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    "endpoint": "/api/sources/grail-romances/parzival/02-book-ii-herzeloyde.json"
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  "work": {
    "slug": "parzival",
    "name": "Parzival"
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  "parents": [
    {
      "slug": "grail-romances",
      "name": "Holy Grail Romances",
      "url": "/sources/grail-romances/"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 3,
    "slug": "02-book-ii-herzeloyde",
    "title": "Book II: Herzeloyde",
    "of": 17,
    "words": 12117,
    "text": "## Book II: Herzeloyde\n\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nL\n\nVOL. I.\n\nDigitized by v^.ooQle\n\nc\n\nARGUMENT\n\n^ ^ This Book tells how Gamuret sought for King Kailet, and found him\n^\"before Kanvoleis. How the Queen of the Waleis ordered a Tourney to be\nholden, and of the heroes there assembled. How Gamuret did valiant\ndeeds, and was adjudged the victor ; and how two queens laid claim to\nhis love. Of the wedding of Gamuret and Queen Herzeleide and their\nlove to each other. How Gamuret went to the aid of the Baruch, and\nwas treacherously slain before Alexandria. How the news was brought\nto the land of the Waleis; of the sorrow of Herzeleide ; and of the birth\nof Parzival.\n\nDigitized by v^.ooQle\n\ni\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nOW there in the Spanish country he thought him the king to\ngreet,\n\nHis kinsman and cousin Kailet, and he followed with foot¬\nsteps fleet\n\nTo Toledo, but thence had he ridden unto deeds of knight¬\nhood fair, t\n\ns s ’ * >\n\nWhere many a spear should be splintered, and men thought not their shields\nto spare.\n\nThen he thought him to make him ready (so the venture doth tell I ween) 5\nWith many a blazoned spear-shaft, and many a sendal green ;\n\nFor each spear it bare a pennon, with the anchor in ermine white,\n\nAnd well was it wrought, the symbol, and costly in all men’s sight.\n\nAnd long and broad were the pennons, and e’en to the hand hung low\nWhen men on the spear-blade bound them, a span-breadth the point below. 10\nAnd a hundred spears were ready for that true and gallant knight,\n\nAnd his cousin’s folk they bare them, and with him went forth to fight;,\n\nAnd honour and loyal service they showed him as fit and fair,\n\nNor I think had their lord been wrathful that his kinsman their love should\nshare.\n\nI know not how long he sought him, till shelter at length he found 15\n\nIn the Waleis land: ’fore Kanvoleis were pitched on the open ground\nMany tents so fair and knightly; (1 speak not from fancy light\nBut sooth are the words I tell ye if the tale ye would hear aright)\n\nThen he bade his folk to halt there, and he sent on before his face\n\nThe chief of his squires, and he bade him to seek them a resting-place. 20\n\nHe would fain do his master’s bidding, and swift to the town he sped,\n\nAnd many a pack-horse laden his comrades behind him led.\n\nDigitized by C_J oogle\n\n3$\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nAnd never a house he saw there but its roof was a shield I trow,\n\nAnd the walls were hung and circled with spears in a goodly row,\n\n*5 For the. queen of the Waleis country had ordered at Kanvoleis\nThat a Tourney fair be holden, and they ordered it in such wise\nThat a coward had little liked it—for whoever would seek such strife • ^\nAt his will doth it chance but seldom ! She was maiden, not yet a wife,\n\nAnd herself and two lands she offered to him who the prize should hold ;\n\n3 <y And many to earth had fallen in whose ear had this tale been told,\n\nAnd he who such fall must suffer he held that his chance was o’er.\n\n\" And many a dauntless hero showed knighthood those walls before,\n\nAnd many a horse rushed onward as the knight spurred to onslaught fierce.\nAnd the sword-blades rang clear on each other, and spears did the shield\n„ rims pierce.\n\n35 A bridge from the plain was builded that crossed o’er the river’s flow,\n\nAnd ’twas closed by a tower-portal; nor the squire at his task was slow,\n\nBut he opened the gates, unwearied, when one would an entrance win.\n\nAnd above it there stood the palace, and the queen sat the hall within,\n\nAnd she gazed from the high hall window with many a maiden fair,\n\n40 And they looked on the squires beneath them to see what had brought them\nthere.\n\n’Twixt themselves had they taken counsel, and a tent did they rear on\nhigh\n\nFor the winning of love ungranted a king wrought it in days gone by,\n\n(’Twas in service of Queen Belakan^).yThe squires laboured with might\nand main '\n\nTill the burden of thirty pack-steeds they raised on the grassy plain,\n\n45 A pavilion rich to look on, and the meadow it was so wide\n\nThat the silken ropes that held it might stretch forth on either sidjr\nAnd Gamuret, their master, ate without in the open air—\n\nAnd then for his courtly entrance with skill would the knight prepare,\n\nNor longer might be delaying—His squires take the spears straightway,\n\n50 And they bind them fast together, and five in each band they lay, ■\n\nAnd the sixth in their hand they carry, with its pennon and anchor white ;\nSo proudly into the city came riding this gallant knight.\n\nThen the queen she heard the tidings that a noble guest was come f\nFrom a far-off land and distant, and in sooth was he known to none.\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\n* And courteous Ins folk in bearing; both heathen and French I trow, 55\nApd Angevin, some among them if their speech I aright may know;\n\n* And their courage is high, and their raiment both rich and well shaped\nshall be.\n\nBut now was 1 with his people, and they seem me from falsehood free,\n\nAnd they say, ‘ Who hath lust for riches, if he to our lord shall seek .\n\nHe will free him from fear of scarceness! ’ The while I with them did speak, &>\n\nI asked them to tell of their master, and they thought not to hide the thing,\n\nBut spake of a true heart freely,*Of Zassamank is he king. 1\n%\n\nTwas a page wllo brought the tidings—* Ah me! that pavilion fair!\n\nWbuldst thou j>ledge thy crown and thy kingdom not half of its cost were\nthere!’\n\n* Thou needst not to praise so highly, my mouth ne’er shall say thee nay, *5\nA rich man shall be its owner, no lack doth he know alway. 1\n\nAnd in this wise she spake, the lady, the fair and gracious queen,\n\n* Why cometh he not to the castle ? For fain I his face had seen.'\n\nThis she bade her page to ask him—Then the hero was fain to make\n.Brave entry into the city, and the sleepers must needs awake. 70\n\nMany shields he saw fair shining—The blast of the trumpets clear.\n\nRang loud and long before him, and two drummers ye needs must hear\nAs they tossed and smote their tambours, and the walls echoed back the\nsound,\n\nWith the notes of the flutes ’twas mingled as the train through the city\nwound, 1\n\nTwas a march that they played so gaily—Nor forget we how he must ride 75\nTheir master and lord, he followed with the flddlers his rein beside.\n\nThen he threw his leg o’er his charger, that hero so bold and fair,\n\nAnd boots did he wear 0/ leather, or else had his limbs been bare.\n\nAnd his mouth it was e’en as a ruby, and red, as a fire doth burn,\n\nAnd foil, not too thin; fair his body wherever the eye might turn ; 80\n\nAnd fair was his hair and curling, and wherever one saw the skin\nI ween ’twas as costly cover as ever a head might win.\n\nAnd of famite green was his mantle, and the sable shone dark thereon\nTho* white was his vest, and the gazers they came in a goodly throng.\n\nv.\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n85 And many must ask the question, ‘ Who was he, the beardless knight\nWho rode with such pomp of riches ?* Then the tale it was spread aright,.\nFor they spake it as truth who knew it—So they drew to the bridge anear\nThe folk of the town, and his people ; and so bright was the radiance clear\nThat shone from the queen that it thrilled him thro* his strong limbs, that\ngoodly knight,\n\n90 And he braced himself as a falcon that plumeth its wings for flight,\n\nAnd the lodging he deemed it goodly; so thought he that hero wise;\n\nAnd his hostess with joy beheld him, the lady of fair Waleis!