NOTES.
Published in 1864.
2. Evidently a stream comes down through the chasm and the wide mouth of the stream forms a harbour. See line 690.
3. Beyond. At one side of the harbour.
red roofs. Roofs covered with red tile.
6. down. A bare sandy hill.
7. Danish barrows. Burial mounds supposed to date back to the time of the Danes.
16. lumber. Waste material; clumsy, useless articles.
17. swarthy. Black or brown in colour.
18. fluke. The hook or wing of the anchor.
25-6. A suggestion of what is to take place later in the lives of these three.
38. The stronger passions of youth.
63. great and small. Old and young.
67. prone. Sloping down precipitously.
68. To feather. The wood was denser in the hollow (see line 444), than along the upper edges of the slope.
84-8. Enoch Arden was “a rough sailor lad” without education; and Tennyson throughout the poem tries to soften down the prosaic features of his life and to picture him as a man with nobler impulses and resolves.
92-100. An effort to dress up in more attractive form the prosaic fact that Enoch made his living by peddling fish.
93. ocean-spoil. Fish.
94. ocean-smelling osier. Willow baskets having an odour of the sea.
96. market-cross. In old days crosses were frequently erected in market places.
98. portal-warding lion-whelp. The carved figure of a lion placed over the gateway as if to guard the entrance.
99. peacock-yewtree. A yewtree trimmed in the form of a peacock. The yewtree is an evergreen.
100. Enoch provided the fish which were used on Friday.
110. He had competition in his trade.
128-31. A little cloud sometimes throws the sea into shadow around you, but away on the horizon you see a bright spot (an isle of light) on the water, which shows that the sun is shining there. So with Enoch. His misfortune was a shadow on his life, but the future was bright and he knew that the little cloud would pass away.
the offing. The part of the sea that lies some distance off the shore.
154. Appraised. Judged.
168. his old sea-friend. His boat.
172-81. Analyse grammatically.
184. Save as his Annie’s. He laughed at the fears themselves, but was grieved that she should be troubled by fears.
186-7. that mystery, etc. In prayer the divine side of man’s nature comes into communion with the human sympathy of God’s nature.
196. Nay. He sees that Annie does not like his words of seeming disparagement.
212-3. Are these prophecies fulfilled?
222-6. Most of these phrases are taken from the Bible.
235-6. See lines 892-901.
248. chime with. Agree with; to carry out his wishes.
253. still. Always.
266. who best could tell. The physician.
286. passion. What is the predicate?
329. garth. Garden.
340. conies. Rabbits.
342. the offence of charitable. The offence of appearing to give charity.
379. whitening. Showing the light underside of the leaves as the children plunged through the bushes.
382. tawny. Yellowish-brown in colour.
414. fast my wife. Bound to me as my wife.
441. dead flame. The sun was no longer shining brightly on the barrow.
473. Annoyed that their calculations as to the marriage of Philip and Annie had not come true.
493. She had prayed for a sign, but the expectation that some sign might be sent filled her with terror and she could not endure it.
498. “And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah.”—Judges iv., 5.
504. Malachi iv., 2.
505-6. Mark xi., 8-10.
510. So. If.
529. the Biscay. The Bay of Biscay.
531. the summer of the world. The tropics.
532. the Cape. The Cape of Good Hope.
536. the golden isles. The East Indies.
542. sea-circle. The circle of which the horizon formed the boundary. This circle was constantly changing with the progress of the vessel.
543. full-busted figurehead. It was the custom to have a carved figure or bust, generally the image of the Virgin, at the prow of the vessel.
557. so wild that it was tame. Never having seen human beings, they had not learned to fear them.
569. Fire-hollowing. Burning out the centre with fire.
571. God’s warning. God’s warning that he could not help himself, that he could only wait for help to come.
572. lawns. Open grassy spaces in the woods.
573. glades. Narrower spaces than lawns.
579. broad belt. The torrid zone.
586. zenith. The point in the heavens which is directly overhead.
597. globed. Suggests larger and more brilliant stars.
598. hollower. Because of the silence of the night.
602-605. Either the spirit of the old friends and scenes came to him, or his spirit went out to them. Two ways of saying the same thing—that there came before his mind the vague images of former scenes.
many phantoms. Many images went to make up the day dream.
610. dewy-glooming. Looking darker in the early morning because covered with dew.
615. A suggestion that in some mysterious way the sound of the marriage bells of Annie and Philip was borne to him.
633. silent. They were so far from the island that they could not hear the sound of the waterfall.
640. rage. Because he could not make himself understood.
642. sweet water. Fresh water.
653. county. This word was changed to “country” in a later edition.
659. down thro’ all his blood. He breathed deeply of the air he loved.
661. ghostly wall. The white chalk cliffs of southern England.
670-2. Through both gorges there came up a mist from the sea. See lines 102-3.
675. holt. Woodland.
tilth. Tilled ground.
679. Why does the poet represent Enoch as returning in the thick mist rather than in the bright sunshine?
688. A bill of sale. A notice that the house was for sale.
690. pool. Harbour.
692. timber-crost antiquity. Built in the old style, with the timbers showing on the outside,—the spaces between being filled in with plaster.
737. shingle. Gravel.
793. tranced. A trance is any state in which the bodily functions are for the time suspended. Here Enoch is in a half-swoon.
797. burthen. A refrain or chorus. Strictly speaking, the word signifies the bass accompaniment or undersong.
801-4. Just as fresh water from a spring in the ocean rises through the salt water and keeps alive the mariner who drinks of it; so prayer springing out of his resolve (will) never to let her know came up through the bitterness of his life and “kept him a living soul.”
807. enow. Enough.
829. The lower edges of the cloud or mist which the wind lifts.
910. “The calling of the sea is a term used, I believe, chiefly in the western parts of England, to signify a ground swell. When this occurs on a windless night, the echo of it rings through the timbers of the old houses in a haven.” (Tennyson.) A ground-swell is a heavy swell due to a violent gale. It is often felt for some days afterwards and on shores which are far distant from the scene of the storm.
Published in 1842.
Morte D’Arthur (The Death of Arthur) is a story of King Arthur and The Round Table, based on the legend entitled Morte D’Arthur, which was written by Malory, an English writer of the sixteenth century. King Arthur was a mythical king of the Britons who was supposed to have lived and reigned in the sixth century, and to have united the Britons against the Saxon invaders. According to legend he established a famous order of knighthood known as The Order of The Round Table, so called because of the famous round table, presented to King Arthur by a British king, and capable of seating one hundred and fifty knights. In the course of time the knights of the Round Table became corrupt and forgot their vows, and, led by Modred, the king’s nephew, a number of them rose in rebellion against the king. King Arthur with those knights who remained loyal to him, drove the army of Modred step by step back into Cornwall and beyond it into the land of Lyonnesse, which was said to have extended from Cornwall to the Scilly Isles, but which has since been submerged by the sea. Here in this waste land a great battle was fought, in which the knights on both sides were killed, until at last only King Arthur and his faithful knight Sir Bedivere remained.
5. In his fight with Modred, whom he slew, King Arthur had himself received his death wound.
9. chancel. The part of the church set apart for the altar and the choir.
12. water. Lake.
14. The sequel of to-day. The outcome of to-day’s fight.
21. Camelot. The mythical capital of King Arthur’s kingdom, situated somewhere in the west of England. Malory identifies it with the city of Winchester.
23. Merlin. A magician and seer of King Arthur’s court.
27. Excalibur. The name signifies “cut-steel.”
31. samite. A rich silk stuff, interwoven with threads of gold and silver.
mystic. Having a secret religious significance.
