Green Knight, page 4

So Gawaine took the axe and swung it --
Swung it snapping through the bones
The green knight crashed down like an earthquake
His head bounced hard across the stones

But then, as wolfhounds howled in terror
The headless knight got to his feet
Picked his head up from the flagstones
Swung on his horse, and made to speak

His words whipped out both soft and deadly
His words caught Gawaine like a net
I await you on the New Year
Come before the moon has set

And when you come, you must remember
The promise that you swore tonight
To take one blow without resisting
To take one blow without a fight

This my game, which none has equaled
This my test, which none has passed
Seek me out on New Year's morning
Bare your neck, and breathe your last

With his grisly challenge given
The Green Knight wheeled his horse to go
Hard hoofs rang out across the forecourt
And echoed through the falling snow

As echoes died, there fell a silence
Nothing human moved or spoke
Though the hounds were hackled, whimpering
And hawks went tumbling through the smoke

Gawaine laughed then, spattered, shaking
Laughed although he’d seen his doom –
To live his life out as a coward
Or die beneath the New Year’s moon

Come then, cousin, said King Arthur,
Put that bloody axe aside
Come and sit, you’ve done a wonder –
Come and sit here at my side

So the minstrels started playing
So the midnight feast resumed
In face of death we must keep dancing
Make merry in the face of doom