\n\nThen the king of Spain he heard it, how there stood on the open plain\nThe tent that at Rassalig*s bidding Gamuret as his prize did gain\n95 At Patelamunt, and the tidings a knight to his lord would bring—\n\nThen he sped as a deer, joy*s vassal I ween was the gallant king !\n\nAnd thus spake the knight, ‘Thy kinsman, and the son of thine aunt I saw,\nAnd with pomp and in state as aforetime, so to-day doth he hither draw ;\nThere are floating a hundred pennons full fair by his knightly shield,\n\n100 And around his high pavilion they stand on the grassy field,\n\nAnd green as the grass the pennons, and the hero bold doth bear\nThree anchors of snow-white ermine on every sendal fair.*\n\n4 Hath he come here arrayed for battle? Ah ! then shall men see straightway\nHow he spurreth him swift to the onslaught, how he striveth in knightly\nfray!\n\n*05 Long time hath the proud King Hardeiss his anger against me shown,\n\nHere in joust shall Gamuret fell him, and good fortune shall be mine own ! ’\n\nThen straightway he sent a message to Gaschier, the Norman knight,\nWhere he lay with many a vassal; and Killirjacac the fair and bright,\n\nFor here had they come at his bidding—The twain at King Kailet*s side\n110 Towards the fair pavilion with a goodly following hied.\n\nAnd Zassamank*s king was joyful, for he held them dear at heart:\n\nAnd the time over-long had seemed them since they must from each other\npart,\n\nThis they spake of a true heart truly—And the king he was fain to know\nWhat knights should be here for the Tourney, who valour and skill should\nshow.\n\nDigitized by VjOOQ 1C k\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nThen spake unto him his kinsmen, ‘From distant lands they came, u 5\n\nThe knights whom love’s power hath brought here, many heroes of dauntless\nfame.*\n\n‘ Here Utber Pendragon fighteth, and with him his Breton host;\n\nOne grief as a thorn doth vex him, his wife hath the hero lost,\n\nThe queen who was Arthur’s mother; a clerk who all magic knew\n\nWith him hath she fled, and Arthur doth after the twain pursue ; iso\n\nTis now the third year since he lost them, his son alike and wife—\n\nAnd here is his daughter’s husband, a hero well skilled in strife,\n\nKing Lot is his name, of Norway—swift seeketh he knighthood’s prize,\n\nBut slow are his feet to falsehood, the knight so bold and wise.\n\nAnd here is his young son Gawain ; as yet he too weak shall be 125\n\nFor any deed of knighthood—but now was the boy with me,\n\nAnd he spake, were he not too feeble a> spear-shaft as yet to break\nHe were fain to do deeds of knighthood, in the Tourney his part would take !\n\nHis lust for strife waketh early ! Here Patrigalt’s king hath brought\nOf spears a goodly forest; yet their valour shall be as naught * 3 °\n\nWhen weighed against the gallant doings of the men of Portugal,\n\nYea, bold we in truth may call them, and shields do they pierce right well.\n\nAnd here are the men of Provence, with many a blazoned shield ;\n\nAnd here the Waleis, to their onslaught the foemen perforce must yield,\n\nAnd they ride at their will thro 1 the combat, for men of the land are they. x 35\nMany fight here for love’s rewarding whose title I may not say,\n\nBut all whom I here have named thee now lie, and the truth I tell,\n\nAt great cost here within the city, for so the queen deemed it well.’\n\n‘ And without on the plain they hold them who deem their prize lightly won,\nProud Arragon’s haughty monarch, and the brave king of Askalon. 140\n\nEidegast, he is there from Logrois, and the King Brandelidelein\n(The monarch is he of Punturtois), there too is bold Lahelein.\n\nAnd Morhold is there of Ireland, many pledges that knight hath ta’en ;\n\nAnd many a haughty German doth camp on that battle plain.\n\nTo this country the Duke of Brabant hath come thro’ the King Hardeiss ; 145\n\nThe king of Gascony gave him his sister the fair Aleiss,\n\n(Yet his service ere that won payment) wrath against me those princes drew :\nNow I trust thee to think of our kinship—For love’s sake do me service true ! ’\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nQuoth the king of Z&ssamank, ‘ Cousin, no thanks would I hare from thee\n* 5 ° Whate’er I may do for thine honour, my will e’en as thine shall be.\n\nDoth thine ostrich yet stand un-nested ? Thou shalt carry its serpent’s\nhead\n\n’Gainst thy foeman’s demi-gryphon, my anchor shall swift be sped.\n\nAnd find in his onslaught landing; himself shall a haven seek\nBehind his steed on the gravel! If our wrath we be fain to wreak,\n\n*55 And ride one against the other, I fell him, or he felleth me—\n\nOn my knightly faith as a kinsman this word do I swear to thee! ’\n\nThen Kailet he sought his lodging, and his heart it was gay and light\nThen arose on the plain a war-cry, ’fore the face of two gallant knights,\n\nThey were Schyolarz of Poitou, and Gumemanz of Graharz,\n\n160 On the plain did they meet together; ere the eventide might pass\n\nThe knights in their troops they rode forth, here by six and there by three,\nAnd they did gallant deeds of knighthood—nor otherwise might it be.\n\nAnd now it was fully noontide, and the knight in his tent abode;\n\nThen the king of Zassamank heard this, that o’er all the field they rode,\n\n165 ‘O’er the length and the breadth they gallop, and in knightly order fight.’\nAnd thither he rode, the hero, with many a banner bright;\n\nBut he rode not in search of conflict, at his leisure he thought to see\nWhat was done by one side and the other of fair deeds of chivalry.\n\nOn the plain did they spread his carpet, where the knights in strife would\nclose,\n\n170 And the shriek of the wounded horses o’er all the tumult rose.\n\nThe squires stood round in a circle mid the clash of the ringing steel,\n\nAnd the heroes for fair fame battled, and the swords sang for woe or weaL\nThere was sound as of splintered spear-shafts, but none need to question,\nWhere ?\n\nAnd his walls were of meeting foemen, by knightly hands builded fair.\n\n175 And so near was I ween the jousting that the maids from the hall above\nMight look on the toil of the heroes—But sorrow the queen did move\nSince the king of Zassamank did naught, nor mingled him in the fight,\n\nAnd she quoth, ‘ Ah 1 why came he hither ? I had deemed him a gallant\nknight 1 ’\n\nDigitized by v^.ooQle\n\nHER2ELEIDE\n\n(Now the King of France, whose fair wife brought Gamuret sorrow sore\nWhen he fought for her sake, lay lifeless, and foe queen sought foe wide 180\nworld o’er\n\nTo know if from heathen countries he had come to his land again.\n\nTwas love’s power to the search that drove her, for love did her heart\nconstrain.)\n\nAnd many brave deeds were done there of many a poor man bold,\n\nWho yet for the highest strove not, which the queen for their prize had\ntold,\n\nHerself and her two fair kingdoms,—they thought not such prize to gain, 185\nBut they battled for other booty, tho’ their hearts were for payment fain.\n\nNow clad was Gamurefs body in the harness whereby his wife\nMight bring to her mind forgiveness, and the ending of bitter strife.\n\nThe Scotch King Friedebrand sent it, as a gift, to repay the woe\nThat with conflict he heaped upon her, nor shall earth of its fellow know. 190\nThen he looked well upon the diamond—’twas a helmet, thereon they bound\nAn anchor, and jewels so precious were within its setting found ;\n\nNor small were foe stones, but costly, and the weight it was none too light\nOf that helmet, and yet he bare it, and decked was the guest for fight.\n\nAnd what was his shield’s adorning ? of gold of Araby fair,\n\nAnd the boss it was rich and costly, and heavy the weight he bare.\nAnd the red gold shone so brightly that mirrored the face therein,\n\nAnd an anchor beneath of sable—I were fain to myself to win\nThat wherewith the knight was girded, full many a mark its worth.\nAnd wide was foe coat emblazoned, and it reached e’en unto foe earth,\nAnd I ween that few in battle such raiment shall think to wear.\n\nAnd if 1 have skill to praise it, or its value aright declare,\n\nIt shone e’en as when there bumeth thro 1 the night-time a living dame,\nAnd never a tint was faded, and its shimmer as lightning came,\n\nA feeble eye had feared it! And with gold was it all inwrought,\n\nThat in Kaukasus’ distant mountains from out of foe rock was brought\nBy gryphon daws, for they guarded, and shall guard it unto this day.