[33]
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need,--
Not that which we give, but what we share,--
For the gift without the giver is bare; 325
Who bestows himself with his alms feeds three,--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me."

IX

Sir Launfal awoke, as from a swound;--
"The Grail in my castle here is found!
Hang my idle armor up on the wall, 330
Let it be the spider's banquet-hall;
He must be fenced with stronger mail
Who would seek and find the Holy Grail."

X

The castle-gate stands open now,
And the wanderer is welcome to the hall 335
As the hangbird[34] is to the elm-tree bough,
No longer scowl the turrets tall,
The Summer's long siege at last is o'er;
When the first poor outcast went in at the door,
She entered with him in disguise, 340
And mastered the fortress by surprise;
There is no spot she loves so well on ground.
She lingers and smiles there the whole year round;
The meanest serf on Sir Launfal's land
Has hall and bower at his command; 345
And there's no poor man in the North Countree
But is lord of the earldom as much as he.

--_Lowell_.

[1] Just as the organist gets into the spirit of his theme by means of
a dreamy prelude, so the poet by means of this introduction intends
to suggest the spirit of the poem that follows.

[2] Sinais. See Exodus, xix and xx.

[3] Druid. The druids were the priests of the ancient Celts.

[4] benedicite. Blessing, benediction.

[5] No matter how engrossed we may be with worldly things, Nature is
always influencing us for good.

[6] shrives. Hears confession and grants absolution.

[7] We give our lives in pursuit of foolish things. The cap and bells
was a part of the costume of the court jester.

[8] nice. discriminating, able to make fine distinctions.

[9] chanticleer. A crowing cock. The bird that "sings clear."

[10] rifts. Literally, clefts or fissures; used metaphorically here
with reference to the effects of "passion and woe" on the soul.

[11] Sir Launfal. A Knight of King Arthur's Round Table.

[12] Holy Grail. According to legend, the Holy Grail is the cup or
bowl from which Christ drank at the Last Supper, and which was used
by Joseph of Arimathea to receive the blood from Christ's wounds when
his body was removed from the cross. The Gra