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Rossetti Archive Textual Transcription

Document Title: Notebook Pages (Note Book IV, Duke Library)
Author: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Date of Composition: 1871, 1880
Scribe: DGR

The full Rossetti Archive record for this transcribed document is available.

page: [0]
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel

Writings: XXVIII. Note Book IV
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Transcription Gap: page with engraving (to be added later)
page: [000r]
Note: This is the marbeled recto of the stiff page that comes at the beginning and end of the regular notebook pages in DGR's typical notebooks. The verso of this leaf has some interesting notes by DGR on his prescription and dosage for chloral plus some gloss notes by WMR.
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Manuscript Addition: WMRossetti from Gabriel's books 1882.
Editorial Description: WMR's note at bottom of the page
5 (List of Contents on p. 4)

Rx Chloral Hydrastis 3ii

Syrupi Aurantic 3i

Aquae vit 3vi

a sixth part at bedtime

every night
A mixture of

Ferris's Solution of Chloral

in 20 grain doses

De Castro — corner of Wilton St

2 antib. p 5 at night. [?] next m g.
page: [1]
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Note: DGR's list of poetical words is in three columns, with the first and last words in the first column added later and separated away from the main column. This is on the verso of the stiff page that comes at the head of DGR's typical notebooks.
Manuscript Addition: No. 1
Editorial Description: WMR's numeration of the work.
Manuscript Addition: [These are obviously notes for the recurring rhyme words in the 5th line of each stanza]
Editorial Description: WMR's note for DGR's list of rhymes for his projected poem “God's Graal”.
more about God's Graal
Brood

—Widowhood

—Likelihood

Livelihood

—Lustihood

—Brotherhood

—Sisterhood

—Neighborhood

—Hardihood

—Knighthood

—Lordlihood

—Underwood



With Unwithstood
—Interlude

—Quietude

—Disquietude

Desuetude

Mansuetude

Consuetude

Habitude

—Solicitude

Longitude

—Similitude

—Solitude

Amplitude

—Plenitude

—Magnitude

—Infinitude

Finitude

—Decrepitude

Torpitude

Turpitude

—Lassitude

Necessitude

—Vicissitude

—Beatitude

Latitude

—Gratitude

—Ingratitude

—Rectitude

—Altitude

—Multitude
—Aptitude

Inaptitude

Promptitude

—Certitude

Incertitude

—Fortitude

—Altitude

—Servitude
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Manuscript Addition: No. 2
Editorial Description: WMR's numeration of the work.
Manuscript Addition: 1
Editorial Description: DGR's numeration of the page in upper right corner.
more about God's Graal
Notes for “God's Graal.”
Note: These poem notes are written on successive rectos through page [49]. The versos have occasional other material.
1 Guenevere daughter of King Leodegrance

of Cameliard.
2 Merlin warned King Arthur before his

marriage that Guenevere Lancelot should love her

& she him again.
3 Leodegrance gave as her dowry the table

round the which Uther Pendragon gave

him; and when it is full complete,

there is an hundred knights & fifty. He

gave an hundred knights with it, but

fifty had been slain in his days.
4 They rode freshly with great royalty,

what by water & what by land, till

they came that night to London.
5 Gawaine & Tor were knighted at

King Arthur's wedding.
6 Lancelot son of King Ban of Benwicke

& Queen Elein. His first name was

Galahad & he was confirmed Lancelot
7 Merlin lies beneath a stone

For all the craft that he hath done.
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Manuscript Addition: 2
Editorial Description: DGR's numeration of the page in upper left corner.
more about God's Graal
  • The ark of the Lord of Hosts
  • Whose name is called by the name of Him
  • That dwelleth between the Cherubim.
  • O Thou that in no house dost dwell,
  • But walk'st in tent & tabernacle.
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Manuscript Addition: 3
Editorial Description: DGR's numeration of the page in upper right corner.
8. Bagdemagus found “a branch of an

holy herb that was the sign of the

Sancgreall; and no knight found

such tokens but he were a good liver.”
9 Morgan le Fay wife of King Urience
10 Queen Guenevere held him in great

