EXCALIBUR

Below the place called Avalon

the river winds down to a stone

which holds a sword in fast embrace,

a long time prisoner in this place.

Excalibur awaits the man,

the chosen one alone, who can

free it from the place it’s sheathed;

to him a kingdom is bequeathed,

Young Arthur grasped the jewelled sword

and proved he was the one true lord

and future king. This sword would break,

but fairest Lady of the Lake

delivered into Arthur’s hand

a new sword famed throughout the land.

A sword he pledged he would return

before his funeral pyre would burn.

The scabbard lost; the magic died.

A mortal wound smote Arthur’s side.

At Camlann was the king struck down,

a fatal wound to England’s crown,

he bade Sir Bedivere to take

the magic sword back to the lake

The glinting sword thrown through the air

was caught by lady waiting there.

Then through the mist at Avalon,

the sword , and lady’s hand were – gone.