The Poetical Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart. M.P Part 54

The dove forsook not:--now its poised wing, 107 Bathed in the sunset, rested o'er the lake; Now brooded o'er the grave beside the King; Now with hush'd plumes, as if it fear'd to wake Sleep, less serene than Death's, it sought his breast, And o'er the heart of misery claim'd its nest.

Night falls--the moon is at her full;--the mere 108 Shines with the sheen pellucid; not a breeze!

And through the hush'd and argent atmosphere Sharp rise the summits of the breathless trees.

When Lancelot saw, all indistinct and pale, Glide o'er the liquid gla.s.s a mistlike sail.

Now, first from Arthur's dreams of fever gain'd, 109 And since (for grief unlocks the secret heart) Briefly confess'd, the triple toil ordain'd The knightly brother knew;--so with a start He strain'd the eyes, to which a fairy gave Vision of fairy forms, along the wave.

Then in his own the King's cold hand he took, 110 And spoke--"Arise, thy mission calls thee now!

Let the dead rest--still lives thy country!--look, And nerve thy knighthood to redeem its vow.

This is the lake whose waves the falchion hide, And yon the bark that becks thee to the tide!"

The mourner listless rose, and look'd abroad, 111 Nor saw the sail;--though nearer, clearer gliding, The Fairy nurseling, by the vapoury shroud And vapoury helm, beheld a phantom guiding.

"Not this," replied the King, "the lake decreed; Where points thy hand, but floats a broken reed!

"Where are the dangers on that placid tide? 112 Where are the fiends that guard the enchanted boon Behold, where rests the pilgrim's plumed guide On the cold grave--beneath the quiet moon!

So night gives rest to grief--with labouring day Let the dove lead, and life resume, the way!"

Then answer'd Lancelot--for he was wise 113 In each mysterious Druid parable:-- "Oft in the things most simple to our eyes, The real genii of our doom may dwell-- The enchanter spoke of trials to befal; And the lone heart has trials worse than all!

"Weird triads tell us that our nature knows 114 In its own cells the demons it should brave; And oft the calm of after glory flows Clear round the marge of early pa.s.sion's grave!"

And the dove came ere Lancelot ceased to speak, To its lord's hand--a leaflet in its beak,

Pluck'd from the grave! Then Arthur's labouring thought 115 Recall'd the prophet words--and doubt was o'er; He knew the lake that hid the boon he sought Both by the grave, and by the herb it bore; He took the bitter treasure from the dove, And tasted Knowledge at the grave of Love,

And straight the film fell from his heavy eyes; 116 And moor'd beside the marge, he saw the bark, And by the sails that swell'd in windless skies, The phantom Lady in the robes of dark.

O'er moonlit tracks she stretch'd the shadowy hand, And lo, beneath the waters bloom'd the land!

Forests of emerald verdure spread below, 117 Through which proud columns glisten far and wide, On to the bark the mourner's footsteps go; The pale King stands by the pale phantom's side; And Lancelot sprang--but sudden from his reach Glanced the wan skiff, and left him on the beach.

Chain'd to the earth by spells, more strong than love, 118 He saw the pinnace steal its noiseless way, And on the mast there sate the steadfast dove, With white plume shining in the steadfast ray-- Slow from the sight the airy vessel glides, Till Heaven alone is mirror'd on the tides.

NOTES TO BOOK V.

1.--Page 273, stanza iii.

_First, Muse of Cymri, name the Council Three._

Three counselling knights were in the court of Arthur, which were Cynon the son of Clydno Eiddin, Aron the son of Kynfarch ap Meirchion-gul, and Llywarch hen the son of Elidir Lydanwyn, &c.--_Note in LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST'S edition of the Mabinogion_, vol. i. p. 93. In the text, for the sake of euphony to English ears, for the name of Llywarch is subst.i.tuted that of his father, Elidir.

2.--Page 275, stanza xii.

_Next came the Warrior Three. Of glory's charms._

Three knights of battle were in the court of Arthur; Cadwr the Earl of Cornwall, Lancelot du Lac, and Owaine the son of Urien Rheged; and this was their characteristic, that they would not retreat from battle, neither for spear, nor for arrow, nor for sword; and Arthur never had shame in battle the day he saw their faces there, &c.--LADY C. GUEST'S _Mabinog._, vol. i. p. 91. In the poem, for Lancelot of the Lake, whose fame is not yet supposed to be matured, is subst.i.tuted the famous Geraint, the hero of a former generation.

3.--Page 275, stanza xii.

_Dark Mona's Owaine shines with golden arms._

Owaine's birth-place and domains are variously surmised: in the text they are ascribed to Mona (Anglesea). St. Palaye, concurrently both with French fabliasts and Welch bards, makes this hero very fond of the pomp and blazonry of arms, and attributes to him the introduction of buckles to spurs, furred mantles, and the use of gloves.

4.--Page 275, stanza xiii.

_In his plain manhood Cornwall's chief is seen._

Cadwr.

5.--Page 275, stanza xv.

_Next the three Chiefs of Eloquence; the kings._

There were three golden-tongued knights in the court of Arthur--Gwalchmai (Gawaine), Drudwas, and Eliwlod.[D]--LADY C. GUEST'S _Mabinog._, note, vol. i. p. 118.

6.--Page 276, stanza xix.

"_The KNIGHTS OF LOVE;" some type the name conveys._

The three ardent lovers of the island of Britain--Caswallawn, Tristan, and Cynon (for the last, already placed amongst the counselling knights, Caradoc is subst.i.tuted).--LADY C. GUEST'S _Mabinog._, vol. i.

note to p. 94.

7.--Page 276, stanza xix.

_Caswallawn; Trystan of the lion rock._

Trystan's birth-place, Lyonness, is supposed to have been that part of Cornwall since destroyed by the sea. See Southey's note to _Morte d'Arthur_, vol. ii. p. 477.

8.--Page 279, stanza xlv.

_In Castel d'a.s.so's vale of hero-tombs._

Castel d'a.s.so (the Castellum Axia, in Cicero), the name now given to the valleys near Viterbo, which formed the great burial-place of the Etrurians. Near these valleys, and, as some suppose, on the site of Viterbo, was Voltumna (Fanum Voltumnae), at which the twelve sovereigns of the twelve dynasties, and the other chiefs of the Etrurians, met in the spring of every year. Views of the rock-temples at Norchea, in this neighbourhood, are to be seen in INGHIRAMI'S _Etrusc. Antiq._

9.--Page 280, stanza xlvii.

_Here SETHLANS, sovereign of life's fix'd domains._

Sethlans, the Etrurian Vulcan. He appears sometimes to a.s.sume the attributes of Terminus, though in a higher and more ethereal sense--presiding over the bounds of life, as Terminus over those of the land.

10.--Page 280, stanza lii.

_On the Fork'd Hill), abjures his genial smile._

Tinia, the Etrurian Bacchus (son of Tina), identified symbolically with the G.o.d of the infernal regions. In the funeral monuments he sometimes a.s.sumes the most fearful aspect. The above description of the Etrurian Hades, with its eight gates, is taken in each detail from vases and funeral monuments, most of which are cited by MICALI.

11.--Page 285, stanza lx.x.xii.

_Woe on the helmet-crown of Dorian kings!_