favour above all other knights, and

certainly he loved the queene again above

all other knights & damozels all the days

of his life, and for her he did many

great deeds of arms, & saved her from

the fire through his noble chivalry.
11 A hermit came & saw the siege perilous,

and asked why that siege was void,

and was answered, “There shall never

none sit in that siege but one, but if

he be destroyed.” And the hermit said,

“This same year he shall be gotten

that shall sit in that siege perilous,

and he shall win the Sancgreall.”
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Manuscript Addition: 4
Editorial Description: DGR's numeration of the page in upper left corner.
Manuscript Addition: Date mainly towards 1871 perhaps
Editorial Description: WMR's note on these notebook contents laid out by DGR.
more about [WMR Notes on Contents of Notebook]
1 Notes for God's Graal & stanzas
2 My Lady
3 White Ship—fragments
4 Ochard Pit—narrative & fragment
5 Tale of Palimpsest
6 Chimes—fragment
7 Last Love
8 Possession
9 w Rose Mary—fragments & narrative
10 Doom of Sirens—narrative
11 The Cup of Water— d o
& some scraps
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12. Sir Pelles, King of the foreign country

& nigh cousin to Joseph of Arimathy.

His castle the castle of Carbonek.
13 Anon there came in a dove at a window,

and in her bill a little censer of gold,

& therewithal there was such a savour

as all the spicery of the world had been

there. So there came a damozel, passing

fair & young, & she bare a vessel of gold

between her hands. & the “This is,

“said King Pelles, “the richest thing that

my man hath living; & when this

thing goeth about, the round table shall be broken.
14 (note.)The saint graal, or holy dish,

was the vessel in which the paschal

lamb was placed at our saviour's

last supper, & which Joseph of

Arimathea preserved & brought with him

to Britain.
15 Dame Brison said to King Pelles: “I

shall make him to lie with your daughter

Elaine & he shall not wit but that he
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lieth with Queen Guenevere.” Then a

man brought him a ring from Queen

Guenevere, like as he had come from her,

& such as one for the most part as she

was wont to wear. And when Sir Lancelot

saw that token, wit ye well he was never

so fain.
16 Lancelot was on the point of slaying

Elaine when he discovered the deception—
17 Galahad was so named because

Sir Lancelot was so named at the

font stone, & after that the Lady of the

Lake confirmed him Sir Lancelot du Lac.
18 Sir Bors visited King Pelles when

Galahad was an infant, & was

fed with the Sancgreall. And there

was a maiden that bore the Sancgreall.

& she said openly— This child is Galahad

that shall sit in the siege perilous

& shall achieve the Sancgreall.
19 Great light as it were a summer

light. An altar of silver with four
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more about [Cancelled Descriptions]
  • In forests in wildernesses & in ways
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pillows, and a table of silver.
20 Sir Lancelot would clatter in his

sleep & speak oft of his lady Queen Guenevere.
21 As he was lying the second time with

Elaine (by deceit for Guenevere) Guenevere

heard him talk in his sleep from the

next room, & woke him by coughing,

after which he leaped up knowing her

voice, & she met him at the door &

told him him never again to come in

her sight. So he ran for swooned & after leaped out

at a window, & ran forth he wist

not whither & was wild wood as ever

was man. And so he ran two years

& never man might have grace to know him.
22 And Sir Bors said to Q. Guenevere;

“Fie upon your weeping, for ye weep

never but when there is no book.”
23 Sir Bors, Sir Ector & Sir Lyonell, his kinsmen,

sought him well nigh a quarter of a year,

endlong and overthwart in many places,

in forests in wilderness & in ways, &

oftentimes where evil lodged for his sake.
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24 Sir Percivale & Sir Ector, not knowing

each other, fight & are both nearly slain.

Right so there came by the holy vessel of

the sancgreall with all manner of

sweetness & savour, & Sir Percival had

a glimmering of that vessel and of the

maiden that bore it, for he was a

perfect clean maid. “So God me help.”

Said Sir P. “I saw a damosell as methought

all in white with a vessal in both her

hands and forthwithal I was whole.”
25 Lancelot suffered & endured many

sharp showers and lived by fruit &

such as he might get & drank water

two year.
26 Many gowns given at a knighting.
27 Lancelot taken to King Pelles'

castle & recognized by Elaine &

healed of his wounds by the Sancgreall.
28 Called himself Le Chevalier mal-fait,

the knight that hath trespassed, & dwelt

in Joyous-isle. There Sir L. made
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let make him a shield all of sables, &

a queen crowned in the midst all of

silver and a knight clean armed standing

before her, & every day once he w d look

towards the realm of Logris where Q.

