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The king of old Britain ruled many years
from his glittering throne at Camelot.
Roads sprang from the throne, imposing laws—
the form of the king forced on shapeless land.
Yet now the king aged, Arthur’s beard grew grey
his grip grew weak, the straight roads were bent
and the bright summer kingdom knew autumn.
The Captains met.
First, courteous Gawaine,
first knighted knight, strong cousin of the king,
his crest the boar, on checkered green and black.
Famed scholar Percival was next known—
argent hawk who wields both ink-pen and blade.
Then pious Galahad, pure knight of white
shield and bloody cross. Last his famed father,
Lancelot of the Lake, Arthur’s chief knight.
His arms bore a golden lion at war
with a silver wolf on a crimson field.
The captains discussed their matchless king’s fate,
he lacking an heir, who would rule Britain?
They awaited the presence and the will
of their much loved, and yet agéd monarch.
Then came the smoke, pouring from the rafters
with Myrmidion choirs chanting hymns
of martial splendor to the Most High King.
The knights drew blades in fear and a light struck.
Down it burned, carrying a pure white cloud
containing the red Holy Cup of God.
Neither boar, nor hawk, nor lion, nor wolf
could see clearly through the glaring glory.
First swore the boar, to seek and see the Grail.
Hawk swore next, keen eyes yearning for God’s Cup.
Lion swore and silver wolf, to find—
Then entered the king full of royal wrath,
fearing for the chamber of his table,
and for his knights within who, from outside,
had appeared to be struck by holy Jove.
Sir Gawaine spoke of the Grail’s appearance
and of the oath they had so rashly sworn.
The king then shook his weary head and spoke,
“Beloved cousin, such a quest is not yours.
Lance, my strong right arm, and wise Percival
depart not upon such folly! Save this
for Galahad, our most pious servant.
Do not abandon your king for a quest,
especially one you cannot hold to.”
Lancelot replied, “We’ve already sworn.
My liege, our hasty oaths bind us to the task.
Your knights cannot forswear what they have sworn.”
Then spoke Galahad, before Arthur’s will
could be verbalized and cast into law,
“Matchless Majesty, I shall remain and serve.
I clearly saw the cup and have not sworn
with my fellows to quest after God’s Grail.”
The king in reply: “They go ‘gainst my will
and against the best part of their nature.
This quest was for you, pious Galahad.
Very well, go then knights but you shall fail.
You love the world too much to full love God.
Snares of smoke and shadow shall cause your fall,
the vanities you love will mislead you,
you shall forget your oaths and bootless vows.”
The three knights left: boar, hawk, wolf and lion
in search of the red, sacred cup of God.
They rode through Logres, Arthur’s famed kingdom
upon the straight roads of the matchless king.
They soon fell upon bandits in pursuit
of a lily-white maid and her sisters,
purest dams in white with golden tresses.
With couched lance, the king’s knights charged in fury
dashing the paynim brigands to the earth.
The lily-white maid thanked her rescuers,
“Knights, you have saved us from a vile fate!
Come with us to Eden, our royal house.
and allow us to thank you with pleasures
from our lord father’s most grateful domain.”
The knights refused the maid’s offered reward,
Gawaine answering that duty drove them,
the kings will and law; not hope of some prize.
Saddened the lily-maid asked for escort
to her distant home at royal Eden,
“For surely,” she spoke, “we need protection
from false knights and thieves, as your king commands.”
Courteous Gawaine answered her, “Maiden,
My brothers are on a most holy quest,
they cannot forsake God’s Cup for you,
yet my king was right, this quest is not mine.
I shall escort you and your sisters home.”
This brought colour to the lily maids cheeks,
Flushed with pleasure she answered the boar knight,
”Then let us away, Eden’s pleasure waits.”
The boar then left the hawk, wolf and lion
with the lily-white maid and her sisters
bound for the famed royal house of Eden.
There Acrasia, the lily-white maid
dallied much with the courteous Gawaine.
They drank the rich wines and ate the plump fruits
of royal Eden, Bliss’s sweet bower.
The boar feasted on the flesh of his kin
and the lady’s white was stained with red wine.
In time the cellars ran dry, the feasts ceased
and the house of Eden passed into dust .
Still on their quest rode hawk, wolf and lion
Percival and Lancelot through Logres
in search of the grail, red cup of true God.
Into the village of Astolat, seiged
by warriors of Tristram, false Baron
whose pride and title yearned for land to rule.
Wise Percival observed all and, with aid
of Lancelot and doughty village folk,
he conceived a cunning plan of battle.
Brave Lancelot led a daring sally
against the Baron and his uncouth knights.
Percival struck behind distracted foes,
with his bold force of honest Britons.
Tristram himself clashed with wise Percival,
the silver hawk fought with sharpened steel claw
and smote the Baron a dolorous blow.
When the Baron fell his knights surrendered
yielding blade and armor to Percival.
Then the townsfolk begged Percival to stay
saying, “Wise knight, rule us as Solomon once ruled
his people in Israel, protect us
as your sworn duty to your matchless king.”
“Keep the kings command because of God’s will ,”
quoth wise Sir Percival, most learnéd knight.
“I shall stay, my quest is thine Lancelot.