37. middle mere. Middle of the lake.
38. lightly. Quickly, nimbly.
43. hest. Behest, command.
45. shrine. See lines 8 and 9.
46. athwart. Across.
56. haft. Handle.
57. topaz. A rich gem, generally of a yellowish colour.
jacinth. Another form of the word “hyacinth”; a gem of a red colour.
58. subtlest jewellery. Most cunning workmanship.
60. Looking swiftly now on one side of the question, now on the other.
63. many-knotted water-flags. The common iris, growing in tangled confusion. Or “many-knotted” may refer to the joints in the stalk.
74-5. as beseem’d thy fealty. As became thy loyalty.
80. lief. Beloved.
86. chased. Engraved with an inlaid pattern.
94. Obedience is what binds the subject to the ruler.
99. empty breath. Idle words.
102. joust (pronounced just). A tilt-at-arms, a tournament.
104. the lonely maiden of the Lake. A mystical being who dwelt in a wonderful cave in a rock within a lake. In the story of the Round Table she symbolizes religion.
110. clouded with his own conceit. His idea that the sword should be preserved as a relic prevented him from clearly seeing his duty.
conceit. A quaint fancy.
121-3. The dying king loses his authority because he has lost the ability to control the will of his subjects by “the power in his eye.”
125. In whom the services of all my knights should be combined.
128. giddy. Light, frivolous.
139. a streamer of the northern morn. A trail of light from the Aurora Borealis (literally “The Northern Dawn”).
140. the moving isles of winter. Icebergs.
170. As in a picture. With no change in the expression.
171. Remorsefully. With pity.
177. nightmare. A dream accompanied by a sensation of stifling. Mare is derived from a verb meaning to crush, to bruise.
182. Clothed with his breath. Enveloped in the vapour from his breath which condensed and congealed.
185. His own thought. His remorse for having deceived the king.
186. Dry clashed his harness. The echo of the sound of his armour was harsh.
193. hove. Past tense of heave, to rise. A vessel heaves in sight when it rises over the horizon.
194. scarf. Drapery.
197. Black-stoled. With long black robes reaching to the feet.
like a dream. The scene had an appearance of unreality.
198. Three Queens. Malory speaks of the three Queens as being King Arthur’s sister, Morgan le Fay; the Queen of Northgales (Wales); and the Lady of the Lake. On the symbolic side, however, they represent Faith, Hope and Charity.
199. that shivered to the tingling stars. So shrill that even the stars tingled at the sound.
207. she. Charity.
209. casque. Helmet.
213-4. The waning moon which looks pale in the bright morning sunshine.
215-6. greaves and cuisses. Armour for the shins and thighs.
dash’d with drops of onset. Splash’d with stains of the battle.
218. daïs-throne. The daïs was the raised part of the hall; a platform.
222. in rest. On the right side of the coat of mail was a projection to support the lance when not in use.
224. lists. The enclosed ground in which the combats took place.
230. a noble chance. A chance to do some noble deed.
232-3. The star that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem. (See Matthew ii., 7-11.)
240. If old customs and institutions are changing it is only because new and better ones are taking their place.
241-2. It is in accordance with God’s purpose and his nature that the world should grow better. Changes are necessary, since even a good custom will at length degenerate and become corrupt.
243. what comfort is in me? I cannot comfort you.
251. a blind life. A life without the power of reason.
255. gold chains. There existed an old fancy that the earth was suspended from Heaven by a golden chain. Here, each prayer is a chain binding earth to Heaven.
259. Avilion. A mythical island in the western ocean, in Celtic legend the abode of the blessed after death.
263. crown’d with summer sea. Surrounded by the sea, as the head is encircled by a crown.
267. The belief existed that the swan sang sweetly before her death.
268. Ruffles. Spreads out her feathers.
269. swarthy web. Dark webbed feet.
271. Note that even when the barge bearing King Arthur, who represented “the old order” of things, was disappearing, a new day, with a new order of things, was already dawning.
The story of The Prisoner of Chillon is founded on certain events in the life of Francis Bonnivard, a Swiss patriot, who was imprisoned in the Fortress of Chillon for six years. Bonnivard was born in 1496. He belonged to a noble family, and inherited a rich priory near Geneva. When the republic was attacked in 1519 by Charles III Duke of Savoy, Bonnivard came to its defence. After many adventures he was taken prisoner by the Duke in 1530, and consigned to the dungeon of Chillon. He was liberated in 1536 when the castle fell into the hands of the Swiss patriots. From this time until his death in 1571 he was prominent in the affairs of the republic.
Byron wrote this poem in 1816, a few days after visiting Chillon. At that time he was not familiar with the true facts in the life of Bonnivard and his story contains numerous details which have no foundation in reality.
The castle of Chillon is situated on a rock in Lake Geneva, and is connected with the mainland by a bridge. It was built in 1218, and served both as a fortress and a prison.
11. Bonnivard was imprisoned for political reasons, not on account of his religion.
14. tenets. Beliefs.
25. Not historically true. Francis Bonnivard was the only one of his family who was imprisoned in Chillon.
27. seven pillars. In reality there are eight, one of which is partly built into the wall.
Gothic. A style of architecture introduced during the Middle Ages. Among other characteristics it was marked by high pointed windows and clustered pillars.
35. a marsh’s meteor lamp. The Will o’ the Wisp,—luminous gases rising from the marsh.
38. cankering. Corroding.
52. But. Except.
livid. Leaden coloured; literally, black and blue.
57. the pure elements of earth. Such as pure water and sunlight.
84. sleepless summer. With no night to mark the hours for sleep.
85. The light shining on the snow is personified as the child of the sun, clad in white.
95. had stood. Past subjunctive.
105. a gulf. An abyss.
107. Lake Leman. The Roman name for Lake Geneva.
108. The greatest depth of the lake is 1056 ft.
112. enthrals. Encompasses; holds captive.
121. wanton. Literally, without restraint; hence, playful.
131. had little care. Did not mind it.
138. these. The water and the bread.
141. had grown cold. Past subjunctive.
148. gnash. Literally, to strike or grind together. Does Byron mean this?
153. corse. Corpse; a poetical form of the word.
172-3. He had shown thus far a high spirit, whether natural to him, or something seemingly inspired.
181. The face swollen and working convulsively in the struggle for life.
208. admonished. Reproved. The knowledge that it was hopeless did not prevent his fear.
214. dungeon-dew. The dampness of the dungeon.
230. a selfish death. Suicide.
237. scarce conscious what I wist. Scarcely conscious of what I knew. Conscious is an appositive, not a predicate adjective. The line following is the completion of was.
wist. See High School Grammar, page 176.
238. Quite shut off from everything else.
243. He saw nothing. Vacancy absorbed all space.
244. fixedness, without a place. His attention was not fixed on any definite thing; but yet his mind stood still, was inactive.
247-8. His breath was almost motionless. He seemed to have no life, yet was not dead.
249-50. He compares his mind in this state of trance to a stagnant sea, without light, limit, sound or movement.
256. Ran over. Shed tears.
257-8. Because filled with tears.
281. thine. Thy captivity.
284. Distinguish visitant and visitor.
317. fell blind. Became suddenly blind.
327. had made. Past subjunctive.
330. the mountains. The Alps.
335. wide long lake. Lake Geneva is about forty-five miles long and its greatest width is about nine miles.
336. Rhone. Where it enters Lake Geneva.
339. town. Vevay or Villeneuve, about six miles distant.
341. a little isle. Byron in a note speaks of this small island as between the entrances of the Rhone and the Villeneuve.