G. was, and then he then he w d fall a weeping.
29 Galahad knighted at 15 by Lancelot.
30 The sieges of the round table all about

written with letters of gold, “Here ought

to set he” & “he ought to set here”;

and in the siege perilous letters neatly

written of gold that said, “Four

hundred winters & four & fifty accom-

-plished after the passion of our Lord

I.C. ought this siege to be fulfilled.”

This was on the feast of Pentecost.
31 A sword sticking in a stone which hoved on the water which

Lancelot said he could not draw

out and “wit ye well that this same

day will the adventure of the Sancgreall

begin.” The hall doors & windows shut

by themselves but the hall not greatly darkened.”
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32 Letters writ in the siege perilous.—

“This is the siege of Sir Galahad the good knight.”

Sir Galahad draws out the sword which

was the sword with which Sir Balen le

Savage slew his brother Balan.
33 A damsel comes & says to Lancelot

“Your great doings be changed sith

today in the morning.”
34 Iesserance--a jacket of light plate armour.
35 Lancelot came of the 8th degree from

our Lord I.C. & Sir Galahd of the 9th
36 Then anon they heard a cracking & crying

of thunder, & in the midst of the

blast entered a sunbeam more clear

by 7 times than ever they saw day,

& all they were alighted of the Grace

of the Holy Ghost. (Pentecost.) And

either saw other fairer than ever

they saw afore, & they looked every

man on other as they had been dumb.

Then there entered into the hall the

holy grail covered with White Samite,
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but there was none might see it nor

who bare it, and there was all the

hall fulfilled with good odours & every

knight had such meat & drink as he

best loved in this world.
37 Gawaine first proposes the quest, and

Arthur says—Ye have bereft me of

the fairest fellowship & the truest of

knighthood that ever were seen together

in any realm of the world. Sir Gawain

ye have set me in great sorrow, for I

have great doubt that my true fellowship

shall ever meet more here again.
38 150 knights took the quest of the S.G.
39 Guenevere bids Lancelot god-speed.
40 Galahad has a white shield given him

on which Joseph of Arimathy had

made a cross with his own blood.
41 Just before Sir Lancelot's sleep, he

& Sir Percivale are smitten down by Galahad.
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42 But Sir Lancelot rode overthwart

& endlong in a wild forest, & had no

path but as wild adventure led him,

and at last he came unto a stone

cross which departed 2 ways in waste

land. And by the cross was a stone

that was of marble, but it was so

dark that Sir L. might not well know

what it was. Then Sir L. looked by

him & saw an old chapel & there

he weened to have found people.

And so Sir L. tied his horse to a tree

& there he put off his shield & hung

it upon a tree, & then he went unto

the chapel door & found it wasted &

broken. And within he found a fair

altar full richly arrayed with cloth

of silk, & there stood a fair candlestick

which bare 6 great candles & the

candlestick was of silver. And when

Sir L. saw this light he had a great

will for to enter into the chapel but
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he could find no place where he might

enter. Then was he passing heavy &

dismayed. The he returned & came

again to his horse & took off his bridle

& saddle & let him pasture, & unlaced

his helm & ungirded his sword & laid

him down to sleep upon his shield

before the cross. And so he fell on

sleep & half waking & half sleeping

he saw &c. He was overtaken

with the sin that he had no power to arise

against the holy vessel.
43 Then anon Sir Lancelot awaked &

set himself upright & bethought

him what he had there seen & whether

it were dreams or not. Right so he

heard a voice that said—Sir Lancelot,

more hardy than is the stone, & more

bitter than is the wood, & more naked

& bare than is the leaf of the fig-tree,

therefore go thou from hence & withdraw

thee from this holy place.
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44 There he said: When I sought worldly

adventures & worldly desires I ever

achieved them & had the better in every

place, & never was I discomfited

in no quarrel were it right or wrong.

And now I take upon me the adventures

of holy things, & now I see that mine

old sin hindreth me & shameth me

so that I had no power to stir or speak

when the holy blood appeared before me.

So then he sorrowed till it was

day, & heard the owl of the air sing;

then was he somewhat comforted.
45 Sir Lancelot confesses to a hermit

all his life and how he had loved

a queen unmeasurably many years,

—and all the great deeds of arms

that I have done I did the most part

for the queen's sake, & for her sake

would I do battle were it right or

wrong, & never did I battle all

only for God's sake.
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46 Also Merlin made the round

table in token of the roundness of the

world.
Deleted Text47 Sir Percival enters a ship covered

within & without with white samite.


