Idylls of the King

a cycle of twelve poems by Alfred Tennyson, having as their subject the Arthurian legends. These poems were written at different times, the subject having been evidently in the author's mind during a period of over fifty years. The character of King Arthur had always appealed strongly to Tennyson. The idea of making him the center of a series of poems, which should typify the life of man as related to the contest between good and evil, was a matter of slow growth. In fact, it is probable that the full conception of the theme which binds these stories together and makes them a complete whole never came to Tennyson until most of the separate poems had, at various intervals, taken shape in his mind, been written, and given to the public. During the eighteenth century romance was decried, and the Arthurian stories were despised as childish and silly. Early in the nineteenth century Scott made romance popular again, and in literature it began to assume once more a place of importance. Malory's Morte d'Arthur was published in Tennyson's boyhood. That the stories connected with King Arthur had early attracted Tennyson's fancy is evinced by three lyrical poems,--The Lady of Shalott, a ballad later retold in Elaine; Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere; and Sir Galahad.

In 1842 Morte d'Arthur was published with an introduction representing the poem to be a fragment of an epic in twelve books. This poem, with certain additions and slight changes, now constitutes the last "idyll" of the series, and is called The Passing of Arthur. For years the subject was untouched by Tennyson, at least so far as the world knows. Then in 1859 appeared four poems, Geraint and Enid, Merlin and Vivien, Lancelot and Elaine, and Guinevere, under the general title of Idylls of the King. Three years later the dedication to Albert, Prince Consort, was added. The first of these four poems was, in the final arrangement of the cycle, divided into two, The Marriage of Geraint, Geraint and Enid. In 1869 four idylls again appeared, bearing the title of The Holy Grail and Other Poems. These were The Coming of Arthur, The Holy Grail, Pelleas and Ettarre, and The Passing of Arthur. In 1871 The Last Tournament was published, and the next year Gareth and Lynette. In 1873 the idylls appeared in their present order in the library edition of Tennyson's poems, and the Epilogue to the Queen had been added. Finally in 1889 The Idylls of the King, including those already mentioned, with the addition of Balin and Balan, stood complete. Their order is as follows: The Coming of Arthur; The Round Table--(1) Gareth and Lynette; (2) Marriage of Geraint; (3) Geraint and Enid; (4) Balin and Balan; (5) Merlin and Vivien; (6) Lancelot and Elaine; (7) The Holy Grail; (8) Pelleas and Ettarre; (9) The Last Tournament; (10) Guinevere,--The Passing of Arthur.

Each idyll is a story complete in itself. Each one fills a particular place in the entire cycle which makes of the whole a perfect epic, fit to be ranked with The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost, as it is frequently ranked by critics with whom it has withstood every test except that of time alone. Tennyson's Arthur is an ideal knight, "who reverenced his conscience as his king." He weds Guinevere, "the fairest of all flesh on earth," and in

He gathers about him the bravest and noblest knights who

The poems tell how these vows were kept and--broken; how, because Queen Guinevere failed to love "the highest," because of the untruth of the "noblest and the truest" knight, the great king failed in his purpose and the round table was dissolved.

Tennyson found his material in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, and in Mabinogion. He made the material his own, however, so that, as some one says of Shakespeare, "he is more original than his originals." There has been much discussion as to the allegorical meaning of this beautiful epic. Tennyson said himself that each reader must get his own lesson from it. The best way for a young person to read it is to think not at all of the lesson or the allegory. Read it for the story--for the beauty of the poetry. It is sure to be read again for the love of it. It cannot fail to elevate and inspire. If as a student of literature, one wishes to go deeper, the task, though by no means easy, will amply repay the effort.