Launcelot and Guenevere :: :: University of Virginia Library

Godmar.
From the crest
Of yonder hill one can see Camelot.

Arthur.
A forced march would have brought us there to-day;
But to what end? The soldiers are fatigued.

Godmar.
Sire, we have marched but fifteen miles to-day.
We started late and are already camped
While it is hardly afternoon. Besides,
The camp is careless as a hunt.

Arthur.
What then?

Godmar.
You will destroy all discipline.

Arthur.
No, Godmar.
They have earned a little ease; let them enjoy it.
For tension unrelieved relieves itself
And is ne'er taut again. Let them have time
To talk and tell old stories in their tents
And they'll forget their hardships, and each soldier
Will presently begin to find himself
Of moment to the State, no mere machine
Useful and used as bows and catapults,
But personal; and Britain thus will grow
A thing wherein he hath a stake himself,

107

And he will fight the better and submit
More willing to her rule in that his will
By head and heart alike is reinforced.
Have couriers been sent forward?

[Enter Merlin.]
Godmar.
One at dawn
And one when we encamped.

Arthur.
How camest thou here?

Merlin.
On no enchanted steed; a plain mule brought me.
I set out when your messenger arrived
This morning. I have tidings you must hear
Before your entry.

Arthur.
Well.

Merlin.
The Emperor
Has sent a special envoy to your court,
Whose undivulged commission, though with care
And shrewdly hid, I have smelled out. In brief,
Rome sends to bully you with warlike threats
To pay the tribute.

Arthur.
You are my counsellors;
What are your minds on this?

Godmar.
I am for war.

108

Here is occasion for new victories
And a world-wider glory. For my part,
I think that peace is when the nation sleeps
And when it wakes, that's war. For men in peace,
Lacking brave emulation and the zeal
Of a great cause, fall to their petty ends
And, letting their high virtues atrophy,
Wallow in lust and avarice, till the heart
And nobler functions rot away and leave
A people like an oyster, all stomach.
Our men are bold with long success, valiant,
Well-disciplined, far better warriors
Than Roman libertines, and mercenaries
That fight with half their hearts. The cause is just;
For while Rome kept her legions in the land,
Defending us from the sea-robbing Jutes
And Saxons and against the mountain hordes
Of barbarous Picts, there was a show of reason
Why she should tax us; now we stand alone
And ask and yield no favors.

Merlin.
Nor would I
Advise your Majesty to yield an inch
To this preposterous impudence. And yet

109

Delay advantages the crescent power,
And we are growing stronger every year
And Rome declining. If we match her now,
Ere long we'll have the odds. Her boundless wealth
Gives her resources which our general
Too lightly weighs. Nor should we overrate
Our own security. We are one in rule
But not in spirit yet, and local feeling
Still outruns national. The Jutes in Kent
Are yet a daily threat. Therefore, my liege,
My counsel is that we meet words with words,
Gain time to expel the aliens from our shores
And discord from our hearts. Indeed I think
The glory of your reign will more consist
In leaving to the world a living State
Than in your victories. And what most imports you
Is to secure by wise executive
The unity and welfare of the realm.

Arthur.
You have each spoken well, but I incline
To Godmar's thought. You, Merlin, know full well
The unity of Britain is the heart
And purpose of my life; but I conceive

110

This war will make the country more at one
Than all our statecraft, for old enmities
Will melt away into one common heart
When Britons fight against a common foe.
Besides, you shall yourself be deputy
At Camelot, and our home management
Shall be no loser. For the Jutes in Kent,
We'll make them our allies, confirm their lands
In fealty to ourself and win them over
With promises o' the richer spoils of Rome.
For I intend to sack her opulent towns
And pay my soldiers from their treasuries;
And this sea-people will supply me ships
And sailors cunning in sea-faring war.
And, more than this, I have ancestral claims
To the imperial crown. We'll not return
Until the Pope has crowned me Emperor.

Godmar.
No man on earth save Arthur, King of Britain,
Could wield so glorious an enterprise.

Arthur.
What say you, Merlin?

Merlin.
'T is a noble plan,
Better than mine though something hazardous,

111

And for a lesser captain foolhardy.
And yet it has a weakness, for I fear
The greatening power and riches of the Jutes.
If Britain ever fall, 't will be by them.

Arthur.
They are too dangerous to be enemies;
They must be friends.

Merlin.
My liege, a word with you
In private.

Godmar.
Sire, permit that I withdraw.

[Exit.]
Arthur.
What bitter news now, Merlin?

Merlin.
Be prepared
For any unexpected blow you will.
I fear your sister has some plot in hand
Which I have not unravelled.

Arthur.
Morgause again!
I have a senseless superstitious dread
That from her comes my ruin;—but that's a dream.
I'll not be goblin-ridden. Come within
The tent and tell me more of your suspicion.

[Exeunt.]