\nAnd from Araby came the people who stole it by craft away,—\n\nElsewhere shall be none so precious,—and they bare it to Araby\nWhere they weave Achmardi and Pfellel, and no vesture like that shall be!\n\nDigitized by Google\n\n19s\n\naos\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nHis shield, round his neck he hung it—There stood a charger proud,\nWell-nigh to the hoof was it armed—and the squires cried the war-cry loud,\nAnd he sprang on his steed as he found it; and many a spear of might\nDid he break with strong hand in the Tourney, and where men did the\nclosest fight\n\n215 There he brake a way thro’ the m£l£e, and came forth on the further side,\nAnd ever behind the Ostrich the Anchor did close abide.\n\nGamuret smote from ofifhis charger Poytewin of Prienlaskors\nAnd many another hero, their pledge must they yield perforce.\n\nBut what knight bare the cross he rejoiced him in the hero’s valiant deeds,\n220 And much did he win by his valour, since he gave him the captured steeds.\n\nNow four banners, with self-same bearing, were led ’gainst that gallant\nknight,\n\n(And bold riders they rode beneath them, and their lord was a man of\nmight,)\n\nAnd on each was the tail of a gryphon ; and that hinder part I trow\nWas e’en as a hailstorm smiting, so rode they in goodly row.\n\n225 And Gascony’s king before them the fore part of that gryphon bare\nOn his shield; he was skilled ip battle, and his body was armed full fair\nAs women alone might arm him; and he rode forth his knights before\nWhere he saw on a helm the Ostrich, but the Anchor towards him bore,\nAnd he thrust him from off his charger, the brave king of Zassamank,\n\n230 And made of him there his captive. Here close thronged the knightly\nranks,\n\nAnd the furrows were trodden level, and their locks must the sword-blade\nknow,\n\nAnd many a wood was wasted, and many a knight laid low—\n\nAnd they who thus fell, ’twas told me, they turned their chargers round\nAnd hied to the back of the Tourney, where none but the cowards were\nfound.\n\n235 And so near was I ween the combat that the women might see aright\nWho there won the prize of valour; Rivalein that love-lorn knight\nWith his spear hewed afresh a token, of Loheneis was he king,\n\nAnd the crash of the splintered spear-shaft did aye with his onslaught ring.\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nOf a knight did Morhold rob them, for he drew him from off his steed\nAnd lifted him up before him (unseemly methinks such deed) 340\n\nAnd Kiliiijacac they called him,—and ere this King Lac had ta’en\nSuch payment from him as in falling a knight from tjie earth may gain—\n\nSo his deeds had been fair and knightly ; then this valiant man he thought\na He would take him with never a sword-thrust, and the knight in bis arms he\ncaught\n\nThen the hand of the valiant Kailet it smote from the saddle-bow 345\n\nThe Duke of Brabant, Prince Lambekein, and the hero was laid alow.\n\nAnd what think ye they did, bis soldiers ? Their swords into shields they\nturned.\n\nAnd with them did they guard their monarch—And ever for strife they\nyearned.\n\nThen the King of Arragon smote him Uther Pendragon old,\n\nFrom his charger adown on the meadow fell the king of the Bretons bold, 350\nAnd the flowers stood fair around him—Ah 1 courteous am I, I trow,\n\nSince the Breton before Kanvoleis I lay on such couch alow,\n\nWhere never the foot of a peasant hath trodden unto this day,\n\nNay, perchance they may never tread there—’tis the truth and no lie 1 say—\n\nNo more might he keep his saddle as he sat on his steed of yore, 355\n\nBut his peril his friends forgat not, they fought fiercely the hero o’er.\n\nAnd many a course was ridden ; and the king of Punturtois\nFell prone in his horse’s hoof-tracks on the field before Kanvoleis,\n\nAnd low did he lie behind it—Twas Gamuret dealt the blow—\n\n1 Ride on, on thy course, thou hero, and tread thy foemen low ! ’ 260\n\nStrife giveth whereon to trample ! Then Kailet, his kinsman true,\n\nMade the Punturtois his captive, tho’ he scarce pierced the m£l£e thro’.\nBrandelidelein was prisoner, and his folk they had lost their king,\ni In his stead another monarch to their host did they captive bring.\n\nAnd hither and thither sped they, the heroes, in armour good, 365\n\nAnd by blows and by trampling kneaded, of alum I ween their food;\n\nAnd dark on their skin the swellings, and many a gallant knight\nMight speak, as he knew, of bruises he had won him in hard-fought fight\n\nNow as simple truth I say it, little rest was their portion here,\n\nBy love were they forced to conflict, many shields with their blazon clear, 370\n\nDigitized by vjiOCK^lC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nAnd many a goodly helmet whose covering the dust should be.\n\nAnd the meadow with dowers was sprinkled, and green turf ye there might\nsee,\n\nAnd there fell on it many a hero, who of honour had won such meed—\n\nMore modest were, my desiring ! Twould content me to sit my steed.\n\n2 75 Then the king of Zassamank rode forth a space from the knightly fray\nWhere a rested steed did wait him, and the diamond he loosed alway,\n\nWith no thought of pride in the doing, but the breezes blew fresh and cool,\nAnd the squires unbound his vizor, and his lips shone so red and fall.\n\nI have named unto ye a lady—Her chaplain did hither ride,\n\n280 And with him three noble pages, and strong squires were there beside ;\n\nAnd pack-horses twain they led there, and the will of their queen they ’Id do,\nl She was Lady of France, Audi s6 —Her chaplain was wise and true,\n\nAnd straightway he knew the hero, and in French should his greeting be,\n\n4 Soit le bien venu, men beau sire ’ to my lady as e’en to me,\na8 5 As queen of France she reigneth whom the lance of thy love doth smite,\nAnd he gave to his hand a letter, and therein read the gallant knight\nA greeting fair, and a token it held of a finger-ring—\n\nAs pledge of the truth of his mission the chaplain the same must bring\nHis lady of old received it from the hand of the Angevin—\n\n290 Then he bowed as he saw the letter. Would ye hear what was writ therein ?\n\n4 Here biddeth thee love and greeting a heart that hath ne’er been free\nFrom grief since it knew thy service—Thy love is both lock and key\nTo my heart, and my heart’s rejoicing! For thy love am I like to die,\n\nIf thy love afar abideth, then all love from my heart shall fly.\n\n295 Come thou, and take from my true hand crown, sceptre, and kingdom fair,\n\nIt falleth to me as heirdom, and thy love well may claim a share.\n\nAs payment for this thy service rich presents I send to thee,\n\nFour pack-horses’ chests well laden—I would thou my knight shouldst be\nIn this the land of the Waleis, ’fore the city of Kanvoleis.\n\n300 I care not if the queen shall see it, small harm may therefrom arise,\n\nFor fairer am I, and richer, and I think me shall better know\nTo take the love that is proffered, and love in return bestow.\n\nWilt thou live in true love as shall ’seem thee ? Then here do I bid thee take\nMy crown as thy love’s rewarding—This Lpray for my true love’s sake.’\n\nDigitized by\n\nGoogle\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nAnd no more did be find in the letter—Then his squires once more they 305\ndrew\n\nO’er his head the under-helmet; from Gamuret s o rro w flew,\n\nAnd he bound on the helm of diamond, ’twas harder than blade might pierce,\n\nFor he thought again to prov e him, and ride forth to conflict fierce.\n\nAnd the messengers did he bid them to lead to the tent for rest:\n\nAnd he cleared a space around him w he rever the conflict pressed. . 310\n\nThis was vanquished, and that one victor—Did a knight o'er-long delay\nTo win to him fame in battle, his chance might he find to-day.