CHAPTER IX.
THE ARTHURIAN POEMS.
The subject of the Arthurian legends seems to have taken an early hold of our Poet's imagination. In his second volume (1832), we have the first version of "The Lady of Shalott," a story afterwards treated with maturer power in the Idyll of Elaine. We also find in "The Palace of Art" the following stanza:
Mid misty woods on sloping greens
Dozed in the valley of Avilion
Tended by crowned queens."[1]
In the new volume of 1842 there were some further fragmentary attempts to poetize this story. The "Morte d' Arthur," purporting to be the eleventh book of a juvenile epic, of which the other books had been destroyed; "Sir Galahad," and "Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere." Rumours reached the public from time to time that Tennyson was occupied with a great work, of which the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table was the theme; and at last, in July, 1859, appeared the first instalment of "Idylls of the King."[2]
The Dedication to the Memory of the Prince Consort was added in the edition of 1862, which, with the exception of three or four verbal alterations,[3] is an exact reprint of the former edition.
For the story of Enid (the first Idyll), the poet is indebted to Lady Charlotte Guest's "Mabinogion,"[4] the narrative in which he has followed pretty closely, down even to minute details. It is the same and yet how different! It is interesting to trace the homely prose of the old narrative in Tennyson's magnificent setting; and perhaps no more signal instance could be given of a poet's transmutation of all he touches into pure gold. It was in this way that Shakespeare dealt with the old chroniclers and romancists; seldom himself inventing the story—only telling it in his own way.
Though Tennyson has followed the incidents of the story with almost scrupulous fidelity, he has produced them in a more artistic order. Thus the Mabinogion version begins with the hunt and its consequences, which in the Idyll is retrospective. Nor has he scrupled to suppress many unnecessary details which interfere with its movement, as, for instance, all that relates to Erbin, the father of Geraint. The reader will find it worth his while to compare the following passages from the Welsh story, which I give as a specimen, with the corresponding passages in "Enid."
i
(See "Enid," p. 4;
"At last it chanced that on a summer morn," &c.)
"And one morning in the summer time, they were upon their couch, and Geraint lay upon the edge of it. And Enid was without sleep in the apartment, which had windows of glass. And the sun shone upon the couch. And the clothes had slipped from off his arms and his breast, and he was asleep. Then she gazed upon the marvellous beauty of his appearance, and she said, 'Alas, and am I the cause that these arms and this breast have lost their glory, and the warlike fame which they once so richly enjoyed!' And as she said this, the tears dropped from her eyes, and they fell upon his breast. And the tears she shed, and the words she had spoken, awoke him; and another thing contributed to awaken him, and that was the idea that it was not in thinking of him that she spoke thus, but that it was because she loved some other man more than him, and that she wished for other society. And thereupon Geraint was troubled in his mind, and he called his squire; and when he came to him, 'Go quickly,' said he, 'and prepare my horse and my arms, and make them ready. And do thou arise,' said he to Enid, 'and apparel thyself; and cause thy horse to be accoutred, and clothe thee in the worst riding dress that thou hast in thy possession. And evil betide me,' said he, 'if thou returnest here until thou knowest whether I have lost my strength so completely as thou didst say. And if it be so, it will then be easy for thee to seek the society thou didst wish for of him of whom thou wast thinking.' So she arose, and clothed herself in her meanest garments. 'I know nothing, Lord,' said she, 'of thy meaning.' 'Neither wilt thou know at this time,' said he."
ii.
(Compare "Enid," p. 8:
Held court at old Caerleon upon Usk," &c.)
"Arthur was accustomed to hold his Court at Caerlleon upon Usk. . . . . And once upon a time he held his Court there at Whitsuntide. . . . . And on Whit Tuesday, as the King sat at the banquet, lo! there entered a tall, fair-headed youth, clad in a coat and a surcoat of diapered satin, &c. . . . . And he came and stood before Arthur. . . . . 'I am one of thy foresters, Lord, in the Forest of Dean.' . . . . "'Tell me thine errand,' said Arthur. . . . . 'I will do so, Lord,' said he. 'In the Forest I saw a stag, the like of which beheld I never yet. . . . . He is of pure white, Lord, and he does not herd with any other animal through stateliness and pride, so royal is his bearing. And I come to seek thy counsel, Lord, and to know thy will concerning him.' 'It seems best to me,' said Arthur, 'to go and hunt him to-morrow at break of day; and to cause general notice thereof to be given to-night in all quarters of the Court.'. . . . . Then Gwenhwyvar said to Arthur, 'Wilt thou permit me, Lord,' said she, 'to go to-morrow to see and hear the hunt of the stag of which the young man spoke?' 'I will gladly,' said Arthur. 'Then will I go,' said she. . . . .