47 The Sancgreall which is the secret

thing of the Lord Jesu Christ.
48 Sir Ector has a vision in which he

sees Sir Lancelot as a well, but

when he stooped to drink of that

water, the water sank from him.
49 Lancelot has a vision of the Sanc

Sancgreall before the chamber con–

taining it in the castle of Corbonek.
50 Lancelot's sin had lasted for 24 years.
51 “Now shall very knights be fed, and

the holy meat be parted.”
52 A figure with the likeness of a child

and the visage was as red and as bright

as any fire, and smote himself

into that bread.
53 “Knights marvellous”
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54 Sir Galahad “As the flower of the

lily, as the flower of the rose, and

as the colour of fire.”
55 “When the deadly flesh began to

behold the spiritual things.”
56 Lancelot returns to Guenevere—

“& forgat the promise and the profession

that he made in the quest. There

had no knight passed him in the

quest of the Sancgreall, but ever

his thoughts were privily upon the queen.
57 She forbids him the court, thinking

his love has slackened.
58 Sir Pinell at a feast given by Guenevere tries to poison s Sir

Gawaine with an apple because he killed Sir Lamoracke , which

Sir Patrice eats & dies. Sir Mador

de la Port appeals the queen of

his cousin's death. Sir Launcelot rescues her.
59 On the day Arthur made Lancelot

knight, through hastiness he lost his

sword, and the queen found it &

lapped it in her train & gave it him.

and therefore at that day he promised her

ever to be her knight in right or wrong.
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60 Astolat is Guildford: Elaine la

Blanche the fair maid of Astolat.

Lancelot wears her red sleeve on his helm at

the tournament. And he used

another shield, leaving his with her

as too well known. Guenevere

is incensed. Elaine waits on

him while he lies sick of his wounds

got at the tournament. She offers

herself to Lancelot, is rejected, &

dies for his love. Is rowed in a

barge to Westminster where the court is.
61 Said of Q. Guenevere--“While she lived she

was a true lover, & therefore she

had a good end.”
62 The Queen's knights bore plain white

shields.
63 Sir Meliagraunce, loving the queen,

captures her as she rides a-Maying,

& overcame her knights, & imprisons

her at Lambeth. Sir Lan She
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more about God's Graal
  • For God of all strokes will have one
  • In every battle that is done.
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contrives to send word to Lancelot

who on reaching Lambeth has his

horse shot but not killed by Ms archers lying in

ambush. He kills a carter & takes

his cart, the horse following stuck

full of arrows, & another carter

driving. At the queen's request he

pardons Sir Meliagraunce, and

is called Le Chevalier du Chariot.

Sir L. sleeps with the queen, & hurts

his hand in getting through her

window to do so. Sir M. sees his

blood on her pillows & accuses him

her of sleeping with one of her

wounded knights who are lying

hard by. Sir L. wages battle with

him, & is afterwards dropped down

a trap. A lady who brings him food

loves & delivers him. He is again

in time to rescue the queen from

burning & kill Sir M.
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64 Sir Lancelot heals Sir Urre by prayer

& laying on of hands, after King

Arthur had failed as well as many

other knights. “And even Sir Lancelot

wept as he had been a child that

had been beaten.”
65 Sir Lancelot rode in a chariot 12

months to brave those who put

him to ridicule & did great deeds therein.
66 Sir Agravaine & Sir Mordred tell

King Arthur of L & G's love, & waylay

him with twelve other knights in her

chamber. “But whether they were

abed or at other manner of disports,

it one list not thereof to make

mention, for love at that time

was not as it is nowadays.”

Lancelot slays all except Mordred.