\n\nHere twain would joust together; in troops would these others ride ;\n\nAnd the customs of friendly combat for a space did they lay aside,\n\nAnd sworn brotherhood nothing counted ’fore the strength of fierce anger’s 3*5\nmight,\n\nAnd the crooked was seldom straightened ; nor spake they of knightly right,\nWhat they captured they kept, uncaring if another’s hate they won,\n\nAnd from many lands had they ridden who with brave hands brave deeds\nhad done,\n\nAnd their hurts but little grieved them. Here Gamuret heard her prayer,\nw And e’en as Anfijg d bade him, as her knight to the field would fare ; 3*>\n\nTwas a letter had brought the tidings—Ah ! he giveth his courage rein,\n\nIs it love or the lust of battle that driveth him on amain ?\n\nGreat love and strong faith they quicken his strength into life anew.\n\nNow see where his shield he beareth, King Lot, that hero true,\n\nHis foemen to flight had forced him save for Gamurefs strong right hand, 325\nHis charger in gallant onslaught brake its way thro’ the threatening band,\n\nAnd Arragon’s king was smitten from his horse with a spear of reed,\n\n‘ Schaffilorwas his name, and the spear-point which thrust him from offhis steed\nBare never a waving pennon, from paynim lands ’twas brought,’\n\nAnd the knight made the king his captive, tho’ his folk they had bravely 330\nfought\n\nAnd the inner force drave the outer far back on the grassy plain.\n\n’Twas a good vesper-pl^y, yea, a Tourney ; many spears did they smite in\ntwain— *\n\nThen Lahelein ’gain wax wrathful, 4 Shall our honour be reft away ?\n\n’Tis the fault of him of the Anchor { Now one of us twain to-day\n\n# Digitized by vjOO^IC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n335 Shall lay in short space the other on a couch that he liketh ill,\n\nFor here are they well-nigh victors ! * Then they cleared them a space at will,\nAnd no child’s play it was that combat—In such wise with their hands they\nwrought\n\nThat a woodland was well-nigh wasted; and alike from their squires they\nsought\n\n‘New spears ! New spears! Bring them hither! ’ Yet Lahelein he must know\n340 Sorrow and shame, for his foeman thrust him down from his horse alow,\nAnd he smote him the length of the spear-iron in a shaft of reed made fast,\nAnd one read of itself his surety, for the knight to the earth was cast.\n\n(Yet better I like to read them, sweet pears on the ground that lie\nAs thick as the knights lay round him ! for his was the victory!)\n\n345 And the cry arose from many who had fallen in joust before,\n\n‘ Fly ! Fly 1 For the Anchor cometh ! ’ Then a knight towards him bore,\n(A prince of the Angevin country) and grief was his comrade true,\n\nFor he bare a shield inverted, and sorrow it taught anew\n\nTo the King, for the badge he knew it—Ah ! why did he turn aside ?\n\n350 If ye will, I the truth will tell ye, ’twas given in royal pride\nV' By Galoes the son of Gandein, Gamuret’s brother true,\n\nEre Love this guerdon gave him that the hero in joust she slew.\n\nThen he loosed from his head the helmet: nor thro* grass, nor thro’ dust\nand sand\n\nDid he make him a way to the conflict, but he yielded to grief’s command ;\n355 And his thoughts within him battled, that he sought not ere this to hear\nFrom Kailet, his friend and kinsman, how it fared with his brother dear\nThat he came not here to the Tourney—Alas! tho’ he knew it not,\n\nHe had fallen before Monthorie—Sore sorrow was there his lot,\n\nFor to anguish did love constrain him, the love of a noble queen ;\n\n360 For his loss had she grieved so sorely that death had her portion been.\n\nAnd tho’ sorely Gamuret sorrowed, yet had he in half a day\nSo many spear-shafts broken, were it Tourney indeed this fray\nThen had he a woodland wasted. Did I think me to count each spear\nOne hundred in fight had he shattered, each blazoned with colours clear—\n365 But the heralds, they won his pennons, in sooth were they theirs of right—\nThen toward the fair pavilion he turned him, the gallant knight.\n\nDigitized by vjiOCK^lC\n\nHERZELE1DE\n\nAnd the Waleis squire rode after; and his was the coat so fair,\n\nAll pierced and hewn with sword-thrust, which he did to his lady bear;\n\nAnd yet with gold was it precious, and it shone with a fiery glow,\n\nAnd right well might ye see its richness. Then joy did the queen’s heart 370\nknow,\n\nAnd she spake, ‘ A fair woman sent thee, with this knight, to this distant\nland!\n\nNow, courteous, I must bethink me lest these heroes ashamed shall stand\nWho have risked their fate in this venture—goodwill unto all I bear,\n\nFor all do I count my kinsmen, since Adam’s flesh we share,\n\nYet Gamurefs hand, I think me, the highest prize hath won. 375\n\nBut by wrath constrained they battled till the shadows of night drew on,\n\nAnd the inner host the outer by force to their tents had brought,\n\nSave for Askalon’s king and Morhold thro’ the camp they their way had\nfought.\n\nSome were winners, and some were losers, and many sore shame had\nearned,\n\nWhile others won praise and honour. Then the foe from each other turned, 380\nHere no man might see—He who holdeth the stakes, if no light he show,\n\nWho would cast the dice in the darkness ? To such sport were the weary\nslow!\n\nMen well might forget the darkness where Gamuret did abide,\n\n’Twas as day—That in 500th it was not, but light shone on every side\nFrom many small tapers clustered. There, laid on the olive wood,\nWas many a costly cushion, and by each couch a carpet good.\n\nThen the queen, she rode to the doorway with many a maid of rank,\nFor fain would they see/ those ladies, the brave king of Zassamank.\n\nMany wearied knights thronged after—The cloth had they borne away\nEre she came to the fair pavilion ; then the host he uprose straightway,\n\nAnd the monarchs four his captives (and many a prince was there),\n\nAnd she welcomed him with due honour, and she saw him, and deemed\nhim fair.\n\nThen glad spake the queen of the Waleis, 1 Thou art host where we twain\ndo stand,\n\nAnd I, even so I think me, am hostess o’er all this land,\n\nDigitized by Google\n\n4 «\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n395 If thou deem it well I should lass thee, such kiss seemeth food to me ! *\n\n* Thy kiss shall be mine if these heroes, e’en as I, shall be kissed by thee,\nBut if princes and kings must forego it, ’twere unfit I such boon should crave!’\n\n‘ Yea, e’en as thou wilt, so be it, tho* ne’er saw I these heroes brave ! ’\n\nThen she kissed, e’en as Gamuret prayed her, these princes of noble line,\n\n400 And he prayed her to sit, and beside her sat the King Brandelidelein !\n\nThen lightly they strewed, o’er the carpet, green rushes yet wet with dew,\nAnd he sat him down upon them whose presence brought joy anew\nTo the gracious queen of the Waleis ; and love did her soul constrain,\n\nAnd as Gamuret sat before her his hand did she clasp again,\n\n405 And she drew him once more towards her, and she set him her seat beside.\nNo wife was she, but a maiden, from whose hand did such grace betide.\nWould ye know the name they called her ? Hetzfilfiide the queen was she,\n(And her cousin was hight Rischoydfc, King Kailet should her husband be,\nAnd he was Gamuret’s cousin), and so radiant the queen, and bright,\n\n410 That e’en though they quenched the tapers, in her presence ’twould still be\nlight!\n\n(Were it not that a mighty sorrow his joy which aloft would fly\nHad beaten to earth, I think me he had wooed her right readily.)\n\nAnd courteous they spake to each other : then cup-bearers drew anigh,\n\nAnd from Assagog the vessels, and their cost might no man deny;\n\n415 And noble pages bare them, many costly bowls and fair,\n\nOf precious jewels wroughten, and wide, none too small, they were,\n\nAnd none of them all were golden—’twas the tribute of that fair land,\n\nWhich Eisenhart oft had proffered, when love’s need nerved his knightly\nhand.\n\nAnd the drink unto each they proffered in many a coloured stone,\n\n4ao And of emerald some, and of sardius, and of ruby some wrought alone.\n\nThen there drew near to his pavilion two knights who their word must swear,\n(To the outer host were they captive and from thence to the town would\nfare.)\n\nAnd one of them was King Kailet; and he looked upon Gamuret,\n\nAnd he saw him sit heavy-hearted, and he spake, ‘ Dost thou sorrow yet\n425 For all men they own thy valour ; Herzeleide and kingdoms twain\n\nHast thou won, and all tongues have said it, to thy praises all men are fain,\n\njoogle\n\nDigitized by\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nBe they Britons or men of Ireland—Who speaketh with foreign tongue,\n\nIf France be their land, or Brabant, with one voice they thy praise have\nsung,\n\nThat none here both skill and wisdom in strife like to thine have shown.