245

For the weaver Winter its shroud had spun;
A single crow on the tree-top bleak

From his shining feathers shed off the cold sun;
Again it was morning, but shrunk and cold,
As if her veins were sapless and old,
And she rose up decrepitly
For a last dim look at earth and sea.

II.

250

Sir Launfal turned from his own hard gate,
For another heir in his earldom sate;
An old, bent man, worn out and frail,
He came back from seeking the Holy Grail;
Little he recked of his earldom's loss,
No more on his surcoat was blazoned the cross,
But deep in his soul the sign he wore,
The badge of the suffering and the poor.

255

III.

260

265

Sir Launfal's raiment thin and spare
Was idle mail 'gainst the barbed air,
For it was just at the Christmas time;
So he mused, as he sat, of a sunnier clime,
And sought for a shelter from cold and snow
In the light and warmth of long ago ;
He sees the snake-like caravan crawl
O'er the edge of the desert, black and small,
Then nearer and nearer, till, one by one,
He can count the camels in the sun,
As over the red-hot sands they pass
To where, in its slender necklace of grass,
The little spring laughed and leapt in the shade,
And with its own self like an infant played,
And waved its signal of palms.

270

IV.

275

“For Christ's sweet sake, I beg an alms ;"-
The happy camels may reach the spring,
But Sir Launfal sees naught save the grewsome thing,
The leper, lank as the rain-blanched bone,
That cowers beside him, a thing as lone
And white as the ice-isles of Northern seas
In the desolate horror of his disease.

V.

280

And Sir Launfal said, "I behold in thee
An image of Him who died on the tree;
Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns,
Thou also hast had the world's buffets and scorns,
And to thy life were not denied
The wounds in the hands and feet and side :
Mild Mary's Son, acknowledge me;
Behold, through him, I give to Thee !"

285

VI.

290

Then the soul of the leper stood up in his eyes

And looked at Sir Launfal, and straightway he
Remembered in what a haughtier guise

He had flung an alms to leprosie,
When he caged his young life up in gilded mail
And set forth in search of the Holy Grail.
The heart within him was ashes and dust;
He parted in twain his single crust,
He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink,
And gave the leper to eat and drink :
'Twas a mouldy crust of coarse brown bread,

'Twas water out of a wooden bowl,—
Yet with fine wheaten bread was the leper fed,

And 'twas red wine he drank with his thirsty soul,

295

300

VII.

305

As Sir Launfal mused with a downcast face,
A light shone round about the place;
The leper no longer crouched at his side,
But stood before him glorified,
Shining and tall and fair and straight
As the pillar that stood by the Beautiful Gate,-
Himself the Gate whereby men can
Enter the temple of God in Man.

VIII.

310

315

His words were shed softer than leaves from the pine,
And they fell on Sir Launfal as snows on the brine,
That mingle their softness and quiet in one
With the shaggy unrest they float down upon;
And the voice that was calmer than silence said,
"Lo, it is I, be not afraid !
In many climes, without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold, it is here,—this cup which thou
Didst fill at the streamlet for Me but now;
This crust is My body broken for thee;
This water His blood that died on the tree;
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need:
Not what we give, but what we share,-
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,-
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me.”

320

325

IX.

330

Sir Launfal awoke as from a swound:-
“The Grail in my castle here is found !
Hang my idle armor up on the wall,
Let it be the spider's banquet-hall;
He must be fenced with stronger mail
Who would seek and find the Holy Grail.”

X.

335

340

The castle gate stands open now,

And the wanderer is welcome to the hall
As the hangbird is to the élm-tree bough;

No longer scowl the turrets tall,
The Summer's long siege at last is o'er;
When the first poor outcast went in at the door,
She entered with him in disguise,
And mastered the fortress by surprise ;
There is no spot she loves so well on ground,
She lingers and smiles there the whole year round;
The meanest serf on Sir Launfal's land
Has hall and bower at his command;
And there's no poor man in the North Countree
But is lord of the earldom as much as he.

345

a

or

HELPS TO STUDY

Notes and Questions Into what two parts does the poem Describe the second meeting with divide ?

the leper. What purpose does the prelude to How much of this story was each part serve

dream? Explain why you think What were the conditions under

which Sir Launfal set out in With what line does Lowell begin search of the Holy Grail %

the account of Sir Launfal's How did the sight of the leper vision?

affect the young knight when he What effect did the dream

"flashed forth” from his castle ? vision have upon Sir Launfal ? How did the leper explain his re What do you think is the great fusal of the alms tossed him

lesson of this poem What picture does the prelude to Of whom is Sir Launfal a type ?

Part Second give you? Contrast What does the cold grim castle it with that of the prelude to

represent? Part First.

Find lines in the prelude to Part Describe Sir Launfal's appear First which show the first stir

his return from his ring of Sir Launfal's spiritual quest.

nature. What influences prompt. What had he lost while on his ed this? search?

Why did Lowell choose a leper to What had he gained ?

confront Sir Launfal

ance

on

Words and Phrases for Discussion "We Sinais climb and know it “For a god goes with it” not'

"Himself the Gate whereby men "Behold it is here—the Grail in

can Enter the temple of God in my castle here is found”

Man", “With our faint hearts the moun. “She entered with him in disguise” tain strives"

"He must be fenced with stronger "Then Heaven tries earth if it be mail")

in tune"

YUSSOUF

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

A STRANGER came one night to Yussouf's tent,
Saying, "Behold one outcast and in dread,
Against whose life the bow of power is bent,
Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head;
I come to thee for shelter and for food,
To Yussouf, called through all our tribes “The Good.'”

5

“This tent is mine," said Yussouf, “but no more
Than it is God's; come in, and be at peace;
Freely shalt thou partake of all my store
As I of His who buildeth over these
Our tents His glorious roof of night and day,
And at whose door none ever yet heard ‘Nay.'

10

15

So Yussouf entertained his guest that night,
And, waking him ere day, said: “Here is gold;
My swiftest horse is saddled for thy flight;
Depart before the prying day grow bold.”
As one lamp lights another, nor grows less,
So nobleness enkindleth nobleness.

20

That inward light the stranger's face made grand,
Which shines from all self-conquest; kneeling low,
He bowed his forehead upon Yussouf's hand,