Analysis of Morte D'Arthur
Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 – 1892
So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
Among the mountains by the winter sea;
Until King Arthur's table, man by man,
Had fallen 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 all
The 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 halls
Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
I perish by this people which I made,--
Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
To rule once more--but let what will be, be,
I am so deeply smitten thro' 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 row'd across
And took it, and have worn it, like a king:
And, wheresoever I am sung or told
In aftertime, this also shall be known:
But now delay not: take Excalibur,
And fling him far into the middle mere:
Watch what thou seëst, 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 thro' 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 ruin'd shrine he stept
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang
Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
By zigzag 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 work
Of 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 seem'd
Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
There in the many-knotted water-flags,
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 perform'd my mission which I gave?
What is it thou hast seen, or what hast heard?"
And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
"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 betray'd thy nature and thy name,
Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight:
For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,
Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again
As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
Across 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,
"And if indeed I cast the brand away,
Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
Should thus be lost forever from the earth,
Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
What good should follow this, if this were done?
What harm, undone? deep harm to disobey,
Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
An act unprofitable, against himself?
The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
What record, or what relic of my lord
Should be to af
Scheme | abcdexfghijk Lxfebmnxlxobpxlxxqxhraxlls lxpcks axoxxxq lxxtxxxxxxgxxr Lus lnq xxaxilxors mlxtax vxxojvxixxdu |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011101 0101010101 0111010111 110010111 1101011111 01111001 11011111 0111010101 010110101 1110111101 1111010011 1011000111 11110111 01011111 01101101 111101101 1101111111 1101110101 01101111101 1001010001 110100110 1101110111 1101111101 1111111111 1111010101 1011110111 11111100 11111111 0111110111 1111010101 101110100 1001011101 0110111101 0111111 01110111 110111100 0111010101 11111010111 11010111 1111111111 101010101 0101110101 1111110111 1111010111 1101010111 0001010111 1101011101 1101010111 1111111101 1101011101 1101010101 111101100 01011010101 10001101111 0101110101 1101101101 11110101 1111111 1111010111 1101010011 0111110111 101110001 1001010101 1101010101 1111110101 11110111 1101110111 1111111111 01010111 1101010001 0011010101 1101110101 1101110011 110011011 1100110101 1101110101 1111010101 1101011111 1111110101 1111010101 1111010111 11110101 0101010101 1001010101 1111010101 11000010111 1101001101 0101110101 1001011101 1111010101 1111011101 1111011101 110111101 10010010111 011101110101 11010000101 0111011111 1011110111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,304 |
Words | 781 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 26, 6, 7, 14, 3, 3, 10, 6, 12 |
Lines Amount | 99 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 321 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 78 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 3:56 min read
- 365 Views
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"Morte D'Arthur" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1047/morte-d%27arthur>.
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