Lancelot and Elaine

'Lancelot and Elaine' is a narrative poem written by Alfred Tennyson. It is based upon the story of Elaine of Astolat, found in Le Morte d'Arthur, the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. Long ago, Arthur happened upon the skeletons of two warring brothers, one wearing a crown of nine diamonds. Arthur retrieved the crown and removed the diamonds. At eight annual tourneys, he awarded a diamond to the tournament winner. The winner has always been Lancelot, who plans to win once more and give all nine diamonds to his secret love Queen Guinevere. Guinevere chooses to stay back from the ninth tournament, and Lancelot then tells Arthur he too will not attend. Once they are alone, she berates Lancelot for giving grounds for slander from court and reminds Lancelot that she cannot love her too-perfect king, Arthur.