Mordred insists on Guenevere being

burnt. She is brought to the stake

at Caerleyll, and Sir Lancelot

& his knights rescue her, dispoiled
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unto her smock, & cast a kirtle and

gown on her, & carry her off to his

Castle of Joyous-Gard.
67 King Arthur besieges Joyous-Gard for

16 weeks.
68 Sir Lancelot denies that guilty the queen

has played Arthur false, “howbeit

it hath liked her good grace to have

me in charity & to cherish me more

than any other knight.”
69 The Pope sends a bull commanding

Arthur to raise the siege & take

back Guenevere to Caerleyll.
70 Lancelot is banished through Sir

Gawaine's advice (whose brother Gareth

& Gaheris he had slain unadvisedly

in rescuing Guenevere) and leaves

Joyous-Gard; and afterward he

called it Dolorous-Gard.
71 He ships at Cardiff and goes to

Benwicke in France, hi father's

Kingdom; some men call it Beyon,

(Beyonne)
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& some men call it Beaune, whereas

the wine of Beaune is.
72 Arthur follows & besieges Benwicke

leaving Sir Mordred regent in England

& Q. Guenevere in his care. The siege

lasts half a year.
73 Mordred has himself cronwed

at Canterbury, then goes to

Winchester (Camelot) & tells Guenevere

she must wed him. She pretends

to consent, but escapes to the

Tower of London and is there besieged

by Mordred.
74 Arthur hears of this & lands at

Dover where Mordred meets him

to fight it out let his landing.

A battle ensues, & Gawaine is

killed being wounded afresh

where Lancelot had lately wounded

him.
75 They go down to meet in battle

at Salisbury, but afterwards
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a peace is proposed, & both sides

agree to it, but each privily resolves

to set on if a single sword is drawn.

for fear of treason. An adder appearing,

a knight of Arthur's draws his sword to kill it,

and Mordred's party set on and commence

the final battle in which Arthur

' Mordred slay each other.
76 The Queens who took King Arthur

away after death were Morgan

le Fay his sister; the queen of

Northgalis; the Queen of the

Waste Lands; & Nimue the chief

lady of the Lake.
77 Guenevere goes to Almesbury;

and there she let make herself a

nun, & wore white clothes & black.
78 Lancelot returns to England &

goes to see Guenevere in the

nunnery of which she is abbess.

She says: I require & beseech thee

heartily, for all the love that ever
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was ever between us two, that thee never

look me in the visage. . . . . . .

For as well as I have loved thee, Sir

Lancelot, now my heart will not

once serve me to see thee; for through me

& thee is the flower of kings and

knights destroyed.” Lancelot says

he shall enter a monastery; “for

I take record of God in you have I

had mine earthly joy. Wherefore,

madame, I pray you kiss me

once & never more.” “Nay, said

the queen, “that shall I never do,

but abstain you from such things.”

And so they departed. But there

was never so hard a hearted man

but he would have wept to see

the sorrow that they made; for there

was a lamnetation as though

they had been stungen with spears,

& many times they swooned, & the

ladies bare the queen to her chamber.
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And Sir Lancelot awoke & rode all

went & his horse & rode all

that day & all that night in a forest

weeping. He comes to a hermitage

where he finds the bishop of Canterbury

who has become a hermit & Sir

Bedivere who has joined him. Sir

B. tells Sir L. of the last battle &c.

And Sir Lancelot threw abroad

his armour & said, —Alas! who

may trust this world? Then he

takes the habit of priesthood.
79 A vision comes 3 times in the nightto Sir L. & bids

him go to Almesbury, where he

will find Guenevere dead.
80 And when Sir Lancelot was come

to Almesbury, within the nunnery,

Queen Guenevere died but half an

hour before; & the ladies told Sir L.

that Q.G. had told all, or she died,

that Sir L. had been priest near

12 months; “and hither he cometh
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as fast as he may to fetch my corpse;

and beside my lord King Arthur he

shall bury me.” Wherefore the Queen

said in hearing of them all, “I beseech

Almighty God that I may never have

power to see Sir Lancelot with my

worldly eyes.” “And this,” said all

the ladies, “was ever her prayer all

those 2 days until she was dead.”

Then Sir Lancelot saw her visage,

but he wept greatly, but sighed;

and so he did all the observance

of the service himself, both the

dirge at night & the mass on the

morrow.
81 She is borne by King Sir L. & his

fellows who have become priests

to Glastonbury & there buried with

Arthur. “Truly” said Sir L. “I trust

I do not displease God, for he knoweth

well my intent, for my sorrow

was not nor is not for any rejoicing
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of sin, but my sorrow may never

have an end, when I remember

& call to mind her beauty her

bounty & her nobleness.”
82 Lancelot falls sick. “My

fair lords,” said Sir L. “wit ye

well my careful body will into

the earth: I have warning

more than I will now say.” He

dies & is buried at Joyous-Gard.
83 Sir Ector who been seeking

his brother Sir Lancelot, arrives

during the funeral rites. And

then Sir Ector threw his shield,

his sword, & his helm from him.