354. Methought. See High School Grammar, page 272.
364. too much oppressed. By the brightness of the world outside at which he had been looking.
368. no hope my eyes to raise. No hope, which would make me raise my eyes.
369. their dreary mote. Their dulness. A mote is a particle of dust.
378. a hermitage. A hermit’s cave or cell; a retreat.
382. sullen. Gloomy.
390. communion. Association with our surroundings.
ELEGY, WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD.
First published in 1751.
An Elegy is a poem or song expressing the writer’s feelings of sorrow or mourning. The churchyard referred to in the poem is that of Stoke Pogis in Buckinghamshire, where Gray’s mother lived during the latter part of her life. Gray is buried in this churchyard.
9. yonder ivy-mantled tower. The tower of the village church at Stoke Poges.
13. that yew-tree’s shade. It has been suggested that this should read, “that yew-trees shade,” because the yew is not a large tree. In that case the meaning would be “those rugged elms that shade the yew-trees of the churchyard.”
16. rude. Lacking refinement, unpolished.
17. incense-breathing. Breathing fragrance.
26. glebe. Sod, turf.
29. Ambition. Ambitious people. Such personification is frequent throughout the poem.
33. The boast of heraldry. The pride of lineage or family descent. Heraldry was the science that dealt with armorial bearings; and a family who were versed in heraldry and knew the meaning and history of their coat-of-arms might be in a position to boast of their lineage.
38. trophies. Memorials to commemorate their great deeds.
39. fretted vault. The arched ceiling ornamented with fretwork.
41. storied urn. A vessel containing the ashes of the dead, and inscribed with a record of his virtues.
animated bust. A life-like image.
43. provoke. Call forth.
41-44. What is the use of such trophies? they cannot bring the dead back to life, and neither honour nor flattery can appeal to those who are dead.
46. pregnant with celestial fire. Filled with the poetic spirit.
48. the living lyre. The musical instrument seeming almost as if it had life.
51. Their poetic fervour (rage) was repressed by poverty.
52. the genial current of their soul. The flow of their finer feelings and emotions.
58. The little tyrant of his fields. The landowner who attempted to tyrannize over him.
60. guiltless of his country’s blood. The general opinion held of Cromwell in the eighteenth century was that he was a cruel tyrant who was “guilty of his country’s blood.” The village Cromwell is guiltless because he has had no opportunity to act the part of a real Cromwell.
61. senates. Assemblies.
64. In the gratitude of the nation they saw the results of their own efforts.
65-72. If their humble lot prevented the development of their best qualities, it also limited their opportunity for doing wrong. It prevented them from becoming tyrannical, from telling what is false, from having to conceal their feelings of shame, and from accepting the flattery which poets too often bestow upon their proud and wealthy patrons.
70. ingenuous. Without artifice, frank, open-hearted.
73. This line is adjectival to the pronoun they implied in their.
madding. Maddening, distracting.
76. tenour. Course.
78. still. Always, in all cases.
81. unlettered. Uneducated.
87. the warm precincts of the cheerful day. The warm bright earth.
precincts. Limits, boundaries.
88. nor cast. Without casting.
90. pious drops. Tears which are due to the dying (Lat. pius, dutiful). It soothes the dying to know that some-one is weeping for their loss.
91. Even the dead seem to cry out for remembrance.
93. thee. The poet is addressing himself.
94. artless. Simple, without deceit.
97. Haply. Perhaps. Swain. Country man, rustic.
105. smiling. Modifies he, l. 106.
108. Or . . or. Either . . or, a poetical form.
123. Science. Knowledge, in the wide sense of the word.
126-8. His merits and his weaknesses are both alike left in the hands of God.
dread abode. Explained by the last line, which is in apposition.
trembling. With fear or anxiety.
2-3. These women having nothing but their beauty to commend them are forgotten in the long course of life.
sunshine and snow. With complexion rosy and white. Notice how this metaphor is continued through lines 3 and 4.
12. Her face was so expressive that it conveyed almost as much as words.
18. infer. Judge, conclude.
23. as. And in the same way.
26. in thrall. Under her spell.
27. that was all. This was a great deal, but worldly people might not think it much.
29. “And when she had passed it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.”—Evangeline.
31. ribald. Coarse in speech and action.
33. see what you have! See the result!
The ballad of Rosabelle is taken from The Lay of the Last Minstrel. It is sung at a wedding feast by the bard of the St. Clairs, to whom belonged the castle of Roslin mentioned in the story.
1. The words of the bard in addressing the ladies at the wedding feast.
5. Note the directness with which the story begins. The reader is left to supply his own details as to the speaker and the circumstances.
6. ladye. Lady, a poetical form.
7. Ravensheuch. Literally, Raven’s Crag. A strong castle now in ruins, situated on the Firth of Forth. It was for a long time occupied by the barons of Roslin.
8. Firth. The wide mouth of a river into which the tide enters.
10. inch. Island. sea-mews. Seagulls.
11. Water-sprite. Water-spirit.
18. Roslin. A castle and chapel on the Firth of Forth.
21. the ring. As a test of skill the knights, when riding at full speed, attempted to carry off on the end of the lance a ring suspended from a beam.
25. Roslin Chapel was said to appear on fire previous to the death of one of the family of St. Clair.
31-2. Dryden and Hawthornden are places in the neighbourhood of Roslin.
36. panoply. A full suit of armour.
38. Deep sacristy. The vestry, said to be deep because it extended far back.
altar’s pale. The space enclosed by the altar railing.
39. foliage-bound. Carved with leaves and flowers.
41. pinnet. Pinnacle.
42. “Among the profuse carvings on the pillars and buttresses, the rose is frequently introduced, in allusion to the name (Roslin), with which, however, the flower has no connection.” (Scott.)
44. St. Clair. The St. Clairs were a noble family who ruled over the earldom of Orkney and who held, besides, possessions in the Lowlands.
50. In allusion to the Roman Catholic burial service.
This song is taken from Marmion.
20. He means to say that although he was once in love with the fair Ellen, he is so no longer. Love comes very quickly but goes away just as quickly.
the Solway. Solway Firth, an arm of the sea, on the south-west coast of Scotland.
32. galliard. A lively dance.
39. croupe. The place on the horse’s back, behind the saddle.
41. scaur. A precipitous bank or rock.
42. They’ll have fleet steeds that follow. They that succeed in following us will have to have fleet steeds.
Written and published in 1820.
The skylark is a European bird, and is not found in America. It makes its nest on the ground but rises high in the air, sometimes beyond the point of vision, to sing. The Canadian Horned Lark, which is common in our fields in early spring, sometimes also sings high in the air above its nest.
12. sunken sun. The sun is still below the horizon.
15. unbodied joy. The lark is so high in the air that it no longer appears to him as a bird; but hearing its song he thinks of it only as an ethereal source of joy.
22-25. The rays of light from the morning star are so keen that even when it has almost vanished in the light of the clear dawn we feel that the star is there. So even after the bird has vanished from sight, we know from the “arrows” of song that it is there.
36-7. He represents the poet as absorbed in his own bright fancies, and in this way hidden from the rest of the world.
47. a dell of dew. A little dewy valley or hollow.
49. aerial hue. Literally, the colour of the air. The glowworm of Britain is said to emit a bluish light.
55. heavy-wingéd thieves. The winds made heavy by the perfume.
56. vernal. Belonging to the Spring.
57. twinkling. Sparkling with the rain upon it.
61. sprite. Spirit.