\n\nTrue letter it is I read thee ! No slumber thy strength hath known,\n\nWhen these knights thou hast put in peril who surety ne’er sware of old,\nBrandelidelein the monarch, and Lahelein, hero bold ;\n\nAnd Hardeiss and King Schaffilor; yea, and Rassalig the Moor,\n\nWhom thine hand before Patelamunt o’erthrew and he surety swore,\n\nSuch lesson thou there didst teach him—Yea, this doth thy fame desire\nThat with every coming conflict it broader shall wax and higher/\n\n‘The queen sure will deem thou ravest, if in this wise thou praisest me,\n\nYet I think not that thou shalt sell me, since the buyer the flaw shall see ;\n\nThy mouth is o’er-full of praises ! Say, how hast thou come again ? *\n\n‘The worthy folk of Punturtois, this knight from fair Champagne\nAnd myself have loosed, and Morhold who this nephew hath stolen of mine\nWill set him free, if on thy part thou wilt free Brandelidelein ;\n\nOtherwise are we captive to them, both I and my sister’s son,\n\nBut such grace thou wilt surely show us—Here such vesper-play was run\nThat it cometh not to a Tourney this while before Kanvoleis, 445\n\nAnd in sooth do I know how it standeth ! Here sit they before mine eyes,\n\nThe strength of the outer army—now speak, tell me when and how\nThey could hold the field against us ? Much fame hast thou won, I trow ! ’\n\nThen the queen she spake to the hero from a true heart full tenderly,\n\n‘ Whate’er be my claim upon thee, I pray thee to let it be. 450\n\nI were fain of thy service worthy—If here I my right shall claim,\n\nAnd thine honour thereby be tarnished, I will leave thee nor mar thy fame ! *\n\nThen he sprang to his feet, the chaplain of Anflis£ the wise and fair,\n\nAnd he quoth, ‘ Nay, my queen doth claim him, at her will to this land I\nfare.\n\nFor his love hath she sent me hither, for his love she afar doth pine, 455\n\nAnd her love layeth claim upon him and hers shall he be, not thine.\n\nO’er all women I ween doth she love him: here as messengers hath she\nsent\n\nThree princes, lads free from falsehood ; and the one is hight Lazident\n\nDigitized by Google D\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nOf noble birth from Greenland, and in Karlingen doth he dwell, r\n\n460 And his own hath he made the language; and the second his name I *11 tel*\nLiodarz he, a count his father, and Schyolarz was he hight.\n\nAnd who was the third ? Will ye hearken, his kinship I *11 tell aright:\n\nBelief!ur she bath been his mother, Pansamur was his father’s name,\nLiahturteltart they called him, of the race of the fays he came.\n\n4 ^s Then they ran all three before him, and they spake, 4 Wouldst thy fortune\nprove ?\n\n(The queen of France doth proffer the chance of a worthy love.)\n\nThou shalt play the game, and never a pledge shall be asked from thee,\n\nNor thy joy be to sorrow forfeit, as it waxeth still fair and free 1 ’ \\\n\nThen e’en while they spake their errand Kailet he had ta’en his seat\n470 ’Neath a fold of the royal mantle, and she spake to him low and sweet,\n\n4 Now say, hath worse harm befallen ? Methinks I the wounds have seen ? *\nIn that same hour his wounds and bruises she sought out, the gracious\nqueen,\n\nWith her white hands so small and shapely, which their wisdom from God\nmust win,\n\nAnd sore was he cut and wounded on nose and on cheek and chin.\n\n475 He had won for his wife the cousin of the queen who such honour fair\n\nWould show him, herself would she tend him, and her hands for his hurts\nshould care.\n\nThen e’en as courtesy bade her she spake unto Gamuret,\n\n4 The fair queen of France, it seemeth, her heart upon thee hath set;\n\nNow honour in me all women, and give what I here may claim,\n\n480 Go not till men judge betwixt us, else thou leavest me here to shame.’\n\nThis he sware unto her, the hero, and leave she from him would crave,\n\nAnd she passed thence, and then King Kailet, that monarch so true and\nbrave,\n\nHe lifted her to her saddle; and he turned him about once more\nAnd came into the pavilion, where his kinsman and friends he saw.\n\n485 Then spake he unto King Hardeiss, 4 Aleiss thy sister fair\n\nShe proffered her love, I took it—Now wedded is she elsewhere,\n\nAnd a better than I is her husband ! No longer thus wrathful frown,\n\nPrince Lambekein, he hath won her—tho’ in sooth she shall wear no crown,\n\nDigitized by\n\nGoogle\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\n5i\n\n'Yet honour enough is her portion—Brabant and Hennegau\n)o her service, and many a brave knight doth unto her bidding bow. 490\n\nf thy mind it shall turn to greet me let thy favour be mine once more.\n\nAnd take thou again my service of a true heart as aye of yore.’\n\nThen the king of Gascony answered as befitted a hero brave,\n\n'Yea, soft is thy speech, yet if greeting I give thee as thou dost crave,\n\nWho hath offered to me such insult, men will deem fear such grace hath 495\nwon,\n\nFor captive am 1 to thy cousin! 1 ‘ Yet ill shall )ie deal with none,\n\nGamdret, he shall grant thy freedom, that boon my first prayer shall be :\n\nNo man shall thereto constrain thee, yet my service the day shall see\nWhen thou as thy friend shalt claim me. For the shame, ’tis enow I wot,\n\nFor whate’er thou mayst do against me, thy sister, she slayeth me not! ’ 500\n\nThen all at his words laughed loudly. But their mirth it was soon overpast\nFor his true heart the host constrained, and desire held him once more fast,\nAnd a sharp goad I ween is sorrow—Then the heroes they saw right well\nHow he wrestled anew with sorrow and his joy in the conflict fell;\n\nAnd his cousin he waxed right wrathful, and he spake, 'Now thou doest ill. 1 505\n* Nay, nay, for I needs must sorrow, and naught may my yearning still *\n\nFor the queen I have left behind me, afar on a heathen shore,\n\nPure wife and true is that lady, and my heart she hath wounded sore.’\n\n' And her purity doth constrain me to mourn for her love so sweet,\n\nVassals and lands she gave me; yet joy for a true knight meet 510\n\nBelakand of that hath robbed me ! yet shame for a wavering mind\nI think me is right and manly—With such fetters her love did bind\nThat she held me afar from Tourney, nor in search of strife 1 went;\n\nThen I thought me that deeds of knighthood should free me from ill-content,\nAnd here have I somewhat striven—Now many a fool would say 515\n\nThat I, for her colour, fled her, to my eyes was she light as day!\n\nFor her womanhood true I sorrow; o’er all others her worth stood high *\n\nAs the boss from the shield outstandeth. And another grief have I,\n\nAnd here make I my moan unto ye, my brother’s arms I saw,\n\nBut the shield on which they were blazoned, with point up-turned they 5 90\n\nDigitized by Google\n\n52 PARZIVAL\n\n(Ahl woe for the words that are spoken, and the tidings of grief they\nbring!)\n\nHis eyes they overflowed with water, that gallant Spanish king,\n\n‘ Alas ! O queen for thy madness, thro 1 thy love is Galoes slain,\n\nWhom every faithful woman from her heart shall mourn amain\n595 If she would that her dealing win her true honour in true man’s thought.\n\nAh! queen of Auvergne I think me, tho’ small grief it to thee hath brought,\nYet thro* thee have I lost my kinsman, tho’ his ending was fit and feir,\n\nFor a knightly joust hath slain him who thy token in strife would bear !\n\nAnd these princes here, his comrades, their heartfelt grief they show,\n\n530 As in funeral train their shield’s-breadth do they turn to the earth below,\n\n- For thus hath great sorrow taught them—In this guise do they knightly\ndeeds,\n\nHeavy-hearted that he, my cousin, serveth no more for true love’s meed ! ’\n\nHe hath won him another heart-grief as his brother’s death is told,\n\nAnd he spake aloud in his sorrow, ( Now mine anchor hath found its hold\n535 And its haven in bitter rueing,’ and the badge did he lay aside,\n\nAnd his grief taught him bitter anguish, and aloud the hero cried,\n\n‘ Galoes of Anjou ! henceforward shall never a man deny\n\nThat on earth ne’er was born thine equal for manhood and courtesy,\n\nAnd the fruit of a free hand knightly from thine heart did it bloom amain. .