The Coming of Arthur
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he prince and warrior Gorlois, he that heldTintagil castle by the Cornish sea, as wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne:And daughters had she borne him,—one whereof,Lot’s wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,Hath ever like a loyal sister cleavedTo Arthur,—but a son she had not borne. ~And Uther cast upon her eyes of love: But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois,So loathed the bright dishonour of his love,That Gorlois and King Uther went to war:And overthrown was Gorlois and slain.Then Uther in his wrath and heat besiegedYgerne within Tintagil, where her men,Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls,Left her and fled, and Uther enter’d in,And there was none to call to but himself.So, compass’d by the power of the King,Enforced she was to wed him in her tears,And with a shameful swiftness: afterward,Not many moons, King Uther died himself,Moaning and wailing fc for an heir to ruleAfter him, lest the realm should go to wrack.And that same night, the night of the new year,By reason of the bitterness and griefThat vext his mother, all before his timeWas Arthur born, and all as soon as bornDeliver’d at a secret postern-gateTo Merlin, to be holden far apart —Until his hour should come; because the lordsOf that fierce day were as the lords of this,Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the childPiecemeal among them, had they known; for eachBut sought to rule for his own self and hand, 11 185 190 195 215
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