66. Chorus hymeneal. A marriage song. Hymen was the God of marriage.
77. Languor. A feeling of weakness or exhaustion.
80. sad satiety. Just as one may become satiated with an excess of sweet things, so the poet speaks of even Love, when enjoyed to the full, as bringing with it a feeling of sadness.
82-5. Death is always bringing sorrow into our lives, so that under its shadow we can never be quite happy. But perhaps the skylark knows more about what Death really is, and sees that it is a good thing.
91-5. But even if we had no sadness of any kind in our lives, we could not feel as keen a joy as the song of the skylark expresses.
103. harmonious madness. His rapture would find expression in an ecstasy of song.
First published in 1859. When the Idylls of the King appeared in their final form, in 1888, the story of Enid was divided into two parts, the first part being entitled The Marriage of Geraint, the second, Geraint and Enid. The poem here given includes only the part of Enid which is now known as The Marriage of Geraint. Tennyson’s story of Enid is based upon the prose version of the story, as it appears in the Mabinogion, a famous collection of Welsh fairy stories and legends.
Before beginning the study of the poem read the introductory note to Morte D’Arthur.
24-5. The Queen, Guinevere, was the daughter of Leodogran, a tributary king. When Leodogran had given his consent to the marriage of his daughter Guinevere to Arthur, the king sent Lancelot, his truest and bravest knight, to bring Guinevere to the court. Guinevere, not having yet seen the king, fell in love with Lancelot, and her love was returned. This secret love was continued, and under its influence, little by little, the ideals of the knights were lowered. The incidents in the story of Enid are supposed to have taken place shortly after the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere.
35. caitiff. Base, mean.
39. common sewer. This territory in which the bandits and caitiff knights were gathered is compared to a public drain or sewer which carries off the impurities of the city.
41. marches. Border country, frontiers.
45. Severn. A river of England and Wales, flowing south-west into Bristol Channel.
48. compass’d her with sweet observances. Surrounded her with tokens of his regard.
60. uxoriousness. Fondness for his wife.
78. If the current were less strong the water would break in striking against the stone.
86. all-puissant. All powerful.
93. liefer. More gladly.
100. high. Bright.
145. Whitsuntide. A Church festival which falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter.
146. Caerleon upon Usk. A town in Monmouth. The Usk is a tributary of the Severn.
148. Dean. A tract of country west of the Severn.
172. glancing. Shining.
183. break covert. Come out into the open.
189. vizor. That part of the helmet which covers the face.
210. abolish. Destroy. Generally used of institutions, customs, etc.
213. Wroth to be wroth. Angry with himself for being angry.
217. earths. Holes in the earth.
220. for pledge. Which may be had if security is given for their return.
223. So that. Provided that.
235. at the vile occasion. Because the cause of this delay was so contemptible.
260. The Sparrow-hawk. A term of contempt. The sparrow-hawk is despised as a bird of prey; but it was the emblem of the knight whom Geraint was pursuing.
261. an ancient churl. An old peasant.
262. sloping beam. The slanting rays of the sun.
273. sudden spleen. A burst of anger.
274. pips. Diseases. A disease of fowls.
275. Tits. The titmouse, or tomtit, a small bird.
296. frayed. Worn by rubbing.
319. wilding. Wild; a poetical form.
325. beneath. Near the ground. aloft. Higher up on the wall.
337. When it first returns to Britain in the spring.
346. Fortune and her wheel. The wheel, which Fortune is represented as turning, denotes instability. The substance of the song is that the singer is indifferent to Fortune and will be content whatever she may bring.
354. Even if fortune seems against us, yet we will smile, for we are still able to use our hands to work.
363. dim brocade. Faded silk, woven with gold and silver thread or with ornamental designs.
364. vermeil-white. Reddish-white.
368. rood. Cross.
386. costrel. A wooden or earthenware bottle.
389. manchet. Fine white bread.
396. trencher. A large wooden plate.
432. Camelot. See Morte D’Arthur line 21, and note.
438. who see but acts of wrong. The Earl means to say that in this little village they saw no good deeds. They themselves had suffered from wrong-doing.
491. toppling over all antagonism. Overcoming all opponents.
496. lay lance in rest. See Morte D’Arthur, line 222, and note.
502. when at mine uttermost. In direst need.
513. prove her heart. Test her feelings.
519. kept her off. Held her at arm’s length so that she could see Enid’s face.
535. To quicken to the sun. To become alive under the influence of the sun.
537. jousts. See Morte D’Arthur, line 102, and note.
542. beyond the rest. More strongly than the rest.
543. The chair of Idris. Cader Idris, the highest mountain in Wales.
547. lists. The enclosed ground where tournaments were held.
559. Yule. Christmas.
566. as of phantom hands. The sound of the echo.
568. The dew of their great labour. Their perspiration.
595-6. See introductory note to Morte D’Arthur.
641. sold and sold. Sold one after another.
661. turkis. Turquoise. A garnet is red; a turquoise, blue.
663. tissue. Woven cloth.
672. mixen. Dunghill.
710. seneschal. Chief steward, who superintends the feasts and ceremonies.
724. ragged-robin. A British wild flower.
730-1. Esther. ii., 2-17.
743. Gwydion. In one of the legends of Welsh mythology, Gwydion, the nephew of the king, helps his uncle, Math, to create a beautiful maiden by magic (glamour) out of flowers in order to provide a wife for the young prince Llew.
744-5. the Bride of Cassivelaun, Flur. Cassivelaun was king of Britain at the time of Cæsar’s second invasion (54 B.C.). The poem suggests that Cæsar was in love with Flur, the betrothed bride of Cassivelaun.
764. flaws. A flaw is a sudden burst of wind.
774. careful robins. Watching to see whether there are worms for food in the ground that is delved.
797-804. Geraint suspected that Enid had allowed herself to be influenced by her mother’s wishes, or that she had been carried away by his brightness in contrast with the dimness of her own surroundings.
810-1. Dearer because she was resuming a splendour to which she had formerly been accustomed, but which she had been forced to give up for a time.
838. Dubric. The Archbishop.
ODE ON THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
Published on the morning of November 18th, 1852, the day of the funeral of the Duke of Wellington.
9. The Duke is buried in St. Paul’s cathedral, which stands in the busiest part of London.
23. state-oracle. The wise adviser of the nation.
36. The Duke’s words were taken as an indication of the probable course of events in the future.
42. World-victor’s victor. Victor over Napoleon, who was the World victor.
49. cross of gold. St. Paul’s cathedral is surmounted by a golden cross.
56. its blazon’d deeds. The record of his victories engraved on the funeral car.
75-9. He calls upon the poets who celebrate the virtues of the British people to continue to give due honour to the Duke. In lines 77-9 the figure is that of broad avenues leading up to a great hall or castle.
civic muse. The muse (spirit of poetry) presiding over public affairs.
80-2. Nelson is also buried in St. Paul’s. In these lines he is represented as speaking.
99. Assaye. A village in Hindostan. Here in 1803 Wellington (then Arthur Wellesley) with only 5,000 men defeated an army of over 30,000 Mahrattas.
104-5. Referring to the lines of Torres Vedras, which were constructed by Wellington as defences in the Peninsular war, during the years 1810-11.
112. After the battle of Vittoria in 1813, the French armies crossed the Pyrenees and withdrew from Spain.
her eagles. Napoleon took the eagle as his standard.
119. Refers to the renewal of the war after the escape of Napoleon from Elba.
ravening. Rapacious, devouring ravenously.
123. that loud Sabbath. The battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, June 18, 1815.
129. The sun is said to have shone through the breaking clouds just as the Allies made their final charge against the French.
