For many a petty king ere Arthur came
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nd still from time to time the heathen hostSwarm’d overseas, and harried what was left.And so there grew great tracts of wilderness,Wherein the beast was ever more and more,But man was less and less, till Arthur came.For first Aurelius lived and fought and died,And after him King Uther fought and died,But either fail’d to make the kingdom one.And after these King Arthur for a space,And thro’ the puissance of his Table Round,Drew all their petty princedoms under him, Their king and head, and made a realm, and reign’d. And thus the land of Cameliard was waste, Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein, And none or few to scare or chase the beast;So that wild dog, and wolf and boar and bearCame night and day, and rooted in the fields,And wallow’d in the gardens of the King.And ever and anon the wolf would steal The children and devour, but now and then,3 20 25
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