\n54° Ah ! woe is me for thy goodness ! ’ then to Kailet he spake again,\n\n‘ How goeth it with Schoettfc, my mother, of joy bereft ? ’\n\n‘ So that God hath had pity on her! When Gandein this life had left,\n\nAnd dead was Galoes thy brother, and thou wert not by her side,\n\nAnd she saw thee no more, then death brake her heart, and she too hath\ndied! *\n\n545 Then out quoth the Gascon Hardeiss, ‘Turn thy will to a manly mien,\n\nThou shalt mourn but in fitting measure if true manhood thine own hath\nbeen !’\n\nBut too great was the load of his sorrow, and the tears as a flood must\nflow\n\nFrom his eyes—Then all things he ordered that the knights a fair rest\nmight know,\n\nAnd he went where he saw his chamber, of samite the little tent,\n\n550 And in grief and sore lamentation the J^ugj^t^e night he spent.\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nWhen there dawned another morning the knights together came,\n\nThe inner host and the outer, all wtio thought there to win them fame ;\n\nWere they young or old, were they cowardly or brave, they fought not that day.\nAnd the light grew to middle morning : yet so worn were they with the fray;\nAnd the horses so spent with spurring, that the knights in battle tried $55\nWere yet by weariness vanquished—Then the queen herself would ride,\n\nAnd the valiant men from the open would she bring to the town again,\n\nAnd the best of the knights within there she bade ride to the Leo-plain ;\n\nAnd straightway they did her bidding, and they rode in their knightly ranks,\nAnd they came ere the Mass was ended to the sad king of Zassamank. 560\n\nThen the benediction spoken, Herzeleide the queen she came,\n\nAnd e’en as the folk upheld her, so she laid to the knight her claim :\n\nThen he spake, * A wife have I Lady, and than life shall she be more dear,\n\nYea, and e’en if 1 were without her thou another tale shouldst hear\n\nThat afar should drive me from thee, if men here shall list my right! ’ 5^5\n\nBut the queen she looked upon him; and she spake to the gallant knight:\n\n4 Thou shalt leave thy Moorish lady for my love ; stronger far shall be\nThe blessing that baptism giveth ! Frofn heathendom set thee free,\n\nAnd wed me in Christian marriage, since my heart for thy love doth yearn.\n\nOr say shall the French queen’s message to my shame and my sorrow turn ? 570\nSweet words did they speak her people, and thou htardest them to the\nend!’\n\n* Yea, she is in truth my* lady. When I back to Anjou must wend,\n\nThen fair counsels and courteous customs with me from her land 1 brought;\nYea, even to-day doth she help me whom from childhood to man she taught.\n\nShe hath fled all that mars a woman—We were children then, she and I, 575\nYet gladly we saw each other in the days that are long gone by I\nThe noble queen Anflisl, in true womanhood hath she share,\n\nFrom her lands a goodly income she gave me, that lady fair,\n\n(In those days was I still a poor man), yet I took it right willingly,\n\nAs a poor man thou still shalt count me, and Lady, shalt pity me, 580\n\nHe is dead, my gallant brother—Of thy courtesy press me not,\n\nTurn thy love where thou findest gladness, for sorrow is aye my lot 1 ’\n\n4 Nay, let me not longer sorrow ; how wilt thou deny my claim ? ’\n\n* Thy question I ’ll gladly answer, here didst P ^0C ^ a * In,\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n585 That Tourney hath not been holden, as many shall witness bear *\n\n‘ For the vesper-play hath marred it! The knights who had foughten there\nSo well have they tamed their ardour that the Tourney hath come to naught/\n\n* I did but defend thy city with others that bravely fought;\n\nThou shouldst force me not to withstand thee, here have others done more\nthan I,\n\n590 Mine the greeting that dll may claim here, other right would 1 still deny !’\n\nThen, so hath the venture told me, they chose them, both man and maid,\n\nA judge o’er the claim of the lady, and their cause they before him laid,\n\nAnd it drew near to middle morning, and thus did the verdict run,\n\n‘What knight hath bound on his helmet, and hath hither for conflict come,\n595 And hath fought, and the prize hath holden, then that knight he shall wed\nthe queen.’\n\nAnd unto the judgment spoken the knights gave consent I ween.\n\nSpake the queen, * Mine thou art, and I ’ll yield thee fair service thy love\nto gain,\n\nAnd will give thee of joy such portion that thy life shall be free of pain ! ’\n\nAnd yet bare he grief and sorrow—Now the April sun was o’er,\n\n600 And had left behind a token in the garment the meadow bore,\n\nWith short green grass was it covered, so that coward hearts waxed bold,\nAnd won afresh high courage ; and the trees did their buds unfold\nIn the soft sweet air of the May-tide, and he came of the fairy race\nThat aye loveth, or sweet love seeketh, and his friend she would show him\ngrace.\n\n605 Then he looked on Queen Herzeleide, and he spake to her courteously,\n\n1 If in joy we would live, O Lady, then my warder thou shalt not be,\n\nWhen loosed from the bonds of sorrow, for knighthood my heart is fain ;\n\nIf thou holdest me back from Tourney I may practise such wiles again\nAs of old when I fled from the lady whom I won with mine own right hand ;\n610 When from strife she would fain have kept me I fled from her folk and land ! ’\nThen she spake, * Set what bonds thou wiliest, by thy word will I still abide.*\n‘ Many spears would I break asunder, and each month would to Tourney\nride,\n\nThou shalt murmur not O Lady when such knightly joust I ’Id run 1 ’\n\nThis she sware, so the tale was told me,an<f@@$Uad and her lands he won.\n\nHERZELE1DE\n\nThe three pages of Queen Anflis£ and her chaplain were nigh at hand, ^ 615\n\nAs the judgment was sealed and spoken they must hearken and understand,\n\nAnd he spake to the knight in secret, * To my lady this tale was told\nHow at Patelamunt thy valour did the guerdon of victory bold,\n\nAnd that there two kingdoms served thee—And she too hath lands I trow,\n\nAnd she thinketh herself to give thee, and riches and gold enow!’ 630\n\n‘ As knighthood of old she taught me so must I hold fast alway\nBy the strength of the knightly order, and the rule of the shield obey.\n\nThro* her my shield have I won me, else perchance I had worn it not,\n\nHere doth knightly verdict bind me, be sorrow or joy my lot.\n\nGo ye homeward, and bear my service, her knight will I ever be, 625\n\nAnd for her is my deepest sorrow tho* all crowns were awaiting me ! *\n\nThen he proffered to them of his riches, but his gifts did they cast aside.\n\nYet was she not shamed their lady, tho’ homeward they needs must ride!\n\nAnd they craved not leave, but they rode thence, as in anger ye oft shall\nfind,\n\nAnd the princes* sons, her pages, well-nigh did they weep them blind. 630\n\nThey who bare their shields inverted their friends spake to them this word,\n\n‘The queen, fair Herzeleide, hath the Angevin for her lord.’ N\n\n4 Say, who from Anjou hath fought here ? Our lord is, alas, elsewhere ; -\n\nHe seeketh him fame ’gainst the heathen, and grief for his sake we bear ! ’\n\n4 He who shall be here the victor, who hath smitten full many a knight, 6 35\nHe who smote and pierced so fiercely, he who bare on his helm of light\nAn anchor rare and costly, that knight is the knight we mean,\n\nAnd King Kailet he spake his title, Gamuret Angevin—I ween\nGood fortune doth here befall him! ’ Then swift to their steeds they\nsprung,\n\nAnd their raiment waf wet with the tear-drops that grief from their eye-lids 640\nwrung,\n\nWhen they came where their lord was seated they gave him a welcome fair,\n\nAnd he in his turn would greet them, and sorrow and joy were there.\n\nThen he kissed his knights so faithful, and spake, ‘ Ye no more shall make\nSuch measureless moan for my brother, his place I with ye will take.\n\nTurn your shields again as befits them, and as men who would joyful fare; 645\nMy anchor hath struck its haven ; *py |sdhe?9)apn|cl ’ll bear,\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nFor the anchor it is a symbol that befitteth a wandering knight,\n\nHe who willeth may take and wear it I must rule my life aright\nAs now shall become my station : I am rich now, when shall I be\n650 The lord of this folk ? For my sorrow it worketh but ill to me.