136. silver-coasted. Referring to the white chalk cliffs of southern England.
137. the Baltic and the Nile. The battle of the Baltic was fought at Copenhagen in 1801. The battle of the Nile was fought in Aboukir Bay in 1798.
145. The real proof of a man’s fame is seen in the fact that a nation continues to honour him and echo his praises from century to century.
152. During the few years preceding the publication of this poem, revolutions had taken place in several countries of Europe.
155. Saxon. Changed to “Briton” in a later edition.
160-1. the eye, the soul of Europe. He speaks of England as the country that not only sees what is best but is most anxious for true progress.
162. the one true seed of freedom. British freedom representing the only true freedom of Europe.
168. Note the figure of speech.
170. wink. Close the eyes.
179-80. He never did wrong for the sake of some immediate advantage, nor trifled with what is right, for the sake of gaining power.
182. People of either high or low rank who were given to talking idly.
184. hewn from life. Growing out of his experience.
188. our England’s Alfred. King Alfred the Great.
196. stars. Marks of distinction.
197. The Goddess of Fortune is represented as carrying a cornucopia (horn of plenty).
202. was. “Turned out to be.”
206-8. He shall find that in facing hard and disagreeable duties his reward will be greater than that which comes from a life of selfish ease.
215-8. He shall find that though the performance of difficult tasks sometimes threatens to overwhelm him, yet in the end it will bring with it the peace and happiness of a character which has the approbation of God himself.
In line 215 the conjunction that is omitted.
236. For one. On account of the death of one.
242. More than is of man’s degree. Spiritual presences.
250. fane. Temple.
252-3. Note the metaphor. The poet suggests that music appeals to our higher nature,—to what is spiritual and hence eternal in man.
259. Giant Ages. In Greek mythology the Giants were a race of fabulous monsters who made war on Zeus. They were subdued, and great mountains were piled on top of them, beneath which they still struggle. Tennyson here personifies the long ages of time as giants shaking the hills and breaking the shore.
274. Being here. While he was here.
275. Something. An adverb, as here used.
In The Day Dream Tennyson has elaborated in poetical form a series of scenes from the well-known fairy tale of The Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. In the fairy story, Briar Rose is a beautiful princess who was fated to fall asleep in her fifteenth year and remain sleeping for a hundred years. When the princess is overtaken by her long sleep, everything in the castle falls under the same spell. An impenetrable hedge of briars grows up about the castle grounds, and all who strive to force an entrance perish in the attempt. At length, when the hundred years have passed, comes a splendid prince, who hears from an old man the story of the mysterious castle and the sleeping princess. When he reaches the hedge he passes easily through, for the briars have turned to flowers. At the very moment when he finds the princess, the hundred years are completed, and as he kisses her she opens her eyes once more. When the princess wakes, the whole castle revives, and life goes on again as it did a hundred years before. The story ends with the marriage of Briar Rose and the prince.
The fairy tale in its original form was probably suggested by the changing seasons. In Winter the earth, the fairy princess, begins her long sleep. In the Springtime comes the sun, the fairy prince, and at the touch of his kiss the earth awakes to new life and beauty.
From the poem as here given, The Prologue, L’Envoi and The Epilogue are omitted. In The Prologue the poet tells his companion, Lady Flora, that the sight of her beauty as she lay asleep had called to his mind an image of The Sleeping Beauty, and that in his “day dream” he had recalled the old legend. And so as she works at her embroidery he bids her listen to the story. L’Envoi and The Epilogue, written also in a light and fanciful vein, contain the poet’s comments on the story.
1. blade and sheaf. Spring and Autumn, seed time and harvest.
3. Here. In the Sleeping Palace, in contrast with the outside world.
9. range. Rows.
10. terrace-lawn. The sloping lawn built up in the form of terraces.
11-2. The fountain is not flowing, but the water has withdrawn, or drawn back, to the garden lake from which it used to flow.
13. droops. The predicate also for the fires, peacock and parrot.
15. laurel bower. His retreat among the laurel bushes (evergreens).
16. wires. Cage.
18. these, those. Both the eggs and the birds.
22-3. The real things in and around the Sleeping Palace seem more like a picture than even the portraits on the walls.
34. Oriel. An ornamental projecting window.
40. Judging from his appearance and his surroundings.
43. woodbine. Any climbing plant such as clematis or honeysuckle, which binds, or twines around, the wood.
50. For these sleeping people.
51-2. When they wake to think once more, they will learn new things and will see things in a truer light and will be moved to act accordingly.
The Sleeping Beauty.
61. tranced. See Enoch Arden, line 793, and note.
71-2. Her beauty never changes, and the silent chamber seems to be filled with love, and the day seems to be brighter because of her beauty.
76. charmed. Under a spell.
The Arrival.
81-4. It seems as if when precious things have remained long hidden, they come forth of their own accord to greet those who seek them; for when Fate has decreed that some hidden work shall be revealed, Love follows up the decree and makes the discovery.
in sequel. Following.
86. on the rocks. Against the dull rocks.
90. to pass. To penetrate the hedge.
91. close. Enclosure, applied here to the hedge.
92. blanching. Whitening.
101-4. During all his past life a magic voice seemed to whisper to him that he would be fortunate.
106-7. The Magic Music. The sound of his heartbeats is spoken of as music which helped to tell him, as if by magic, that he was near the sleeping princess.
The Revival.
129. these. These noises.
137. Pardy. Fr. par-dieu, a form of oath.
144. put the question by. Did not reply to the king’s question. He had forgotten what the bill was about.
The Departure.
148. The world of love which was new to them but which was old to others.
156. this and this. He kisses her again.
157. sliding. Softly moving.
159. The light of dawn streamed through the openings in the clouds. Stream’d is a participle modifying twilight.
165-6. Evening is approaching. The lines of flowing clouds, rosy in the light of sunset, are compared to waves upon which the crescent moon is floating like a boat upon the sea.
167. rapt. Carried along, moved forward.
Moral.
177-84. A thing that is beautiful in itself, as this story is, needs no moral. “Beauty is its own excuse for being.”
185-92. In all things in Nature we can find a meaning if we choose. So with this story, as with other forms of art, it is possible to read into it different meanings.
YOU ASK ME, WHY, THO’ ILL AT EASE.
2-4. England, whose misty climate depresses the spirits and makes men long for the warmth and colour of the South.
6. sober-suited. Not showy.
10. of just and old renown. England has long been renowned for her free institutions, and justly so.
11-2. British freedom has been gained gradually, each new step growing out of events that have gone before. The Magna Charta, for example, was a precedent for the Petition of Right.
13. Those who seek to create dissension seldom succeed in bringing about an actual struggle.
15. A diffusive thought is one which readily spreads or circulates from mind to mind.
16. Hath time and space. Because Great Britain in itself is a small country.
17-26. If the time should ever come when any body of men should band themselves together to persecute those who do not agree with them, and when a man may not “speak the thing he will,” then, no matter how powerful or wealthy Britain may become, I will leave this country.
23-4. Note the metaphor in these two lines. Though the country should be overflowing with wealth from all its various sources—its mines, its fisheries, etc.
28. Read line 4.
Published in 1764.
Goldsmith dedicated The Traveller to his brother Henry, who was a country curate in Lissoy, a village in Ireland. The substance of the poem is briefly summed up by Macaulay as follows:—
“No philosophical poem, ancient or modern, has a plan so noble and at the same time so simple. An English wanderer, seated on a crag among the Alps, near the point where three great countries meet, looks down on the boundless prospect, reviews his long pilgrimage, recalls the variety of scenery, of climate, of government, of religion, of national character, which he has observed, and comes to the conclusion, just or unjust, that our happiness depends little on political institutions, and much on the temper and regulation of the mind.”
