Welcome to Litsy!

I think my perplexity about Tennyson's intent is due to misunderstanding his dedication of the poem to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, made at the height of the British Empire. I've been trying to understand it as a hymn to empire, when it is actually about the fall of empire - D'uh! So, ok, hit the refresh button and it makes sense, and fits better in my mind as a development of the Arthurian tradition.
The high ideals Arthur requires of 👇🏼

I'm still grappling with the meaning of Tennyson's version of the Grail Quest. Narratively, it causes a devastation amongst the ranks of the Round Table, only 1-in10 returning from the quest, and pre-figures the ultimate fall of Camelot; but does that mean spiritual searching is best left alone, or only for the few? Or that the temporal glory of Arthur's empire is actually vainglory? But then we know the terrible state the land was in before 👇🏼

"And peradventure had he seen her first
She might have made this and that other world
Another world for the sick man; but now
The shackles of an old love straiten'd him,
His honour rooted in dishonour stood,
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true."

The last three lines sum up Lancelot's dilemma in his love for Guinevere & for Arthur, and his potential love for Elaine. As Elaine nurses him from a near-fatal wound, the 'what if' he had met ??

In "Merlin and Vivian", Tennyson gives Vivian a convincing motive for her enmity towards Arthur & Merlin. He also seems to set her up as the catalyst for the downfall of the Round Table, making an explicit link between her role and that of both Eve and the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Merlin's repeated judgement of "harlot" leaves a bad taste of Victorian misogyny. Still, some striking poetic images and allusions, and maybe the men will be ??

"A storm was coming, but the winds were still,
And in the wild woods of Broceliande,
Before an oak, so hollow, huge and old
It look'd a tower of ivied masonwork,
At Merlin's feet the wily Vivien lay."

- Merlin and Vivian

Balin, the Knight with the Two Swords, is another favourite story from Malory. Far from being the perfect knight, Balin is conflicted, full of self-doubt & anger. Tennyson captures these traits in his poem about Balin and his brother Balan, but I don't think he does full justice to the psychological depth implicit in Malory's flawed and tragic knight, nor the layers of doom-laden fate in the story of the two brothers and Balin's cursed sword.

Gareth & Lynette have the Westley & Buttercup story-arc from The Princess Bride, Gareth proving his devotion despite Lynette's initial contempt. Tennyson contrasts this with his next couple, Geraint and Enid, in which he is an insecure and jealous narcissist, forcing her to repeatedly prove her fidelity without explaining why, making her ride ahead of him in silence, submitting to his capricious will and under his constant scrutinizing gaze. 👇🏼

"After long hush - at last -
The huge pavilion slowly yielded up,
Thro' those black foldings, that which housed therein.
High on a nightblack horse, in nightblack arms, with white breast-bone, and barren ribs of Death,
And crown'd with fleshless laughter - some ten steps -
In the half-light - thro' the dim dawn - advanced
The monster, and then paused, and spake no word."

Tennyson turns Malory's tale of Sir Gareth's combat with the Red Knight ??

Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel and lower the proud;
Turn thy wild wheel thro' sunshine, storm and cloud;
Thy wheel and thee we neither love nor hate.

Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel with smile or frown;
With that wild wheel we go not up or down;
Our hoard is little, but our hearts are great.

Smile and we smile, the lords of many lands;
Frown and we smile, the lords of our own hands;
For man is man and master of his fate.

👇🏼

It's -4°C out, but the sun is shining and the spring flowers are budding in the old churchyard. Sitting under a leafless tree with the bright light warming the old headstones.
Tennyson's verse dedication of the Idylls to the deceased Prince Albert and the mourning Queen sets an appropriate tone for the glory and tragedy of his High Victorian poem cycle of Arthur, his shining Court, and the inevitable doom of his downfall.

Oh, wow. This was absolutely gorgeous. If you don‘t read any of the other idylls, you must read Guinevere and The Passing of Arthur. Absolutely touching work. I don‘t have a soul, but if I did, Arthur would have shattered it in Guinevere. 😂 My Arthurian Legend class is my favorite!!

#tryingsomethingnew Fairly excited to get started on Tennyson's Idylls of the King!

My next #SpookyRead is Tennyson's Idylls of the King. An atmospheric read perfect for Halloween - ghost ships, wizards, dark prophecies and the Queen of bad faeries herself, Morgan le Fay.

#AllHallowsRead #booktober

@Litsy

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.