“Ah Sir Lancelot!” said he, “thou

wert head of all Christian knights.

And now I dare say,” said Sir

Ector, “ that Sir Lancelot there

thou liest, thou that wert never

matched of none eartly knight's

hands; and thou wert the curteist
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knight that ever bore shield; & thou

wast the truest friend to thy lover

that ever bestrode horse; & thou

wert the truest lover of a sinful

man that ever loved a woman;

and thou wert the kindest man

that ever strook with sword; and

thou wert the goodliest person that

ever came among press of knights;

and thou wert the meekest man

& the gentlest that ever ate in

hall among ladies; & thou wert

the sternest knight to thy mortal

foe that ever put spear in rest.”
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Manuscript Addition: metre “The Sea Limits” in long lines
Editorial Description: DGR's note at bottom of the page
more about [Fragmentary Note in Italian]
Tra le notizie dei Professori di disegno

racolte dal Baldinucci leggiamo

che Serafino Serafini pittore modenese,

che fiori circa il 1390, nella

Cappella della famiglia de'

Petrati, ch'ei dipinse in San Domenico

di Ferrara, mise la seguente iscrizione.
more about [Fragmentary note in Italian]
  • “Mille trecento con septanta sei
  • Erano corsi gl'auri del Signore
  • E'l quarto entrava, quando al suo onore
  • Questa cappella al suo bel fin [minei?]
  • Ed io che tutto ensì la storiei
  • Fui Serafin da Mitina pintore.
  • E Frate Aldobrandino Inquisitore
  • L'ordine diede, et io lo seguitei.
  • E far la fece, sappia ognun per [?]
  • 10La Donna di Francesco di Lamberto.
Crescimbeni

vol 1. p.206
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more about God's Graal
God's Graal.
  • Lancelot lay beside the well:
  • ( God's Graal is good)
  • Oh my soul is sad to tell
  • The weary quest and the bitter quell;
  • For he was the lord of lordlihood,
  • And sleep on his eyelids fell.
  • Lancelot lay before the shrine:
  • ( The apple tree's in the wood. )
  • There was set Christ's very sign,
  • 10The bread unknown and the unknown wine
  • That the soul's life for a livelihood
  • Craves from his wheat & vine.
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Manuscript Addition: No. 3
Editorial Description: WMR's numeration of the work.
more about My Lady
My Lady (Canzone)
  • I'll tell you of my Lady all I know;
  • And if my lady knew
  • That I would tell this, she would &c
  • &c &c &c &c
  • And say, “Why, all is his, so let him tell.”
She is full of incidents, like all beautiful

