I know that this is late, however, I've been having trouble with the website, so bear with me as I catch up. Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem "The Passing of
Arthur", though beautifully crafted, nearly made my heart break.
Personally, I love anything that has to do with the romance and magic that is
associated with the Arthurian time period, and this ending of the legend left
me curled up in bed with a mug of coffee and Disney's "The Sword in the
Stone". Does anyone else feel this strongly, or is it just me? Even if
you don't share my love for this time period, anyone with eyes can appreciate
how beautifully this poem is written. One particular set of lines that drew my
attention was "As from beyond the limit of the world/Like the last echo
born of a great cry/Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice/Around a king
returning from his wars" (Lines 288-292). I found these lines very
interesting because the first line in this stanza almost makes an allusion that
Arthur is leaving this world, not merely dying, and going to heaven after the
long, violent years on Earth. After all, where else would Arthur go? He was the
greatest Christian king ever recorded. Did anyone else wonder if he would
become some high powered official (if they even have those), in heaven? Food
for thought...
Another line that I found interesting was "And the
new sun rose bringing the new year" (Line 300). Though we did talk about
this particular line in class, I can't help but wonder why or what caused the
end of this era. Was it because Arthur was such a great king that there was no
way anyone else could fill his shoes, or was it because God decided it was time
for the world to move on to a new era? As someone who is really not religious
in even the slightest of ways, I tend to lean towards option one. However, if
option two is correct, what a fascinating book that could be!
