roperly belong to verse.
Well, we strike into the line of our prose-writers, say as early as
Malory. We come on this; of the Passing of Arthur:--

'My time hieth fast,' said the king. Therefore said Arthur unto Sir
Bedivere, 'Take thou Excalibur my good sword, and go with it to yonder
water side; and when thou comest there I charge thee throw my sword in
that water and come again and tell me what there thou seest.' 'My
lord,' said Bedivere, 'Your commandment shall be done; and lightly
bring you word again.' So Sir Bedivere departed, and by the way he
beheld that noble sword, that the pommel and the haft was all of
precious stones, and then he said to himself, 'If I throw this rich
sword in the water, thereof shall never come good, but harm and loss.'
And then Sir Bedivere hid Excaliber under a tree. And so, as soon as he
might, he came again unto the king, and said he had been at the water
and had thrown the sword into the water, 'What saw thou there?' said
the king, 'Sir,' he said, 'I saw nothing but waves and winds.'

Now I might say a dozen things of this and of the whole passage that
follows, down to Arthur's last words. Specially might I speak to you of
the music of its monosyllables--'"What sawest you there?" said the king...
"Do as well as thou mayest; for in me is no trust for to trust in. For I
will into the Vale of Avilion, to heal me of my grievous wound. And if
thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul."' But, before making
comment at all, I shall quote you another passage; this from Lord
Berners' translation of Froissart, of the death of Robert Bruce:--

It fortuned that King Robert of Scotland was right sore aged and
feeble: for he was greatly charged with the great sickness, so that
there was no way for him but death. And when he felt that his end drew
near, he sent for such barons and lords of his realm as he trusted
best, and shewed them how there was no remedy with him, but he must
needs leave this transitory life.... Then he called to him the gentle
knight, Sir William Douglas, and said before all the lords, 'Sir
William, my dear friend, ye know well that I have had much ado in my
days to uphold and sustain the right of this realm; and when I had most
ado I made a solemn vow, the which as yet I have not accomplished,
whereof I am right sorry; the which was, if I might achieve and make an
end of all my wars, so that I might once have brought this re