The Tragedy of Lancelot
You know of King Arthur, his maid Guinevere;
Of the Round Table both held o, so dear.
And of their great knights, great stories are told
In legends and lore of knights o, so bold.
You remember our King was betrayed by
His son; and that by the end, both would die.
And certainly you know of the Quest for
The Grail; how most fin'lly failed this bothersome chore.
But I tell a tale that most have forgot:
The Tragedy of Cursèd Lancelot.
He became quite great, this man whom I sing;
But his face was foul as a gargoyle's wing.
He was cursed to be born with the looks of
A bug and to die with his true love's love.
Despite his foul face, he'd grow in great might;
And all would know him as The Ill-Made Knight.
He's born on a day the sun didn't shine:
A dark omen that'd come true with time.
For many years, he'd for his true love wait
And who that'd be was the choice of Fate.
Lancelot, who was born a noble king,
Had a face of which I druther not sing.
His idol was Arthur, King of the Land
And wished to one day serve his noble hand.
In order to make his dreams come true
He practiced and practiced till his face grew blue.
His dear Uncle Dap knew all the tricks, taught
Them and became Squire to Lancelot.
Our hero, when finally ready was he,
Left for England, the greatest knight to be.
He fought a Black Knight, on a midnight steed;
Unhorsed the man and did his first great deed.
His helm removed, the man became the king
For whom young Lance would do great things.
And when Lance reached fair Camelot,
He became the greatest knight of the lot.
And Lo! Behold- Fate sheds a tear –
Doomed Lancelot met the fair Guinevere.
Stricken with love, Lance embarked on a quest
Then rose through the ranks, and became the knight best
And all of the captives he caught in war
He sent to Guinevere, unlike before
They went to the king to plead for mer-
Cy. Guinevere felt in her heart quite a stir.
On one of his quests, Sir Lancelot saved
An innocent girl who loved the knight brave.
She managed to get him drunk in his head.
Said she was Jenny, and took him to bed.
From this alliance Galahad arose –
Whose quest for the Grail was spoke of in prose.
Finding for harshly his power was lost,
Lance ran to Jenny, not heeding the cost.
This doom-ed love for some time would go on
Until the fair doe returned with her fawn.
Elaine while staying at fair Camelot
Once again tricked, slept with poor Lancelot.
Who, sent away with the Queen's royal rage;
Would stay a mad man 'til healed by his sage.
Then finding the Queen, him at court did lack
Lancelot swore to Elaine to come back.
The promise cam true in full score years time,
Which Lancelot spent trudging through foul grime
As he searched for the unattainable Grail.
He returned changed, though he finally failed.
Returning home, he fought for his fair Queen
Accused of murder, but innocent seen.
He yearned for a joust, so went to Elaine
She was happy, now: her knight had been tamed.
But Lancelot left for far Camelot
Ach, poor Elaine grieved – She loved Lancelot.
The Queen's fiery rage was cooled by E-
Laine…To see the girl dead was such agony.
And then, once again, Lance fought for amour
And then, one again, Lance saved her life pure.
See now how the highest man is brought down –
His love goes unchecked by but a King's frown.
He was best of all, had nothing to lose –
But fell from high to a place in refuse.
None can tell whatever may have been told;
If the knight hadn't been so great or so bold.
If the Lovers had run, not stayed at court –
Would the King have needed to siege his fort?
If truth had been told, instead of a lie –
Would Mordred have managed to climb quite so high?
With these final words I end my sad tale:
Every great person must finally fail.