In the Forest

One well might deem, among these miles of woods,
Such were the Forests of the Holy Grail,--
Brocéliand and Dean: where, clothed in mail,
The Knights of Arthur rode, and all the broods
Of legend laired.--And, where no sound intrudes
Upon the ear, except the glimmering wail
Of some far bird; or, in some flowery swale,
A brook that murmurs to the solitudes,
Might think he hears the laugh of Vivien
Blent with the moan of Merlin, muttering bound
By his own magic to one stony spot:
And, in the cloud that looms above the glen,--
In which the sun burns like the Table Round,--
Might dream he sees the towers of Camelot.