114. monstrous blasphemies. So in the battle of Armageddon, Bible, Rev. xvi., men "blasphemed the name of God." Armageddon has been thought to be typical of the great final contest between good and evil in this world, and, so far, is of a similar significance to this "battle in the West Where all of high and holy dies away." (To the Queen.) 119. or thro' death, either because of death. 120. Notice the appropriateness of the dominant letter 's' in this line, representing the sibilant plash of the waves. 129. the wan wave. Cf. 'wan water,' Gareth and Lynette. In Le Mort Arthur we have the line "But watres depe and wawes wanne. See line 238, below, and note. 132. hollow helmets, empty, having fallen off the heads of the slain. 135. The voice... to be. The ocean has frequently been used in literature as a symbol of Time and Eternity. Cf. Shaks. :— “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore So do our minutes hasten to their end.” and Byron's "Address to the Ocean," Childe Harold, iv. :"The image of Eternity." 140. wastes move. The sea slowly eating into the shore is an apt type of tempus edax rerum. Colton says: "Time is the most subtle of depredators and by appearing to take nothing is permitted to take all.” 66 sensuous 143. for on my heart... King. In the throes of the last dread struggle, as his physical strength ebbs low, the king's frame Is racked with pangs that conquer trust" (In Mem. v.), and he begins almost to doubt the significance of his own mystic origin and the divine sanction of his "boundless purpose." 147. King everywhere ... house. Bedivere's simple loyalty is no prey to doubt; his practical temper finds no room for discussion while work remains to be done, but insists on prompt action with what powers are still available. 157. My house... vows. Cf. Bible, Luke, xii. 49, 50, "And he stretched forth his hand to his disciples and said, 'Behold my mother and my brethren!' For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." 170. So all day long. The original fragment Morte d'Arthur began at this point. The lines "So all day long... King Arthur," which introduced the shorter poem, are here retained, to serve, perhaps, as a sort of recapitulation of the lines now prefixed, that the reader's attention may be concentrated on the last scene which follows. 172. King Arthur's table, the knights of the Round Table. See note to The Coming of Arthur, l. 17. man by man, one after another. 177. chancel, the eastern and most sacred portion of a church, formerly always separated from the main part of the building by a screen of lattice work (Lat. cancelli, cross-bars). 178. strait, a narrow tongue of land; the word is more usually applied to a narrow passage in the ocean. 180. a great water. Since the poet wishes to represent the general impression produced by the view from the chapel, he avoids all detail, and uses the vague words 'a water' instead of 'a lake.' The beholder would not at first sight notice whether it was a lake or a broad river; all he would be conscious of would be a spreading sheet of water of size and shape unknown; and the picture is presented to the reader just as it would first strike the eye of Sir Bedivere. Subsequently, where no such instantaneous impression is depicted, the words 'mere' and 'lake' are used. Cf. Derwentwater, Gala Water, etc. the sequel, what follows as the result of this day's fight. 182. unsolders, disunites, breaks into pieces. Solder (from the same root as solid) is a kind of metallic cement for uniting the surfaces of metals; it is often composed of zinc (or silver) and copper. It is sometimes spelt and pronounced sodder or sawder. 183. fellowship, confederation, united band (of knights of the Round Table). 184. whereof... record, of all the fellowships of which, etc. such a sleep. The comparison of death to sleep is very common in Homer, Vergil, and other classical poets. Thus Homer, I., ii. 241, has κoμÝσαто XáλкEοv ÜTVOV, he slept an iron sleep'; cf. Vergil, Æn., x. 745, ferreus urget somnus, and Moschus's ἀτέρμονα νήγρετον ὕπνον. See also In Mem., lxvii., "Sleep, death's twin brother." So in the Bible, Acts, vii. 60, Stephen "fell on sleep." Cf. cemetery, literally 'sleeping-place.' 189. Camelot, the city where Arthur held his court, now identified with a village called Queen Camel, in Somersetshire, where remains of the vast entrenchments of an ancient town are still to be seen. The traditions of Queen Camel still preserve the name of Arthur; the bridge over the river Camel is called 'Arthur's Bridge,' and there is a spring in the neighbourhood called Arthur's Well.' A description of Arthur's mysterious hall at Camelot is given in the Idyll of The Holy Grail in the lines beginning "O brother, had you known our mighty hall, 190. I perish... made, my life, and with it all my noble purposes, is brought to ruin by those whom I was the first to form into one people. See The Coming of Arthur :— "But either failed to make the kingdom one. Their king and head, and made a realm, and reigned." 191. Merlin. See The Coming of Arthur, note to 1. 150. The Idyll of Merlin and Vivien gives an account of Merlin's fate. See also Matthew Arnold's Tristram and Iseult. 192. let what will be, be, whatever my future may be. 195. Excalibur. See The Coming of Arthur, note to line 294. 199. clothed in white samite. See The Coming of Arthur, 1. 284 and note. The recurrence of this line recalls the 'permanent epithets' noticed under 1. 6. 202. sung or told, celebrated in song or story. 205. fling him. Arthur regards the magic sword as a person endowed with life and power of its own. mere, lake or pool; the word originally meant that which is dead,' hence a desert, waste, or stagnant pool; cf. Lat. mare and Skt. maru, a desert, from mri, to die; also French mare and English marsh. 