1. Remote, etc. These adjectives modify I in line 7.
slow. Wandering slowly because heavy of heart.
2. Scheldt. A river flowing into the North Sea. lazy. Having a slow current.
Po. A river in northern Italy. wandering. Winding.
3. Carinthian. Carinthia is a province of Austria.
4. Campania. The Campagna—a plain adjacent to the city of Rome.
8. My heart untravell’d. His affections are still with his early home.
11. crown. Subjunctive mood, expressing a wish.
friend. His brother.
15. where want and pain repair. (Personification.) To which the needy and the troubled go (repair) for help.
23. me. Object of leads.
27-8. These two lines explain how the fleeting good mocks him. His idea of what will bring him happiness is always changing. When one thing is attained he finds no real satisfaction in it, but is constantly looking forward to some new thing which he thinks may bring him happiness.
32. pensive. Meditative.
34. a hundred realms. Exaggeration for effect.
38. Should the proud man remain ungrateful and dissatisfied?
39-40. Should the scholar, puffed up with his knowledge, look with scorn on the petty pleasures of these humble people?
41-2. The scholar may try to pretend that he takes no pleasure in these things, but man is petty and enjoys these petty pleasures.
48. dress. Cultivate.
50. Creation’s heir. In apposition with the pronoun value of mine.
51-8. Note the points of comparison involved in the simile. What are the alternate possessions of the miser? Of the poet?
64. pretend. Claim.
69. the line. The Equator.
70. palmy. Made from palms.
71. tepid. Lukewarm.
75-80. This idea is elaborated and illustrated in the remainder of the poem.
82. No matter where one lives, Nature gives returns to those who labour.
84. Idra. Probably Lake Idro in Switzerland.
Arno. A river in Italy.
90. either. Here means any one of the things mentioned.
93. prone. Disposed, inclined, favourable to.
98. peculiar pain. Pain which follows this particular good.
101. proper. Own, belonging to me.
108. Woods over woods. Like tiers of seats in theatres.
114. Growing on trees or on trailing vines.
117-8. The flowers of northern countries, which last only through the spring.
119. kindred. The soil is said to be kindred because it produces all these varieties naturally as if this was their common home.
121. gelid. Cool, refreshing.
122. winnow fragrance. Carry perfume.
123. sense. The senses.
125. florid. Bright with flowers.
127. manners. Actions, habits of living.
129. zealous. Full of religious zeal.
133-8. Referring to the commercial prosperity of Italian cities during the fifteenth century.
136. long-fallen. Since the days of ancient Rome.
138. The quarry was filled with marble from which statues of human forms were chiselled.
142. unmann’d. Without men.
143-4. Certain diseases were supposed to arise from a superabundance (plethora) of blood. So ills arose out of the prosperity of Italy.
with fruitless skill. All the skill mentioned in lines 134-8 brought no real results. It could not save Italy.
149-50. The modern processions are bloodless, that is, they do not celebrate real victories. The chariots are made of pasteboard for mere show.
151. piety and love. Religious processions, which were often made the means of furthering love intrigues.
157. succeeding. Following.
158. happier meanness. The people, because of their degraded condition, are happier in the enjoyment of these mean pleasures than they would be in pursuit of nobler aims.
160. Bring out the points of comparison in the simile.
167. bleak. Cheerless. mansion. Here, country.
168. churlish. Generally applied to people in the sense of rude in manner. Here, stubborn, unwilling to yield a harvest.
171. torpid. Sleepy, lifeless.
174. invest. Take possession.
176. Redress. Compensate for.
187. patient angle. An example of Transferred Epithet.
198. nightly. For the night; not “night after night.”
199. Supply that or which.
203. conforms. The rudeness and smallness of his home, a mere shed, is in keeping with his mind which is lacking in finer qualities.
214. redrest. Satisfied, provided for.
215. science. Branch of learning.
216. excites desire. Awakens the desire for the pleasure to be derived from the study, and then supplies that pleasure.
217-8. Line 218 tells what is unknown to them. When they are satiated with sensual pleasures they do not know how to seek the higher pleasures of the mind.
219. those powers. Music, poetry, painting, etc.
230-1. Love and friendship belong to the finer feelings, but they find no place in the heart of the mountaineer.
indurated. Hardened, unfeeling.
234. Cower. Generally means to shrink with fear. Here it simply means to sit, to bend low.
242. whom all the world can please. They are easily pleased with the attentions and the flattery of others.
244. tuneless. Because he lacked the skill to play.
253. gestic lore. The knowledge of dancing.
258. honour. Note that the word honour is used here in the sense of adulation or praise.
264. an avarice of praise. They are greedy for flattery.
265. they give to get esteem. They flatter others in order that others may flatter them in return.
266. Flatterers credit them with qualities which should make them blest, and being credited with these qualities they naturally try to live up to them.
267. this softer art. Flattery or adulation.
271. within itself unblest. finding no happiness in its own thoughts.
273. They attempt to win praise by an external show of shabby finery.
276. frieze. A kind of coarse woollen cloth.
copper lace. Gold lace was commonly used in eighteenth century fashions. Copper lace would be a poor imitation.
277. People who were poor but proud lived sparingly from day to day in order to have one feast in the year to make a show of wealth before the world.
279-80. They continue to follow the changing fashions and do not stop to consider how much better it would be to have the approval of their own better selves.
282. Holland is in parts below the level of the sea, and hence ‘embosomed in the deep.’
284. leans against the land. Presses against the dykes or embankments.
285. sedulous. Industrious, diligent. Both the adjective sedulous and the verb lift relate to sons l. 283.
286. rampire. Rampart; here, the bank or dyke which has been made by man (hence ‘artificial’) and which rises proudly above the sea.
291. pent. Confined, limited, shut out.
rising o’er the pile. Rising up along the sides of the dyke.
292. amphibious. Generally applied to animals which are able to live both on land and in water. Holland is said to be amphibious because it naturally belongs to the sea but has been reclaimed as part of the land.
297. wave-subjected soil. This soil in its natural condition is under control of the sea.
305-6. These lines probably refer to the political struggles and intrigues which long disturbed the Netherlands.
313. Belgic sires. The tribes known as the Belgae who inhabited the Netherlands in the time of Caesar.
317. the sound. The sound of the name ‘Britain.’
genius. The poetic muse.
318. Britain receives the warm winds from the west, and Spring is earlier here than in other European countries.
319. lawns. Stretches of meadow land.
Arcadian. Arcadia was a division of Greece. Because of the simple pastoral life of its people the name Arcadia came to stand in poetry for any imaginary country of ideal beauty and simplicity.
320. Hydaspes. A river of India (now called Jelum) flowing into the Indus. It was the eastern boundary of the kingdom of Alexander the Great.
323-4. Extremes are not found in the climate, but only in the minds of the people.
325. They are controlled by reason; but their aims are daring, and hence great in an unusual way. The aims of men in other countries may be great, but they follow the regular lines of thought and there is nothing daring or irregular about them.
330. By forms unfashion’d. They do not follow fixed or conventional lines of conduct. They are not artificial, but natural, in conduct.
331. native hardiness. Natural vigour.
332. They are true to what they conceive, or imagine, to be right, and they cannot be held in check.
333. Even the humblest peasant boasts that he examines these rights.
337. Such blessings would be too great if they were unmixed with some evils.
alloy. The base metal which is sometimes mixed with precious metals.