\n\nQueen Herzeleide, help me that thou and I may pray\n\nThe kings that are here and princes for my service awhile to stay,\n\nTill thou unto me hast yielded that which love from true love may crave! *\nThus both of them made petition, and the heroes their promise gave.\n\n655 Then each one went to his chamber, and the queen to her knight spake low,\n‘ Now yield thyself to my tending, and a hidden way I *11 show ! 1\nFor his guests did they care as fitting tho’ the host was no longer there,\n\nThe folk they were all together, but the knight he alone must fare\nSave for two of his pages only—Then the queen and her maidens bright\n660 They led him where gladness waited, and his sorrow was put to flight,\n\nAnd regret was o’erthrown and vanquished—And his heart it waxed high\nand brave\n\nAs is ever the lot of lovers ! and her maidenhood she gave\nThe queen, fair Herzeleide : nor their lips did they think to spare,\n\nBut close did they cling in kisses ; grief was conquered by joy so fair!\n\n665 Then courteous deeds were begun there ; for free were his captives set,\n\nAnd the Kings Hardeiss and Kailet were made friends by Gamuret.\n\nAnd such marriage feast was holden that he who had proudly thought\nHereafter to hold such another much riches thereto had brought.\n\nFor this did Gamuret purpose, his wealth he would little spare,\n\n670 But Arabian gold did he scatter mid the poor knights ; and jewels rare\nDid he give to the kings and princes who were there with the host I ween ;\nAnd glad were the wandering players, for rich gifts had their portion been.\n\nLet them ride whom he there had feasted, from the Angevin leave they\nprayed.\n\nThen the panther the badge of his father on his shield they in sable laid ;\n675 And a small white silken garment, a shift that the queen did wear,\n\nThat had touched her naked body who now was his wife so fair,\n\nThis should be his corslet’s cover. And of foemen it saw eighteen\nPierced thro’ and hewn with sword-blade erejie parted from her his queen,\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nAnd aye as her love came homeward on her body that shift she drew:\n\nAnd many a shield had he shattered ; and their love it waxed strong and 680\ntrue.\n\nAnd honour enow was his portion ere his manly courage bore\nThe knight o’er the seas to conflict, for his journey I sorrow sore.\n\n^ For there came unto him true tidings, how the Baruch^ his lord of old,\n\nWas beset by mighty foemen, by Babylon’s princes bold :\n\nAnd the one he was called Ipomidon, and Pompey his brother’s name 685\n(For so hath the venture told me), a proud man of warlike fame.\n\n(Twas not he whom Julius Caesar had driven from Rome of yore).\n\nHis uncle was Nebuchadnezzar, who in books found the lying lore\nThat he himself should a god be, (o’er this would our folk make sport)\n\nAnd of noble race these brothers, nor of strength nor of gold spared aught. 690\nFrom Ninus they came who was ruler ere ever Bagdad might be,\n\nNineveh did he found—Now an insult and a shame vexed them bitterly,\n\nThe Baruch as vassals claimed them—So the combat was won and lost,\n\nAnd bravely the heroes battled, and on each side they paid the cost\n\nThus Gamuret sailed the water, and aid to the Baruch brought, *95\n\nAnd gladly he bade him welcome; tho’ I weep that that land he sought!\n\nHow it chanced there, how went the conflict, gain or loss, how the thing\nmight be\n\nNaught of that knew Queen Herzeleide ; and bright as the sun was she,\n\nAnd her form it was fair to look on, and both riches had she and youth,\n\nAnd more than too much her gladness 1 I think me in very truth 700\n\nShe had sped past the goal of all wishes—And on wisdom her heart was set,\nAnd she won from the whole world favour; her fair deeds with fair guerdon\nmet,\n\nAnd all men praised Herzeleide, the queen, as both fair and true,\n\nAnd the queen of three kingdoms was she, of Waleis and fair Anjou,\n\nOf these twain was she aye the ruler; and beside them in far Norgals 7°5\n\nDid she bear the crown and sceptre, in the city of Kingrivals.\n\nAnd so dear did she hold her husband, if never a maid might win\nSo gallant a man, what recked she ? She counted it not for sin.\n\nAs for half a year he was absent she looked for his coming sure,\n\nFor but in the thought of that meeting might the life of the queen endure. 7 10\n\nDigitized by VjOOv 1C\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nThen brake the sword of her gladness thro’ the midst of the hilt in twain,\nAh me ! and alas! for her mourning, that goodness should bear such pain\nAnd faith ever waken sorrow ! Yea, so doth it run alway\nWith the life of men, and to-morrow must they mourn who rejoice to-day !\n\n715 So it chanced that the queen one noontide in a restless slumber lay,\n\n’Twas as if with a Start she wakened and by lightning was borne away,\n\nAnd towards the clouds it bare her, and they smote her with mighty force,\nThe fiery bolts of Heaven, as they sped on their downward course,\n\nAnd sparks sprang from her floating tresses mid the fire of the circling\nspheres,\n\n730 And the thunder crashed loud around her, and the rain-drops were burning\ntears.\n\nFor a little space was she conscious, then a grip on her right hand fell,\n\nAnd, lo ! it was changed, the vision, and wondrous things befell;\n\nFor then did she nurse a dragon, that forth from her body sprung,\n\nAnd its dragon life to nourish awhile at her breast it hung,\n\n725 Then it fled from her sight so swiftly she might look on it never more :\n\nAnd her heart it brake for the anguish, and the terror and grief she bore.\n\nAnd never methinks a woman in slumber such woe hath seen,\n\nBut now had she been so joyful, alas ! all was changed I ween,\n\nAnd sorrow should be her portion, and her ill it waxed long and wide,\n\n73 ° And the shadow of coming sorrow did still on her heart abide.\n\nThen she did what afore she could not, for the terror that on her lay,\n\nShe stretched her limbs in her slumber, and moaned in her grief alway,\n\nAnd she cried aloud on her people ; and many a maid sat by\n\nAnd they sprang to her side at her summons, and wakened her speedily.\n\n73 S Then Tampaneis he came riding, of her husband’s squires the chief,\n\nAnd many a page was with him, and joy’s goal was o’erpassed in grief,\n\nAnd they cried, 4 He was dead, their master! ’ And her senses forsook the queen,\nAnd she fell aback in her anguish—And the knights spake, 4 How hath this\nbeen?\n\nHath our lord been slain in his harness, who ever was armed so well ? ’\n\n740 And tho* sorely the squire must sorrow, to the heroes the tale he’Id tell:\n\nDigitized by vjiOO^lC\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\n‘ No long life should he have, my master 1 His helm he put off awhile,\n\nThe heat thereto constrained him—’twas accursed heathen guile\nThat stole him from us, our hero—A knight took a he-goat’s blood, I\nAnd from a long glass he poured it on the helmet of diamond good,\n\nAnd softer than sponge grew the diamond. May He Whom as Lamb they 745\nshow\n\nWith the Cross in His hold, have mercy on the deeds that afe wrought below !’\n\n4 Then when one host met the other: Ah ! that was indeed a fight,\n\nAnd the knights who were with the Baruch they fought all as men of might,\nAnd there in the field by Bagdad full many a shield was pierced,\n\nAs they flew each one on the other, and they mingled in charges fierce, 750\nAnd banner was mixed with banner, many fell who had bravely fought,\n\nAnd my lord’s hand it did such wonders that his foemen became as nought,\n\nBut Ipomidon he came riding, and with death would reward the knight,\n\nAnd he smote him down, and 1 think me many thousands they saw that\nsight.’\n\n( For my master, free from falsehood, rode against Alexandria’s king, 755\n\nBut, alas ! for the guile of the heathen, this joust but his death should bring,\n\nFor the spear cut sheer thro* the helmet, and it pierced thro’ my master’s\nbrain\n\n(In his head did they find the splinters), yet the hero still held the rein,\n\nAnd dying he rode from the combat, o’er a wide plain his way he’ld take,\n\nAnd his chaplain he knelt above him, and in few words his shrift he spake. 