206. seest, a dissyllable. lightly, nimbly or quickly. Malory's words are "My lord, said Sir Bedevere, your commandment shall be done, and lightly (I will) bring you word again." 'Lightly' in this sense is common in Spenser's Faery Queen. 211. hest, from O. E. has, command;-commonly written with the prefix behest. The t is an added letter as in whils-t. Chaucer uses hest, "the second hest of God," Pardoner's Tale, 185; Spenser, F. Q. vii. 18, has "holy heasts," and the word is frequently used by Shakspere: see The Tempest, i. 2. 274; iii. 1. 37, etc.; it occurs also in Pelleas and Etarre, "acted her hest." at full, to the utmost, thoroughly. 215. mighty bones. The bones of the Danish invaders heaped up in part of the church building at Hythe are abnormally large-sized, and seem to show that "there were giants in those days.". As noted above, there are still extant traces of ancient tombs at Barham-down. 218. by zig-zag rocks. The short, sharp vowel sounds and the numerous dental letters in this line, making it broken in rhythm and difficult to pronounce, are in fine contrast with the broad vowels and liquid letters which make the next line run smoothly and easily off the tongue. The sound in each line exactly echoes the sense; the crooked and broken path leads to the smooth and level shore. E 219. levels. The plural is probably suggested by the Latin plural, aequora. Brimley suggests, perhaps too ingeniously, that the poet may be hinting that what looks, when seen from the high ground, "a great water," becomes a series of flashing surfaces to the eyes of a man standing on the shore. 223. keen with frost, clear in the frosty air. 225. topaz-lights. The topaz is a jewel of various colours, yellow, or green, or blue, or brown. Perhaps from Skt. tapas, fire. jacinth, another form of hyacinth, a precious stone of the colour of the hyacinth flower, blue and purple. Cf. The Coming of Arthur, 297-9. 226. subtlest, most skilfully wrought, or in a most intricate pattern. 228. this way mind. This expression is an imitation of Vergil, En. viii. 20, Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc, And he divides his swift mind now this way, now that.' Cf. Homer, Il. i. 188, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ ... διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν. 6 229. in act to throw, an expression much used by Pope in his translation of the Iliad. Cf. Il. iii. 349, ¿pvuтo xaλk, which Pope renders "Atreides then his massy lance prepares, In act to throw." 231. water-flags, aquatic plants of the genus Iris. 233. so strode back slow. These words are all accented, and the line thus becomes heavy and slow to pronounce; the rhythm thus echoes the heavy slow steps of Sir Bedivere. It has been 238. washing in the reeds-lapping on the crag. remarked that these two phrases mark exactly "the difference of sound produced by water swelling up against a permeable or impermeable barrier." The water would splash softly through the reeds, but would make a sharper sound when striking against the impenetrable rock. Lap means, generally, to 'lick up with the tongue, as a dog drinks'; and hence, as here, to make a sharp sound as a dog does when drinking.' Malory's words are, "I saw nothing but the waters wap (? beat) and the waves wan (? ebb). [But in the Le Mort Arthur, Bedivere answers that he sees nothing "But watres depe and wawes wanne." May not the 'wap' in Malory be a printer's error for 'deep'? wan' also is an adjective, as in 'wan wave,' line 129, 6 If so, above.] 241. betrayed thy nature, been false to thy instinctive sense of honour and to thy title of knight. Malory says, "And thou art named a noble knight, and would betray me for the riches of the sword. 243. fealty, a doublet of fidelity. 248. as thou art lief and dear. Copied from Malory. Lief is from the same root as love, and means beloved. Shakspere (2 Henry VI. i. 1. 28) has ‘alder-liefest,' dearest of all. 252. counting... pebbles. In times of grave moment, when the mind is absorbed in deep contemplation of some event of surpassing importance, the senses often mechanically employ themselves in noticing trifling objects: cf. Maud, ii. 2. 8:— "Strange, that the mind, when fraught With a passion so intense One would think that it well That it should, by being so overwrought, Which else would have been past by!" 254. chased, engraved. Chased is a contraction of enchased: literally, incased, or 'enclosed in a case or cover'; hence, 'covered with engraved ornament.' 257. one worthy note, i.e. a thing worthy of note, a notable thing.' 258. should thus be lost, ought (according to natural expectation) to be lost. 262. the bond of rule, the tie uniting the ruled to the ruler, the connecting link between a king and his subjects, which alone makes systematic government possible. 266. what record... kept. For all his loyalty the worthy Bedivere can only partially recognise the scope of Arthur's purpose and life-work. Unless some material and palpable relic of the King is preserved, he thinks no trace of his deeds will remain for posterity. 267. empty breath, unsubstantial, impalpable report. 268. rumours of a doubt, vague traditions of a mythical person. 270. joust (or just), a tournament or sham fight; literally, a 'meeting together,' from Lat. juxta, near, close. 272. maiden of the Lake. See The Coming of Arthur, 282-293. Malory thus describes Arthur's first meeting with this lady: "With that they saw a damsel going on the lake. What damsel is that? said Arthur. That is the Lady of the Lake, said Merlin; |