General Notes.-The author had evidently been watching the village blacksmith. Note his fine use of a sustained metaphor. Find in the poets various views of life- "A tale told by an idiot " (Shakespeare); "Life is real, life is earnest " (Longfellow); etc.
LESSON 60
mORTE D"ARTHuR
So all day long the noise of battle rolled Among the mountains by the winter sea; Until King Arthur"s table, man by man, Had fall"n in Lyonnesse about their lord,King Arthur: then, because his wound was deep, The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights, And bore him to a chapel nigh the field, A broken chancel with a broken cross,That stood on a dark strait of barren land. On one side lay the ocean, and on one Lay a great water, and the moon was full. Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: "The sequel of to-day unsolders allThe goodliest fellowship of famous knights Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep They sleep-the men I loved. I think that we Shall never more, at any future time,Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds Walking about the gardens and the hallsOf Camelot, as in the days that were.
I am so deeply smitten through the helm That without help I cannot last till morn. Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how In those old days, one summer noon, an arm Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, Holding the sword-and how I rowed across And took it, and have worn it, like a king. But now delay not; take Excalibur,And fling him far into the middle mere;
Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word. " To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere :
"It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus, Aidless, alone, and smitten through the helm. A little thing may harm a wounded man.
Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word. " So saying, from the ruined shrine he steptAnd in the moon athwart the place of tombs, Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men, Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sangShrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping downBy zig-zag paths and juts of pointed rock, Came on the shining levels of the lake.
There drew he forth the brand Excalibur, And o"er him, drawing it, the winter moon,Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt; For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-workOf subtlest jewellery. He gazed so long
That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood, This way and that, dividing the swift mind, In act to throw; but at the last it seemed Better to leave Excalibur concealedThere in the many-knotted waterflags,
That whistled stiff and dry about the marge. So strode he back slow to the wounded King. Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere :
" Hast thou performed the mission which I gave ? What is it thou hast seen ? or what hast heard?" And answer made the bold Sir Bodivere :
"I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, And the wild water lapping on the crag. "To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale: "Thou hast betrayed thy nature and thy name, Not rendering true answer, as beseemedThy fealty, nor like a noble knight.
Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again As thou art lief and dear, and do the thingI bade thee; watch, and lightly bring me word. " Then went Sir Bedivere the second timeAcross the ridge, and paced beside the mere, Counting the dewy pebbles, fixed in thought; But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,How curiously and strangely chased, he smote His palms together, and he cried aloud:
