Galahad and the Grail

I, Galahad, saw the Grail,
The Holy Grail, descend upon the shrine:
I saw the fiery face as of a child
That smote itself into the bread, and went;
And hither am I come; and never yet
Hath what thy sister taught me first to see,
This Holy Thing, fail'd from my side, nor come
Cover'd, but moving with me night and day,
Fainter by day, but always in the night
Blood-red, and sliding down the blacken'd marsh
Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top
Blood-red, andin the sleeping mere below
Blood-red.

And in the strength of this I rode,
Shattering all evil customs everywhere,
And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine,
And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them down,
And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this
Come victor. But my time is hard at hand,
And hence I go; and one will crown me king
Far in the spiritual city; and come thou, too,
For thou shalt see the vision when I go.

- The Holy Grail, from Idylls of the King, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson


***

[Read by candlelight nine hours into our seventy-five hour ordeal of power outtage at the homestead. Thanks to my parents for hosting the Hopper clan for nearly fifty of those hours, supplying light, heat, hot water, hot food, Sunday football games and zombie teevee.]

[By the way, the only casualties suffered by at Casa Hopper was a fish, two mice, and a row of forsythias in the backyard. Rest in peace, Aqua the Betta, and field mice - stay outta our house!]