Lady of the Lake, The

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

The, a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott published in 1810. The poem is in six cantos, each canto covering the events of one day in the action of the story, which is of a stirring and romantic nature. The verse is in rhymed couplets, with four accented syllables to the line; although each canto is introduced by a Spenserian stanza, and variety is produced by the introduction of songs in a different meter. The principal character in the story is Ellen Douglas who lived on an island in Lake Katrine, and from whom the poem is named. The Lady of the Lake is probably the most popular of Scott's long poems. The boat had touched this silver strand Just as the Hunter left his stand, And stood concealed amid the brake, To view this Lady of the Lake. The maiden paused, as if again She thought to catch the distant strain. With head upraised, and look intent, An eye and ear attentive bent, And locks flung back, and lips apart, Like monument of Grecian art, In listening mood, she seemed to stand, The guardian Naiad of the strand. The title, "Lady of the Lake," in the Arthurian legends designates a very different person from Scott's Ellen Douglas. The sorceress Vivien is so called because her dwelling was in the midst of an enchanted lake which none could approach except by her wish. Tennyson, however, in The Idylls of the King , represents "the wily Vivien," who let her tongue Rage like a fire among the noblest names, Defaming and defacing, till she left Not even Lancelot brave, nor Galahad pure, as an entirely distinct character from the Lady of the Lake who gave Arthur her "huge cross-hilted sword," and who dwells Down in a deep, calm, whatsoever storms May shake the world. See Scott ; Idylls Of The King