"And when the next day came, they arose. . . . .
"And Arthur wondered that Gwenhwyvar did not awake, and did not move in her bed. . . . . Then "Arthur went forth . . . . and the whole assembly of the multitudes came to Arthur, and they took the road to the Forest.
"And after Arthur had gone forth . . . . Gwenhwyvar awoke and called to her maidens, and apparelled herself. . . . . And one of them went, and she found but two horses in the stable, and Gwenhwyvar and one of her maidens mounted them, and went through the Usk, and followed the track of the men and the horses. And as they rode thus, they heard a loud and rushing sound; and they looked behind them, and beheld a Knight upon a hunter foal of mighty size; and the rider was a fair-haired youth, bare-legged, and of princely mien, and a golden-hilted sword was at his side, and a robe and a surcoat of satin were upon him; and around him was a scarf of blue purple, at each corner of which was a golden apple."[5]
iii
(Compare "Enid," p. 46:
That morning when they both had got to horse," &c.)
. . . . "Then went Geraint to the place where his horse was, and it was equipped with foreign armour, heavy and shining. And he desired Enid to mount her horse, and to ride forward, and to keep a long way before him. 'And whatever thou mayest see, and whatever thou mayest hear concerning me,' said he, 'do thou not turn back. And unless I speak unto thee, say not thou one word either.' And they set forward. And he did not choose the pleasantest and most frequented road, but that which was the wildest and most beset by thieves, and robbers, and venomous animals. And they came to a high road, which they followed till they saw a vast forest, and they went towards it, and they saw four armed horsemen come forth from the forest. When they had beheld them, one of them said to the other, 'Behold, here is a good occasion for us to capture two horses and armour, and a lady likewise; for this we shall have no difficulty in doing against yonder single knight, who hangs his head so pensively and heavily.' And Enid heard this discourse, and she knew not what she should do through fear of Geraint, who had told her to be silent. 'The vengeance of Heaven be upon me,' she said, 'if I would not rather receive my death from his hand than from the hand of any other; and though he should slay me, yet will I speak to him, lest I should have the misery to witness his death.' So she waited for Geraint until he came near to her. 'Lord,' said she, 'didst thou hear the words of those men concerning thee?' Then he lifted up his eyes, and looked at her angrily. 'Thou hadst only,' said he, 'to hold thy peace as I bad thee. I wish but for silence, and not for warning.'" (pp. 103-106.)
In December, 1869,[6] Tennyson gave to the world four new Idylls, "The Coming of Arthur," "The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Ettarre," and the "Passing of Arthur." "The Morte d' Arthur," first published in 1842, was, as we have already mentioned, inwoven into the last of these. "The Last Tournament" (originally published in the "Contemporary Review,"[7] for December, 1871), and "Gareth and Lynette" (1872), formed a third series, and completed the work. It is probable, however, that these additional Idylls were an afterthought, and that the first four were all that were originally contemplated.
Claspt it; but while he bow'd himself to lay
Warm kisses in the hollow of her throat," &c.
The line italicized was apparently rejected as containing too Swinburnian a touch; and the passage is thus toned down in the "Gareth-and-Lynette" volume:
Claspt it, and cried, 'Thine order, O my Queen!'
But, while he bow'd to kiss the jewell'd throat," &c.
Numerous minor alterations have been made in the text of the "Idylls" from time to time; and some additional passages were first introduced in the Library Edition, published in 1873, in which the concluding lines to the Queen first appeared. Some further additions were made in the Cabinet Edition of 1874, in which, apparently, the text was definitively settled.
- ↑ Poems (1833), p. 74. This stanza has been remodelled since.
- ↑ The writer in the "Fortnightly Review" states that the first two of these Idylls were privately printed in 1857 (probably printed for publication, and withdrawn for further alterations) under the title of "Enid and Nimue; or the True and the False;" that they form a thin volume of 139 pages, and that a few copies are said to be still in private hands. On June 22, 1858, Clough "heard Tennyson read a third Arthur poem—the detection of Guinevere, and the last interview with Arthur" (Clough's "Remains," vol. i. p. 235).
- ↑ At pp. 49 (last line), 149, 183 (line 1), 240, should any reader wish to note them.
- ↑ The "Mabinogion," from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh manuscripts: with an English translation and notes. By Lady Charlotte Guest. (Part III. Geraint the Son of Erbin.) London: Longman and Co.; and W. Rees, Llandovery, 1840.
- ↑ The "Mabinogion," Part III. pp. 67-72.
- ↑ In the volume entitled "The Holy Grail and other Poems." Strahan and Co., 1870 (but actually published about midway in the month of December, 1869).
- ↑ A very curious alteration has been made towards the conclusion of this poem. The original magazine version reads (p. 22):