 
 
 (The men file off. Geraint goes a few steps 
 and then turns back to Lanval.) 
 
 LAN. I must obey. 
 
 GER. The hour is dark and strange. 
 
 Lanval, should this our day of severance prove, 
 As well it may be, let us fall assured 
 Of our relation. When I said I served 
 Your cause in pureness, I perceive I lied. 
 No, let me speak. Unthinkingly I strove 
 To turn a being to an instrument. 
 It was ill done. Perhaps we'll have no time, 
 And no occasion to be clear henceforth. 
 We have been much together, and I think 
 Our ends will not be distant. Knowing this, 
 I give you absolution from all vows 
 Of friendship. 
 
 LAN. Nay, Geraint. 
 
 GER. God guard you well. 
 
 If this be not our hour, the hour will come 
 Which we must meet ; let then our manner hold 
 Until that time. But should our lot decree 
 We meet no more in such a case : farewell ! 
 
 LAN. Farewell, Geraint. 
 
 GER. Thou, Gyfert, stay with him. 
 
 (Exit Geraint ; increased alarms.) 
 
 LAN. One righteous man who 's fool enough to think 
 That I am worthy. One friend who forces me 
 To do him wrong. The hooks of hell are fast 
 In all my being. 1 am manacled 
 With a cold bondage I have forged myself. 
 And how much simpler will the world become
 
 124 
 
 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 For many men when I am dead ! My end 
 
 Will be a kindness. 
 
 (Enter Owain, Meliard and a force.) 
 Ow. They have joined too soon. 
 
 Split legions in a forest and the odds 
 
 Are 'gainst good timing. What are ye ? 
 LAN. Reserves 
 
 Of Prince Geraint. 
 Ow. I want an honest man 
 
 To answer me. 
 
 GYF. He leads us. 
 
 Ow. God defend 
 
 You from his leading. You ! I do not know 
 
 With what good reason you afflict our paths. 
 
 The common outcome of our judgment is 
 
 That malefactors are enforced to feel 
 
 Their punishment. The sutlers, and the scum 
 
 Of ragged thieves who haunt our armies' march, 
 
 Should be behind. 
 
 MEL. This is too harsh, Owain ! 
 
 Ow. Peace, you. But I am glad that you are dumb : 
 
 Shame marks a vestige of your former state. 
 
 Now better it, and get you out from us. 
 
 You, Gyfert, follow us. 
 GYF. My lord, 
 
 We have our orders. 
 Ow. And a cur to lead ! 
 
 Not gone yet, fool ? Out of my path, you dog. 
 
 (Strikes Lanval, who reels back.) 
 
 MEL. A dog's stroke too ! The man's not even armed! 
 
 (Gyfert half draws.) 
 Ow. Honour protects no vermin ! What, my friend,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 125 
 
 Will you shew teeth ? 
 
 LAN. Nay, Gyfert, hold your hand. 
 
 (Alarms off.) 
 
 Ow. Hearken, they 're to it. Our good game begins. 
 Out, swords, and follow ! 
 
 (Exeunt Owain, Meliard, and their men.) 
 
 LAN. I am come so low, 
 
 I have no word to answer censure with, 
 No record to run counter to reproach. 
 Even these men stand shamed to follow me. 
 
 GYF. It is not so, Sir Lanval, we do not 
 Forget old battles. 
 
 LAN. I remember now. 
 
 I led you once upon the fields of Clyde, 
 And once at Stirling. Take our forces on : 
 There is a hillock which doth lie beyond 
 The ridge we hold. Ye know it. 
 
 GYF. Aye, we do. 
 
 LAN. Thence we can lend assistance in short space 
 Where it is needed. Should by chance I fail 
 To give the signal and direction, use 
 Thine own discernment. 
 
 GYF. I will do so, sir ! 
 
 (Exeunt Gyfert and men-at-arms. Lanval is left alone.) 
 
