The World of Romance - being Contributions to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, 1856 by William Morris
page 42 of 110 (38%)
page 42 of 110 (38%)
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Lyf lythes to nee,
Twa wordes or three, Of one who was fair and free, And fele in his fight. --_Sir Percival_. I suppose my birth was somewhat after the birth of Sir Percival of Galles, for I never saw my father, and my mother brought me up quaintly; not like a poor man's son, though, indeed, we had little money, and lived in a lone place: it was on a bit of waste land near a river; moist, and without trees; on the drier parts of it folks had built cottages--see, I can count them on my fingers--six cottages, of which ours was one. Likewise, there was a little chapel, with a yew tree and graves in the church-yard--graves--yes, a great many graves, more than in the yards of many Minsters I have seen, because people fought a battle once near us, and buried many bodies in deep pits, to the east of the chapel; but this was before I was born. I have talked to old knights since who fought in that battle, and who told me that it was all about a lady that they fought; indeed, this lady, who was a queen, was afterwards, by her own wish, buried in the aforesaid chapel in a most fair tomb; her image was of latoun gilt, and with a colour on it; her hands and face were of silver, and her hair, gilded and most curiously wrought, flowed down from her head over the marble. It was a strange sight to see that gold and brass and marble inside that rough chapel which stood on the marshy common, near the river. |
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