760\n' And he sent here the shift and the spear-blade that hath robbed us of our\nfriend,\n\nHe died free from sin—-us his servants he did to the queen commend ! *\n\n4 At Bagdad was the hero buried, and the Baruch the cost would pay,\n\nWith gold is it fair to look on, and rich is the tomb alway;\n\nAnd many a costly jewel doth gleam where he lies at rest, 765\n\nAnd embalmed was the fair young body (sad was many a faithful breast);\n\nAnd the grave-stone it is a ruby, and thro* it he shineth clear,\n\nAnd they granted us as with martyrs, the cross o’er his tomb to rear,—\n\nFor as Christ by His death hath freed us, and to comfort that soul so brave,\nAnd for shelter we raised the symbol—And the Baruch the cost he gave\n\nDigitized by\n\n6o\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nFor the cross was of emerald wroughten : heathen counsel we asked it not,\nFor they know not the Cross, nor the blessing that Christ’s death won for us\nI wot!\n\nAnd the heathen they pray unto him as if he were a god in truth,\n\nNor they do it the Cross to honour, nor hath Baptism taught them ruth\n775 (Tho’ it looseneth us from Hell’s fetters when the uttermost day shall dawn),\nBut his knightly faith and honour, who leaveth us here forlorn,\n\nHave wrought him a place in Heaven where he shineth with Heaven’s light,\nAnd true penitence and confession—for falsehood e’er fled that knight.’\n\n4 And there in his diamond helmet an epitaph did they grave,\n\n780 And fast to the cross they fixed it o’er the tomb of that hero brave,\n\nAnd thus do they run the letters : 1 ( Through this helmet a joust hath slain\nThis hero who bare all manhood , and Gamuret was his name,\n\nAs king did he rule der three kingdoms , in each land the Crown he wore\nWhom mighty princes followed—A njotis land this hero bore,\n\n785 And he lost his life for the Baruch at the city of Bagdadfair.\n\nAnd so high did it soar , his honour, that no knight may with him compare,\nHowder ye may test their dealings. Nor is he of woman bom,\n\n(/ mean of the knightly order) to whose hand he his strength had sworn .\n\nBut help and true manly counsel to his friends did he steadfast give;\n\n790 And thrd women much grief he suffered, for he would in their favour live.\nBaptised was he as a Christian thd Saracens mourn him yet,\n\n.(This is truth and no lie)—All his lifetime since his years were on wisdom set\nHie strength strove for fame and honour, till he fell in his knightly pride.\nWish him bliss who here lieth buried! ’Twas by treason's hand he died P\n\n795 So spake the squire, and the Waleis who heard it must weep full sore,\n\nCause hast they enow for sorrow ! A living child she bore\nWho of men was left unaided, Herzeleide the gracious queen,\n\nWith death the mother battled: her maidens were crazed I ween,\n\nSince they thought not to help their lady, for within her womb she bare\n806 Him who should be flower of all knighthood, if death did not claim him\nthere.\n\nThen there came a wise man ancient to weep with his lady’s grief,\n\nAnd he saw how with death she struggled, and he brought to her swift relief;\nFor he forced her teeth asunder, and betwixt her lips they pour\nWater, and at their tending her senses they came once more.\n\nDigitized by vjiOO^lC\n\nHERZELEIDE\n\nThen she spake, and aloud she mourned him, 4 My heart’s dearest, Ah ! 805\nwhere is he ?\n\nFor in sooth my heart’s deepest gladness was in Gamurefs chivalry,\n\nYet his valour of this hath robbed me—Now his mother am I and wife ,\n\nTho* far younger was I, for within me do I carry his flesh and life ;\n\nThe love that we bore to each other hath been of such flower the root,\n\nAnd if God shall in truth be faithful, He withholdeth not here the fruit 810\n\nAlready too sore my sorrow for my husband so proud and brave,\n\nWhat ill death hath wrought upon me! Her love never woman gave, *\n\nBut his heart it rejoiced in her gladness, and sad for her grief was he,\n\nThus his true heart it gave him counsel who was aye from all falsehood free.’\n\nNow hearken yet more the story bow the noble queen must mourn, 815\n\nWithin her arms would she hold him, her child who was yet unborn,\n\nAnd she spake, 1 Now God send me safely the child of my hero fair,\n\nFor this is my heart’s petition; God keep me from dark despair,\n\n’Twere Gamurefs second slaying if I thought myself to slay\n\nWhile I bear of his love the token who was faithful to me alway! ’ 8 ®o\n\nThen careless of who might see her, the robe from her neck she tore,\n\nAnd her fair white breasts she tended with the wisdom of mother-lore,\n\nTo her rosy lips she pressed them, 4 Ah, thou food that shall feed my son,\n\nHe hath sent thee before his coming who life from my life hath won ! *\n\nAnd the queen it nothing vexed her that above her heart it lay 835\n\nThe milk that her child should nourish, and softly she spake alway,\n\n4, Twas true love that brought thee hither, if I yet unbaptized should be \\\n\nFrom thee had I won my baptism, and the tears which shall flow so free,\n\nAnd openly and in secret will I mourn for my husband dear 1 ’\n\nThen the shift with his life-blood crimsoned she bade them to bring anear, 830.\n\n(Thus clad in the Baruch’s army had Gamuret lost his life,\n\nFor he chose him a gallant ending in the turmoil and stress of strife),\n\nAnd then for the spear she prayed them wherewith was her husband slain,\n\nFrom Nineveh’s Prince Ipomidon such guerdon he needs must gain.\n\nAnd tho’ tattered and hewn to pieces yet the queen fain the shift would wear, 83 s\n\nAs aforetime had been her custom when her lord did from Tourney fare,\n\nBut her maidens who stood around her they took it from out her hand,\n\nAnd they carried them to the Minster, the highest from out her land,\n\n*\n\nPARZ1VAL\n\nAnd the spear and the blood they buried as men bury a hero dead,\n\n840 And sorrow and bitter mourning thro* Gamuret’s kingdom spread.\n\nAnd when fourteen days were ended a babe lay the queen beside,\n\n’Twas a son, and so great and goodly that the mother had well-nigh died.\n\ny Now His cast the die of the venture, and here doth my tale begin,\n\nFor now is he born who henceforward this song for his own shall win.\n\n845 And now have ye heard the story of his father, his love and grief,\n\nOf his gallant life, and the treason that ended its span so brief;\n\nAnd ye know whence he came, the hero of this tale, and how for long\n| He was hidden from deeds of knighthood, till his youth it waxed bold and\nstrong.\n\nWhen the queen found sight and hearing she was fain on her child to look,\n850 And her maidens they bare hipi to her and the babe in her arms she took ;\nAnd she saw his limbs soft rounded, and she knew she had bom a son,\n\nAnd her maidens with her were joyful that the earth had a man-child won.\n(As he bare of a man the body, so manly was he of heart,\n\nAs a smith did he wield the sword-blade till fire from the helm would start)\n855 And no joy did she know, the mother, save ever her babe to kiss,\n\nAnd with soft words she spake to him ever, * Bon fils , Cher fils , Beau filsl\n\nAnd e’en as herself she bare him, so herself she his nurse would be,\n\nAt his mother’s breast was he nourished who was ever from falsehood free.\nAnd she thought she had won her husband by her prayers to her arms\nagain,\n\n860 She all folly forsook, and meekness and truth in her heart did reign.\n\nAnd musing spake Herzeleide, 4 The queen of Heaven high\nGave her breast to the dear Lord Jesu Who a bitter death would die\nAs Man on the cross for man’s sake, for thus did His love begin :\n\nWho thinketh light of His anger his soul’s peace shall hardly win,\n\n86 $ Tho* he else were brave man and worthy—and this tale do I know for true ! ’\nThen the queen of the land she bathed her in heart sorrow’s bitter dew,\n\nAnd her eyes on the babe rained tear-drops as soft in her arms it lay, /\nFor hers was the way of women, where a true heart holdeth sway;\n\nShe could laugh and weep together, her heart joyed for her baby’s birth,\n\n870 Yet the ford of her bitter sorrow had drqw^ed in short space her mirth.\n\nDigitized by \\LjDOV lL",
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