 LAN. Geraint should hold the passage of that line 
 Sufficiently ; and yet becoming weak, 
 Will tempt these Angles to renewed assaults, 
 Whereon an- army coming fresh with day 
 Will grip the issue. All will be success, 
 But I can have no share in it again. 
 A parasite that like the sucking-fish 
 Is borne about the spaces of the world
 
 126 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 By one more powerful ! No, there is no hope, 
 No refuge and no purpose in my life, 
 But to live on like some outlying wolf 
 Too savage even for the hungry pack. 
 Or to go mocked, the client of a prince, 
 Licking the crumbs of honour from his floor. 
 No, I am sure that life 's not tenable 
 Upon such terms. And therefore let us end. 
 If I gained heaven she would not be there, 
 So 't is no heaven ! If I earned a hell 
 She has not done so, therefore 't is no hell ! 
 I should be tearing at my heart by now, 
 Playing Prometheus to my own regrets, 
 And yet I 'm numb. Sensation has its end, 
 And all our feeling to exhaustion comes. 
 So, life 's a silence, death an incident 
 Which to our dreaming puts a period. 
 If dreams are evil, one has but to wake 
 Into the darkness. Come, I '11 look for it 
 Beyond that ridge. It is not hard to find, 
 And worth the seeking ! 
 
 (As he prepares to go out, Triamour appears.) 
 
 TRI. Lanval ! 
 
 LAN. I have done 
 
 With all these dreams, and I had hoped to pass 
 Unhindered hence. 
 
 TRI. Why ? Art thou not content 
 
 With all the honours, merits and rewards 
 The world doth give thee ? 
 
 LAN. There's no need to mock, 
 
 The hour is past when I entreated help : 
 True there are times which do one's memory hurt,
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 127 
 
 Whose quick remembrance stabs one's soul with 
 
 hate, 
 
 And makes one loth to look upon the beast 
 That this has been ; for I have raved and foamed, 
 Spent all my soul in crying for thine aid, 
 And brought my manhood into such a pass 
 That reason's self could not well recognise 
 Such bestial stuff to be the frame of man, 
 Wherein she wrought. But that is overpast. 
 There is no scorn can touch the heart of me, 
 And no reproach but is an idle tale 
 Too oft repeated. All I am is ash, 
 The cindered fragment of a billet cast 
 By God or chance into time's furnaces, 
 And now the shadow is come down on me. 
 
 TRI. Is it not pleasant man's acknowledgment ? 
 Surely all love thee for thine excellence ! 
 
 LAN. Be not so hard. I learnt my impotence, 
 And God has gently cleansed my vanity. 
 
 TRI. So the same shame that drove thee from mine arms, 
 Still dogs thy courses ? 
 
 LAN. ' No, I Ve learnt enough, 
 
 And know myself an ordinary soul, 
 No way distinguished from the common mass, 
 No way their better. I am very low, 
 And have no feeling but an envious hope 
 Of better beings. Yet I am not shamed, 
 For there 's a passion which must cry for stars, 
 Cry from the body of a beast that crawls 
 Upon this surface for the face of God. 
 I am not shamed, for while the spirit lives 
 Man must lust high.
 
 128 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 There is no more to learn ; 
 The world has done with all thy services. 
 
 (Confused noises off.) 
 
 This time is dying. Listen to the call ! 
 Insurgent peoples waken from their sleep 
 Race, tribe and nation. In the flux of war 
 All old ordainments spin to their decease. 
 I did not blame thee or reproach thy choice, 
 When thy disdain preferred the world to me, 
 And I change not. I know no fickleness, 
 But have in patience hungered for this hour, 
 All the old ofrrance of a state of peace 
 Awaits thee still. Ah, Lanval, I have loved, 
 And been so patient. 
 
 LAN. I was never worth 
 
 A portion of such kindness. I 'd have talked 
 Of love in days whose dawn I shall not see. 
 God knows I loved you, but love whips my soul 
 To the same end life spurred me to, since I 
 Have found existence folly. Let me go 
 And get some credit in the end of it. 
 
 TRI. Wilt leave me ? 
 
 LAN. I am pledged 
 
 Unto Geraint. 
 
 TRI. If thou canst leave me now, 
 
 We shall not meet at any time again, 
 But part for ever. Each shall sink at last 
 Into the gulf of uncreated things, 
 And have no knowledge of the other's end. 
 Thou hast forgotten - 
 
 LAN. Come the end ! the end ! 
 
 Tempt not my nature ; while he lives, 1 hold 
 
 (A shout off.)
 
 SCENE ii " LANVAL 129 
 
 Unto Geraint. 
 
 TRI. Geraint is dead. 
 
 LAN. He's dead? 
 
 I sent him to it : sent my only friend 
 To find his death ! He's better dead than friend 
 Or kind to me ! God help me, I am cursed ! 
 Oh, let me die, then I can do no hurt 
 To any one ! 
 
