I doubt if anyone saw the original for this poem; it was written during senior year. Regardless, here is the heavily revised vision, which, despite being one-third of the original's length, I believe to be far more effective.

BALLAD OF THE MELANCHOLY KNIGHT



The fading leaves of Avalon,
The autumn leaves of Avalon.
Lancelot, Lancelot,
Such crowns are broken.

The cloy of sin,
The keens of silken women
Wrecked on the wind,
Oh Lancelot.

The hall scattered in shadows—
Where are the fires,
Where are the golden lords
With all their words?

Gone, with a smattering of hoofbeats,
a rustling
of wolfskins.
Such now is the joy of Camelot—

The throne draped in age,
the sighs within.