My duty lies here, in fair Astolat.”
The bold Lancelot, chief of Arthur’s knights
rode on, the quest now his and his alone.
Percival remained, ruling Astolat
well with his wisdom and earned much worship.
Astolat prospered and rich grew the hawk,
silver knight of Arthur’s famous order.
In time, Percival died; Astolat fell.
The rich storehouses fell into grey dust.
The silver hawk faded, his people died.
Dust all that remained of fair Astolat .
Now Lancelot rode alone through Logres,
the wolf and lion in search of God’s cup.
A bright light appeared to Arthur’s chief knight,
and drew the quester to a ship at moor,
guarded by a knight in black with black blade.
The two clashed and the famous lion pounced,
garbed in the golden glory of his might.
The black knight was no match for Lancelot
and soon knelt before victorious lion.
He spoke, “Sir, I test those who seek the Grail.
First their might--that you have proved full well.
Next I test their fear of God: surrender
your famous shield, your marked blade, the pearl sash
you wear as a token of woman’s love.”
“I will surrender my shield, my marked blade
but I cannot give up my Queen’s pearl sash,”
so spake silver wolf and parted in shame .
Returning to Camelot, head hung low,
chief knight reported failed quest to his King.
Matchless king summoned pious Galahad
and granted the quest of the cup to him.
In time the King died and Lancelot wed
the Queen, his love, the lady of the sash.
Without its king’s will and laws Logres passed
away into legend and then to dust.
Adulterous wolf slew golden lion,
the chief knight passed his dust into Logres.
Galahad rode in quest of the red cup,
again rescuing the lily-white maid
from the paynim brigands that threatened her.
He, unlike courteous Gawaine, refused
the offered reward from the lily-maid.
When he rode into Astolat he warred
against the new Baron with blade and lance.
He slew the false Lord in single combat,
but rode on, driven by duty and fate,
charged by the will of the king, fear of God.
Then he saw the black knight with the black blade.
Saintly Galahad charged in holy rage
and cast down the black knight with one just stroke.
The black knight commanded that Galahad
surrender his shield, his blade, and his helm
and so the faithful knight entered the boat .
It carried him swift, by magical means
to the isle where the red cup resides,
barren land amidst the cold salt sea.
On the island stood a humble chapel,
within pulsed the red stone heart, God’s own cup.
Galahad approached and took communion,
then rose in a golden cloud to glory,
not passing to dust but exulting in God.
For, “Whatever God does endures forever .”
Amen.
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I will deffinately get back to reading the rest. so far I think it’s very well written and I love the imagery. Keep it up !
The story structure and sequence of this piece is on target. From a reader’s perspective, I am not certain if this should be considered a poem or short story. Throughout the write, poetic verses and regular sentence structure were utilized. The use of language ranged from current to that particular era, so you may want to revisit this piece in an effort to give it the complete “Arthurian” feel. Overall, my reading of this quest has been an enjoyable one. You are certainly on the correct path.
Wonderful
I love this piece
It is a fantastic rendition on the Tale of the Holy Grail
The rhyme scheme (if there was one) was a bit odd
if you were trying to rhyme it you might want to revise that
other than that I really find nothing wrong with your piece
In fact It’s all right
This is one of my favorite genres, so was easy to read, and overall enjoyable.
The use of “captains” was cloudy for me. Early on, the word is capitalized, as if that is their title, then later it is not capitalized. It could confuse a more anal person as to how you want the word perceived.
Excellent descriptive visual of the knights and their individual heraldry. I would take out the “First,” as you don’t follow with “second,” etc. However, I do suggest inserting the number of knights early on just so it’s defined. Maybe instead of “The captains met.” you could say “The four captains met. Courteous Gawaine…” I was using my fingers to count as I read, then had to double check my count because Lance uses two animals, but Galahad uses none. By not making this terribly clear, the reader is dependent on foreknowledge of the legend, and not all people have that. This has potential to be a stand-alone piece, read and understood by those who do not want to “take on” the original works.
“First swore… to find-” I don’t get right away that this is a rash move on the part of the knights. It’s not stated until the middle of the next stanza. Maybe a word or two to establish their impulse in doing so?
I appreciate how you utilize the failed quests as gains turned to dust. Kind of gives it a biblical twist. Isn’t that the point Solomon (I know the debate!) was trying to make? Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, earthly things will pass away, but whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. I LOVE this. Subtle, and yet such a strong and valuable message.
Wow… I really enjoy Arthurian legend and this does it a fine bit of justice. I love the message that goes along with it as well. The metaphors were splendidly used too. Overall, I really liked this.
This was a very gorgeous retelling of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. The account you gave of each knight was very clear and accurate. The fact that you used dialogue helped note the idea that this poem was a story-telling poem, as I like to call them. I thought it interesting and quite wise how every knight’s failure [excluding Galahad] turned into dust. I certainly think that this could be understood by people of all ages; even those who are not familiar to the original tale [which put knots in the brains of others anyway]. I, for one, like how the lines didn’t rhyme. The stanzas were still even and had a very good flow to them. The closing of your poem was powerful and has the ability to leave a mark on readers. Overall, your work was extremely worth the time to read.
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