What saw I?  Hands unholy snatched thee up,
And sought to wield thee in unholy ways. 
I see it all again,—­that dark and fatal day
When our good King Amfortas, all too bold,
Forgetful of the evil in the world,
Went straying far out from the castle walls,
And loitered through the green and shady woods;
And there he met a woman passing fair,
With great eyes that bewitched him with their light,
And as he stayed and lost his heart to her,
He lost the Spear.  For on a sudden came
Athwart them that foul-hearted, fallen knight,
The evil-minded Klingsor, and he snatched
The holy Spear and mocking rushed away. 
Then broke an awful cry from the King’s lips;
I heard and hurrying fought the evil knight,
As did the King, parrying blow on blow,
And at the last the King fell wounded sore
By that same Spear that once was holy health. 
This is the fatal wound that burns his side,—­
This wound it is that ne’er will close again.”

And when the knights asked further of the deed
And what of Klingsor, the foul-hearted knight,
Then Gurnemanz sat down and told this tale,—­
The four young knights ensconced around his feet,—­
“Our holy Titurel knew Klingsor well. 
For in the ancient days when savage foes
Distressed the kingdom with their heathen craft,
One mystic midnight came a messenger
Of God to Titurel, and gave to him
The Holy Grail, the vessel lustrous pure,
Wherein the crimson wine blushed rosy-red
At that Last Supper of the feast of love;
Wherein the later wine of His own blood
Was caught and cherished from the cruel Cross. 
This gave the angel unto holy Titurel
And with it gave the radiant sacred Spear
That pierced the side and broke the suffering heart
Of Him, our heavenly Saviour on the Cross,
So that the water and the blood flowed forth
In mingled tide,—­the sacrifice of love. 
And for these precious witnesses of God
That told to men of saving-health and power,
The holy Titurel did build an holy house,—­
A sanctuary-stronghold on the heights
Of Monsalvat, forever given to God. 
And ye, blest servants of the Holy Grail,
Ye know the sacred ways by which ye came
Into this holy service.  Ye gave all
And purified your lives and hearts to God. 
And with the consecration came the power,
By vision of the Grail, to do high deeds
And live the life of warriors of God. 
This Klingsor came to holy Titurel
And asked to come into the company. 
Long had he lived in yonder heathen vale
Alone, and shunned by all his kind. 
I never knew what sin had stained his heart,
Or why he sought the castle of the Grail;
But holy Titurel discerned his heart
And saw the festering evil of his life,
And knew unholy purpose filled his soul
And steadfastly refused him at the gates. 
Whereat in wrath the evil Klingsor swore
That if he could not serve the Holy Grail,