over the short snip-snap of their talk, and so avoid the perpetual "said " and its varieties, the work would be much easier. I have made out the plan, however, and perhaps some day it will be completed; and it will be then to consider whether or no it should go into the Contemporary1 or elsewhere. [Edward FitzGerald's comment on The Holy Grail is: "The whole myth of Arthur's Round Table Dynasty in Britain presents itself before me with a sort of cloudy, Stonehenge grandeur. I am not sure if the old knights' Adventures do not tell upon me better, touched in some Lyric Way, like your own Lady of Shalott. I never could care for Spenser, Tasso, Ariosto, whose epic has a ballad ring about it. But I never could care much for the old Prose Romances either, except Don Quixote. They talk of 'metaphysical Depth and Sub- p. 279. line 1. O brother, I have seen this yew-tree smoke. 1 I was at this time Editor of the Contemporary Review. The pollen in Spring, which, blown abroad by the wind, looks like smoke. Cf. Memoir, vol. ii. p. 53, and In Memoriam, xxxix. p. 280. line 6. Aromat. Used for Arimathea, the home of Joseph of Arimathea, who, according to the legend, received in the Grail the blood that flowed from our Lord's side. p. 280. lines 7, 8. when the dead Went wandering o'er Moriah. [Cf. St. Matthew xxvii. 50 ff.—ED.] p. 280. lines 10, II. To Glastonbury, where the winter thorn [It was believed to have been grown from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea.-ED.] p. 285. line 5. The Siege perilous.' The perilous seat which stands for the spiritual imagination. ["And anon he brought him unto the Siege Perilous, where beside sat Sir Launcelot. And the good old man lift up the cloth, and found there letters that said, 'This is the siege of Sir Galahad, the good knight.' 'Sir,' said the old man, 'wit yee well this place is yours.' And then hee set him down surely in that siege" (Malory).-ED.] πλοκάμους φαεινούς p. 286. line 17. shining hair. [Cf. λoкáμovs paevoús (Il. xiv. 176).—ED.] p. 287. lines 16-21. [The four zones represent human progress: the savage state of society; the state where man lords it over the beast; the full development of man; the progress toward spiritual ideals. ED.] p. 288. line 19. In unremorseful folds of rolling fire. This line gives onomatopoeically the "unremorseful flames." p. 290. lines 6, 7. 'Ah, Galahad, Galahad,' said the King, for such As thou art is the vision, not for these. The king thought that most men ought to do the duty that lies closest to them, and that to few only is given the true spiritual enthusiasm. Those who have it not ought not to affect it. p. 291. line 1. White Horse. [See note on p. 156, line 2.-ED.] p. 292. line 13. wyvern, two-legged dragon. Old French wivre, viper. p. 293. line 24 to p. 294. line 2. But even while I drank the brook, and ate And thirsting, in a land of sand and thorns. The gratification of sensual appetite brings p. 294. lines 3-12. Nor does wifely love and the love p. 294. lines 13-20. Nor does wealth, which is worshipt p. 294. line 20 to p. 295. line 7. Nor does glory. p. 295. lines 8-26. Nor does Fame. p. 296. line 14. Led on the gray-hair'd wisdom of the east. The Magi. p. 296. line 23. sacring, consecration. p. 297. line 1. I saw the fiery face as of a child. [See Malory, xvii. 20: "And then he took p. 298. line 1. Storm at the top, and when we gain'd it, storm. p. 299. line 22. [My father looked on this description Lancelot's, as among the best blank verse he had written. He pointed out the difference between the five visions of the Grail, as seen by the Holy Nun, Sir Galahad, Sir Percivale, Sir Lancelot, Sir Bors, according to their different, their own peculiar natures and circumstances, their selflessness, and the perfection or imperfection of their Christianity. He dwelt on the mystical treatment of every part of his subject, and said the key is to be found in a careful reading of Sir Percivale's visions. He would also call attention to the babbling homely utterances of the village priest Ambrosius as a contrast to the sweeping passages of blank verse that set forth the visions of spiritual enthusiasm.-Ed.] p. 304. lines 18, 19. Paynim amid their circles, and the stones The temples and upright stones of the Druidic p. 304. line 24. A mocking fire. The sun-worshippers that were said to dwell on Lyonnesse scoffed at Perceval. The seven clear stars of Arthur's Table Round. |