Drive out the horrid phantoms of the past,

And it were hope for Britain. Well thou knowest

Men look to thee to succor this poor land

Enrent by inward brawls and foreign hordes,

Whose fields untilled, and vanished the smoke of homes.

It hath been said that thou would’st raise once more

Out of these ruins a kingdom whose great fame

Would ring for ages down the days of earth,

And be a glory in men’s hearts forever.

[Passes to the left.

Arthur. Launcelot, well know I thy love for Arthur.

’Tis thy sweet, manly kinship of the heart,

Opening thy spirit’s windows toward the sun,

Hath made my dark days lighter. Would that I

Had kept me holy, innocent as thee.

I might in kinder fate have made this land

A place where holiness and peace might dwell,

And such a white and lofty honor held

Before men’s eyes, that all the world would come

[Pg 2]

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