 TRI. Choose, then, the time is short. 
 
 Geraint is dead, slain by thy foolishness ; 
 This battle lost. 
 
 LAN. Arthur must come. 
 
 TRI. He's far, 
 
 He will not come. Choose! Be with me or 
 
 die, 
 
 And let our love immediate be dissolved. 
 The gates are closing. Wilt thou hold the world? 
 LAN. The King comes not. Can I do nothing right ? 
 Always so foolish and unfortunate. 
 Geraint is dead. He was a noble knight 
 God rest his soul. 
 
 TRI. (Aside) His soul awaits thine own. 
 
 LAN. All's lost, my friend, my faith and e'en my use, 
 
 Take me away. 
 
 TRI. Now, Lanval, in this kiss 
 
 Lies the best boon the spirit gives to man. 
 Come swift, the gates swing in upon thy soul ; 
 Give me thy being. 
 LVN. It is done. 
 
 TRI. Then I 
 
 Give thee the last! the kindest gift of all 
 
 Release !
 
 130 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 (Darkness. Lanval reels and falls. When 
 the stage lightens Triamour has disappeared^ 
 but the body of Lanval lies across the centre. 
 Increased alarms?) 
 
 (The dawn begins to lighten the scene, at the 
 same time a red glow increases at the back?) 
 
 (Enter Arthur, Cador, Gawain, Agravaine, 
 Astamor and a force?) 
 
 ARTH. Halt here. Go thou, Gawain, and seek 
 
 This conflict's meaning. (Exit Gawain.) 
 
 We are not too soon, 
 
 For see the pallor which precedes the birth 
 
 Of the wan day. 
 AGR. Here is an early fruit 
 
 Of this encounter. 
 
 ARTH. Who is it? 
 
 AGR. No man 
 
 Of consequence. His mail is thin and torn, 
 
 And he's not armoured. 
 CAD. Yet, Astamor, I think 
 
 I know that shape. 
 ARTH. No, let it be, Cador, 
 
 Whate'er his rank he '11 wait full patiently 
 
 For the last service. 
 
 (Arthur talks aside to Cador.) 
 AGR. (Turns the body over.) 
 
 Lanval, as I live ! 
 AST. Lanval ! 
 AGR. Quiet. We'll not interfere. 
 
 Let him alone. 
 AST. How did he die ?
 
 SCENE ii LANVAL 131 
 
 AGR. God knows. 
 
 We'll serve no purpose in revealing this : 
 He'll not have long to wait for company, 
 And I '11 not grudge him half an hour of hell. 
 
 AST. The King should know it. 
 
 AGR. Why? The man 's forgot 
 
 As soon as dead. Here ends an episode, 
 One of those little tangled businesses, 
 Which colour our existence for a space, 
 And then slip down the years. We fought 
 Only a week since and I had the worst. 
 He was a very tall man of his hands, 
 Yet I am living and he's safe and dead. 
 Strange, Astamor, that I, the only one 
 Who ever came by any harm from him, 
 Should so regret him. 
 
 ARTH. Hark, Cador, who's here? 
 
 (Enter Gawain.) 
 What now, Gawain ? How goes it ? 
 
 GAW. Well for us, 
 
 Our slender van has held most gallantly 
 The ridge beyond us. 
 
 ARTH. Nobly done. 
 
 GAW. Geraint 
 
 Is dead. 
 
 ARTH. We'll venge him 
 
 GAW. But Owain 
 
 Doth hold the field. The Angles are confused 
 And stand uncertain. We have but to strike. 
 
 ARTH. Art sure, Gawain ? 
 
 GAW. I know not how it comes, 
 
 But if some spirit who did favour us
 
 132 LANVAL ACT iv 
 
 Designed this moment, he could not do more 
 For victory. (Alarms.) 
 
 AGR. Strike, Sire ! 
 
 ARTH. I will. Ye lords 
 
 And 'sembled barons of this British realm, 
 Reveal your favour. Set my standards on, 
 Let the red dragon flame above our helms. 
 Up, all ye lances that defend this state, 
 All hearts that bar oppression, and all blades 
 That stand for Britain. 'T is the hour at last 
 Wherein we triumph, and henceforth our foe 
 Shall know this valley by the name of woe. 
 
 (Exeunt.) 
 
 Curtain.
 
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