Nature. Then follow descriptive lines

about her different attitudes, expressions, &c

Perhaps to wind up by saying that nothing

one can say is so expressive of her

as her own name, which means

herself only—and that cannot be

said for others to hear.
Every part of her has its own ways of

loving and is like a separate

mistress. Descriptions &c—
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Manuscript Addition: No. 4
Editorial Description: WMR's numeration of the work.
more about The White Ship
  • By none but me can the tale be told,
  • The butcher of Rouen, poor Berold.
  • ( Lands are swayed by a King on a throne.)
  • 'Twas a royal train put forth to sea;
  • Yet the tale can be told by none but me.
  • ( The sea hath no King but God alone.)
  • Blithe is the shout on Harfleur's strand
  • When morning lights the sails to land:
  • And blithe is Honfleur's echoing gloam
  • 10When mothers call the children home:
  • Where lands were none 'neath the dark sea-sky,
  • We told our names, that man & I.
  • “O I am Gilbert de l'Aigle hight,
  • And son I am to a belted knight.”
  • “And I am Berold the butcher's son
  • Who slays the beasts in Rouen town.”
  • “O wherefore black, O King, ye well may say,
  • For white is the hue of death to-day.”
  • “Your son & all his fellowship
  • 20Sleep in the sea's bed with the White Ship.” . . . . . .
  • There's many an hour must needs beguile
  • A King's high heart that he should smile,—
  • ( Lands are swayed by a King on a throne.)
  • Full many a lordly hour, full fain
  • But this King never smiled again.
  • ( The sea hath no King but God alone.)
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Manuscript Addition: No. 5
Editorial Description: WMR's numeration of the work.
more about The Orchard Pit
The Orchard-Pits
Note: On the manuscript stanzas 3 and 4 appear in reverse order. DGR first cancelled stanza 3, then restored it (marking it “stet”), adding at the same time a mark indicating that the received stanza 3 should precede stanza 4.
  • Piled deep below the screening apple-branch
  • They lie with bitten Those dead men lie with apples in their hands:
  • And some are only ancient bones that blanch,
  • And some had ships that last year's wind did launch,
  • And some were yesterday the lords of lands.
  • In the soft dell glen, among the apple-trees,
  • High up above the hidden pit she stands
  • And there for ever sings, who gave to these,
  • That lie below, her magic hour of ease,
  • 10 And those her apples holden in their hands.
Added Text
  • Th i us in night my dreams is shown me; and her hair
  • Crosses my lips & draws my burning breath:
  • Her song spreads golden wings upon the air;
  • Life's eyes are gleaming from her forehead fair,
  • And from her breasts the ravishing eyes of Death.
  • Men say to me that sleep hath many dreams,
  • Yet I knew never but this dream alone.
  • There from a dried-up channel, once the stream's,
  • The glen slopes up; even such in sleep it seems
  • 20 As to my waking sight the place well-known.
more about The White Ship
Note: The text of these draft fragments of the poem is written in pencil
  • I Berold was under the sea
  • I knew what the flood of death must be
  • And cried to Christ to strengthen me
  • Pale Fitz-Stephen stood by the helm
  • With 'Mid all those folk that the waves must whelm
  • A great king's own son heir for the waves to whelm
  • And the helpless pilot pale at the helm
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Manuscript Addition: a 3
Editorial Description: Notation on upper right in unknown hand.
more about The Orchard Pit
The Orchard-Pit s
Men tell me that sleep has many dreams;

but all my life I have dreamt one dream

alone. In childhood, I saw a man in

my dream; and in manhood, I know

that I am he; but the thing shown is

the same .
I see a glen whose sides slope upward

from the deep bed of a dried-up stream,

and are covered with apple-trees and

either slope is covered with wild apple-trees.

In the largest tree, within the fork whence

the limbs divide, a fair goldenhaired

woman stands and sings, with one

white arm stretched along a branch

of the tree, and with the other holding

forth a bright red apple, as if to some

one coming down the slope. Below her

feet the trees grow more and more tangled

and stretch from both sides across the

deep pit below: and the pit is full

of the bodies of men.
They lie in heaps beneath the screen of

boughs, with her apples bitten in their

hands; and some are no more than

ancient bones now, and some seem

dead but yesterday. She stands over them

in the glen, and sings for ever, and

offers her apple still.
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Note: At the top of the page DGR has cancelled both the repeated title and a line of asterisks.
My This dream s shows me no strange

place. I know the dell glen and have known

it from childhood, and heard many

tales of those who have died there

by the siren's spell.
I pass there often now and look at

it as one might look at a place chosen

for one's grave. I see nothing, but I

know that it means death for me.

The apple-trees are like others, and

have childish memories connected

with them, though I was taught to

shun the place.
No man sees the woman but once, and

then no other is near; and no man

sees that man again.
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One day in hunting, my dogs tracked the

deer to that dell, and he fled and

crouched under that tree, but the dogs

would not go near him. And when

I approached, he looked in my eyes

as if to say, “Here you shall die, and

will you here give death?” And his

eyes seemed the eyes of my soul, &

I called off the dogs, who were glad

to follow me, and we left the deer

to fly.
I know that I must go there and hear

the song and take the apple. I join

with the young knights in their games,

and have led our vassals and fought

well. But all seems to me a dream

except what only I among them all

shall see. Yet who knows? Is there

one among them doomed like myself

and who is silent, like me? We shall

not meet in the dell, for each man
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Note: blank page
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goes there alone: but in the pit we shall

meet each other, and perhaps know.
Each man who is the siren's choice

dreams the same dream, and always

of some familiar spot wherever he

lives in the world; and it is there

that he finds her when his time comes.

But when he sinks in the pit, it is

the whole pomp of her dead gathered

through the world that awaits him

there; for all attend her to grace

her triumph. Have they any souls

out of those bodies? Or are the bodies

still the house of the soul, the siren's

prey till the day of judgment?
We were ten brothers. One is gone

there already. One day we looked

for his return from a border foray,

and his men came home without

him, saying that he had told them
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