COLLECTED POEMS
"Why do you fling those two names in my face?
'Twas Modred made an end of Lamorak,
Not I; and Lancelot now has done for Tor.
Fll urge no king on after Lancelot
For such a two as Tor and Lamorak :
Their father killed my father, and their friend
Was Lancelot, not I. I'll own my fault
I'm. living; and while I've a tongue can talk,
Fll say this to the King: 'Burn Lancelot
By inches till he give you back the Queen;
Then hang him drown him or do anything
To rid the world of him.' He killed my brothers,
And he was once my friend. Now damn the soul
Of him who killed my brothers! There you have me."
"You are a strong man, Gawaine, and your strength
Goes ill where foes are. You may cleave their limbs
And heads off, but you cannot damn their souls;
What you may do now is to save their souls,
And bodies too, and like enough your own.
Remember that King Arthur is a king,
And where there is a king there is a kingdom.
Is not the kingdom any more to you
Than one brief enemy? Would you see it fall
And the King with it, for one mortal hate
That burns out reason? Gawaine, you are king
Today. Another day may see no king
But Havoc, if you have no other word
For Arthur now than hate for Lancelot.
Is not the world as large as Lancelot?
Is Lancelot, because one woman's eyes
Are brighter when they look on him, to sluice
The world with angry blood ? Poor flesh ! Poor flesh!
And you, Gawaine, are you so gaffed with bate
You cannot leave it and so plunge away
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