342. The nominative absolute construction.
343. The natural ties uniting members of the family or the community are not strong.
345. imprison’d. Held in control by the law.
346. round her shore. Throughout the country.
347-8. Note the metaphor in these lines.
The idea is that when the wheels of a carriage are subjected to too great friction they either refuse to turn, or else catch fire from the over-heating of the axle. So in society, this internal struggle and ferment (ll. 344-6) must result in a breakdown in the machinery of government or in political disturbances. The Traveller was written about the time of the Wilkes’ agitations in Britain.
351. Fictitious. Artificial.
357. noble stems. The heads of noble families.
359. sink. A drain to carry off impure water. By speaking of England as a sink he suggests that her ideals have become base and impure.
level avarice. Greed for money among all classes of people.
369. the changeful clime. Of Britain.
370. Just as plants are pruned to make them better and stronger, so if the freedom of the British people is repressed when it tends to go to extremes, it will bring greater security.
373-6. He means to say that if any class of people is to be allowed too great privileges it will affect the rights of others.
381-8. The lines are subordinate, grammatically, to line 389.
381-2. These and the following lines express Goldsmith’s opinion of the Whig government then in power.
383. a factious band. A group of politicians seeking to further their personal interests by agitation and dissension.
385. There was nothing to restrain the judge from drawing up new laws for punishment of offences (penal statutes).
wanton. Without restraint.
387-8. He means to say that money was extorted from people in the colonies, such as India, to corrupt the electors in Great Britain.
to purchase slaves. To bribe the voters, to make them subservient.
391-2. Partly from motives of patriotism, partly from fear of the evils threatening my country, I appeal to the sovereign to protect it against these petty political tyrants.
393. baleful. Evil, pernicious.
395. The sovereign is here regarded as the fountain-head or source of honour.
396. Gave wealth to sway. Gave wealth the power to sway.
398. The wealth (useless ore) of the landowners was used to buy up the small holdings, and the labourers (useful sons) were turned adrift and forced to emigrate.
399. Britain’s successes in war have only helped to hasten destruction by bringing into existence a wealthy class of men.
401-2. See note on line 398 above.
403-4. The rich man lives at his ease on estates where villages once stood.
407. decayed. Worn out, on the decline.
411. Oswego. A river in the State of New York, flowing into Lake Erie.
412. Niagara. Note the pronunciation.
417. giddy. Whirling.
418. distressful. Causing distress.
421. Looks towards England.
422. The feelings of the exile are the same as those of the poet.
423-38. Lines 361-422 have been in the nature of a digression, and the poet now returns to his original subject as presented in the first hundred lines of the poem. He has come to the conclusion that happiness does not depend upon external conditions, but upon the individual himself; and this conclusion is summed up in lines 431-2.
425. Why have I tried to find the source of happiness in the government rather than in the mind, which is the centre of pleasure and repose?
431. Consigned modifies felicity. We are entrusted with the making of our own happiness.
433-4. The joy which any man feels in his life from day to day comes from his own innermost feelings, and external events cannot disturb it.
435-8. Even though a man be put to torture, it cannot rob him of the truest sources of happiness in his life—reason, faith and conscience.
434. The lifted axe. The executioner’s axe.
the agonizing wheel. An instrument of torture causing extreme agony. The victim was fastened to a wheel or a cross, and his legs were broken with an iron bar.
436. Luke’s iron crown. In 1513 two brothers, George and Luke Dosa, were taken prisoners in a rebellion. George (not Luke) Dosa was put to death by having a red hot crown placed on his head, in mockery of his desire to become king.
Damiens’ bed of steel. In 1757 Damiens, an insane fanatic, attempted to kill Louis XV, King of France. He was bound upon an iron bed and subjected to terrible tortures.
437. These tortures are rarely known to men who are not engaged in public affairs.
Written on the occasion of a voyage from England to Italy in 1838. As the vessel passes the south-west coast of Portugal and Spain, Cape St. Vincent, Cadiz and Trafalgar are seen in turn, and as darkness is coming on, Gibraltar rises dimly in the distance. The poem expresses Browning’s feelings as he calls to memory the great victories of England that are connected with these historic scenes.
1. Cape St. Vincent. A cape at the south-east extremity of Portugal. In 1709 Admiral Jervis with a British fleet of fifteen vessels, defeated a Spanish fleet of twenty-seven vessels.
2. reeking. We often speak of blood as reeking, that is, steaming (Ger. rauchen, to smoke). So here the sunset is spoken of also as reeking because it is red like blood.
Cadiz Bay. Off the south-west coast of Spain. Cadiz was sacked by the English fleet under Essex in 1596.
3. Bluish. The land was bluish when seen in the distance.
full in face. Directly ahead of the vessel.
Trafalgar. Cape Trafalgar, on the south-west coast of Spain. At Trafalgar in 1805 Nelson defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain.
4. dimmest north-east distance. After the vessel passed Trafalgar and turned to enter the straits, the rock of Gibraltar was seen dimly to the north-east. Consult a good map or atlas.
dawned. Appeared dimly on the horizon.
Gibraltar. The fortress of Gibraltar came into the hands of the English in 1704. It was, later in the century, successfully defended against a number of attacks.
5. Here and here. In the battles he has mentioned.
say. The subject of say is the noun clause following.
5-6. Anyone who turns as I do to praise God for England’s victories and to pray for her continued greatness, cannot but ask himself the question, “How can I help England in return for what she has done for me?”
7. Jove’s planet. The planet Jupiter. Perhaps the sight of “Jove’s planet” suggests to the poet England’s continued strength and glory.
over Africa. To the south-east. Possibly the vessel has not yet passed Gibraltar which he had only seen dimly in the distance as night came on.
The Patriot tells the story of a man who has come into power amid the acclamations of the crowd as the hero of the people. But popular favour is fickle, and in one short year he is reviled and led to execution. He suffers, not because he has failed in his duty, but simply because he has failed to please the fickle crowd. To those who have read history the sub-title An Old Story will need no further explanation.
2. myrtle. The leaves of the myrtle were used to make wreaths for those who won triumphs in the arts of peace. It is an emblem of peace and joy.
6. a mist. Of course this is not to be taken literally. It is a poetic way of saying that the air is filled with the sound of bells.
8-10. If I had objected that I did not like noise but that I wished them to give me the sun from out the sky they would have been quite willing to give me not only the sun but anything else they had.
17. a palsied few. Too feeble to follow the crowd.
20. Shambles’ Gate. A fictitious name for the place of execution. Shambles are the places where animals are slaughtered or where butchers’ meat is sold. Hence, as here, a place of butchery.
25. my year’s misdeeds. What the rabble consider as misdeeds.
27. The man who has been honoured by the world, even if he drops dead in the midst of his triumph, has been paid, and perhaps more than paid, for his good deeds, and if men’s rewards and punishments are balanced up, in the next world, such a man may find that he is in God’s debt. But the speaker, “The Patriot,” is suffering so much injustice and wrong that he is sure that some balance of reward will be due him in the next world.
1. The quiet-coloured end of evening. The late twilight when the bright colours have faded from the sky.
7. a city. The poet had in mind probably the Campagna,—the level stretch of country outside the city of Rome. This district was once very thickly populated.
9. Supply the conjunctive pronoun, that or which.
13. Notice that throughout the poem, the description of the scenery as it now appears, is alternated with the pictures of its former splendour.
15-8. If there had been trees it would have been an easy matter to distinguish certain slopes from others by the single trees or groups of trees growing on them. Now these slopes are separated only by streams and they take their names from the names of these streams which flow through the valleys.
19. daring. Because it rose so high.
20. like fires. Glittering in the sunlight.
23. nor be pressed. Without being crowded.
29-30. guessed alone, stock or stone. You can only guess that the sticks and stones are there; the grass covers them.
39. caper. A low prickly shrub.
gourd. A trailing or climbing plant, such for example, as our wild cucumber. overscored. By the stems of the vines, which form lines on the wall.
41-2. houseleek. A plant commonly found on old walls and ruins. patching. covering up the holes; or, perhaps, forming patches on the walls. winks. When moved by the breeze.
45. burning. Because they were made of gold.
47. minions. Favourites.
50-2. Smiles because she is leaving the flocks to return in peace to their folds.
55. yellow hair. A suggestion that she belonged to a northern race.
57. caught soul. They were inspired to do their best by seeing the king and courtiers watching from the tower.
63-4. the glades’ colonnades. The rows of columns in the valleys.
65. causeys. Causeways. A causeway is a raised road passing over wet or marshy ground.
79. He appeals to the feelings of his readers, who are moved by the same passions now as in the past.
80-4. These ruins are Earth’s returns, the only result of centuries of folly, noise and sin. In contrast with this is Love, which endures.
This poem appears in Byron’s Don Juan. It is supposed to be sung by a wandering Greek minstrel during the marriage feast of the hero and heroine of the story; but it is a direct expression of Byron’s own feelings on the subject of Greek freedom.
2. Sappho. A lyric poetess who was born on the island of Lesbos about 625 B.C.
burning. In reference to the passion in her poems and songs.
4. According to myth, Leda, who had supplanted Juno in the affections of Jupiter, was forced to flee from heaven to escape the wrath of Juno. Neptune took pity on her and raised the Island of Delos out of the sea in order to afford her a shelter. Here Phoebus and Diana, the twin children of Jupiter and Leda, were born.
7. The Scian and the Teian muse. The island of Chios (Scio) was said to be the birthplace of Homer, and the town of Teos, in Asia Minor, was the birthplace of the poet Anacreon.
11. farther west. In America.
12. In Greek mythology the “Islands of the Blest” were situated somewhere far in the western ocean.
13. Mount Pentelicus and Mount Parnes overlook the plain of Marathon, where in 490 B.C. a great battle was fought between the Persians under Darius, and the Greeks, led by Miltiades.
21. Ten years after the battle of Marathon, Xerxes, the son of Darius, invaded Greece with a vast army. The Persian fleet was defeated at Salamis, by the Greeks under Themistocles. Xerxes watched the progress of the fight from the mainland.
31. in the dearth of fame. Though the Greeks are no longer famed for their poets.
32. a fetter’d race. Since 1715 Greece had been in the hands of the Turks. The War of Independence which began in 1821, resulted in the establishment of the Greek kingdom in 1832.
37-8. we. Italicized to bring out the contrast with fathers.
40-2. A reference to the battle of Thermopylae (470, B.C.) in which Leonidas with 300 Spartans and several hundred auxiliaries held the whole Persian army in check.
43. He has called upon the dead heroes of Greece to return (ll. 39-42); and now he listens for a reply.
49. In vain. It is in vain that we look for even one living hero to arise to lead the Greeks.
50-2. Samos, Chios, and other islands were famous for their wines.
53-4. Bacchanal. A follower of Bacchus, the god of wine.
55-6. The Pyrrhic dance was so named from Pyrrhichus, who invented it. The Pyrrhic phalanx derives its name from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. A phalanx is a serried formation of troops.
59. The alphabet is said to have been introduced into Greece by Cadmus, a Phœnician, who lived about 1450, B.C.
63-5. Polycrates, who ruled over the Island of Samos, was the patron of Anacreon. Tyrant in the Greek sense meant simply “ruler” or “master,” and as here used the word does not imply harshness or cruelty.
68. Chersonese. The word literally means a peninsula. Here it refers to the Tauric Chersonnesus, the modern Crimea.
72. That is, he bound the Greeks together to resist their enemies.
74. Suli. A mountainous district inhabited by a mixed Greek and Albanian people.
Parga. A fortified town on the coast of Albania.
76. Doric mothers. Spartan mothers. The Spartans belonged to the Dorian race.
78. Heracleidan blood. The descendants of Heracles (Hercules).
might own. Might not be ashamed of. Supply that or which at the beginning of the line.
79. the Franks. The French.
80. Louis XVIII was at this time king of France. Perhaps Byron is referring to Napoleon, who entered into alliance with the Turks.
89. mine own. Mine own eyes.
91. Sunium. The southern promontory of Attica.
marbled steep. The temple of Athena stood on this promontory.
94. swan-like. See Morte D’Arthur, line 267, and note.
1. As. The word so in line 9 is correlative with as, introducing the other member in the comparison.
ships. Subject of are descried.
3. towers of sail. Filled with the breeze, which has sprung up in the night. This line forms a predicate completion of are descried (line 4).
6. darkling. Dark, a poetical form.
7. but. Except, that—not. Did not dream but that, each, etc.
9. E’en so. Just in the same way differences in opinion arise between friends.
13. Unknown to each other, both came under different influences that changed the course of their opinions and beliefs.
16. dawn. When their beliefs were made known.
17. To veer, how vain. When people have drifted apart in their points of view it is vain for them to try to change their course to come together again.
19. one compass. Conscience.
22. parting. Nominative absolute.
25-6. Both were searching for truth.
27-8. Clough hopes that wherever the course of events may carry the human race, sometime, somewhere, all differences in thought may be reconciled.
1-7. The nautilus is a species of shell-fish. The shell is spiral, and is divided into chambers or cavities. The animal occupies only the outer cavity. The others are filled with gas. The belief once existed that the nautilus was furnished with a membrane which served as a sail. The root meaning of the word nautilus is “a ship.” This old belief is, however, only a poetic fancy. The nautilus creeps along the bottom of the sea, and does not come to the surface to swim or sail.
5. the Siren. The Sirens were sea-nymphs, who by their entrancing music fascinated those who sailed along their shores, and drew them on to their destruction.
13. The shell is broken so that the separate cells are seen.
14. irised ceiling. The walls of the cell, tinted like the rainbow.
crypt. A crypt is an underground vault used for burial purposes. Here the enclosed chamber in the shell of the nautilus.
20. idle. Unused.
24. forlorn. Forsaken, solitary.
26. Triton. The son of Neptune, the god of the sea. He is generally represented as blowing upon a trumpet formed from a sea-shell, to quiet the restless waves.
wreathéd. Referring to the convolutions of the shell which was used for a horn.
28. caves of thought. A poetical way of speaking of his innermost self.
31. low-vaulted. Limited, confined, like a chamber with a low ceiling.
33. Let your growth be such from year to year that your spiritual outlook is larger.
35. thine out-grown shell. The body in which the soul dwells.
Archaic spellings and hyphenation have been retained. Punctuation has been corrected without note. Other errors have been corrected as noted below.
Page 52, Some mute inglorions Milton ==> Some mute [inglorious] Milton
Page 112, Whese rougher climes ==> [Where] rougher climes
Page 117, love, and honor fail ==> love, and [honour] fail
Page 132, Home Thoughts, from the Sea ==> [Home-Thoughts], from the Sea
Page 135, Many imaegs went to ==> Many [images] went to
Page 143, church at Stoke Pogis ==> church at Stoke [Poges]
Page 156, 23-4. N te the metaphor ==> 23-4. [Note] the metaphor
Page 164, HOME THOUGHTS, FROM THE SEA. ==> [HOME-THOUGHTS], FROM THE SEA.