Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. Today’s post is an analysis of the poem Morte d’Arthur by Alfred Lord Tennyson. I accessed the text of the poem on poetryfoundation.org. The bold text in this post is my analysis of the poem. Without further ado, let’s get to the analysis!
Morte d’Arthur
BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
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.
~In this opening stanza, the scene is laid that it is the final battle of Camlann, with all of the Knights of the Roundtable lying dead save for Sir Bedivere, the last surviving Knight, Arthur is mortally wounded. Sir Bedivere is the only one there to take his body away from the battlefield. It is the ideal passage to set the tone for the poem exploring the famed death of Arthur!
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.”
~In this second stanza, we see Arthur speaking of his wound being a mortal one, knowing he will not live until morning. He describes the prophecy of the Once and Future King which Merlin had told him of, but with a rather detached air, wanting only to honor the Knights who died with him on that day. Arthur also described gaining Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake and asked Bedivere to return the sword to the water.
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.
~In these two short stanzas, Bedivere takes the sword to the edge of the lake in order to fulfill Arthur’s dying wish. Which is very much a custom of Celtic lore, tossing swords into bodies of water as an offering to the Gods, or in this case, returning the enchanted weapon from whence it came! In fact, it was more than just a custom in lore, but was really practiced by ancient Celts as many broken weapons have been found by archeologists in bodies of water, having been thrown into the water as votive offerings across the Celtic world!
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.
~In this stanza, Bedivere attempted to throw Excalibur into the water but was so dazzled by the beauty of the blade that he could not fulfill his promise.
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.”
~In these three stanzas, there is an exchange between Arthur and Bedivere where Arthur quickly becomes convinced that since Bedivere did not give him a straight answer as to whether or not he had thrown the sword into the water, his final wish had not been completed. So the King once again ordered his last Knight to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake! It is clearly of prime importance for Arthur that Excalibur does not remain in the human world when he is gone, which is why he is pressing the importance of the blade being returned to the Lady of the Lake.
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 aftertime, but empty breath
And rumours of a doubt? but were this kept,
Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
Saying, ‘King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur,
Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake;
Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
Upon the hidden bases of the hills.’
So might some old man speak in the aftertime
To all the people, winning reverence.
But now much honour and much fame were lost.”
~In these stanzas, Bedivere has yet again returned to the edge of the lake and is verbally ruminating on whether or not he should actually toss the sword into the water, whether Excalibur should be forever taken from this world. Clearly, Bedivere thinks it tragic that the sword never be wielded again, but he is torn between his own desire for the weapon and his promise to his King.
So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,
And hid Excalibur the second time,
And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
“What is it thou hast seen, or what hast heard?”
And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
“I heard the water lapping on the crag,
And the long ripple washing in the reeds.”
To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
“Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
Authority forgets a dying king,
Laid widow’d of the power in his eye
That bow’d the will. I see thee what thou art,
For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
In whom should meet the offices of all,
Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
I will arise and slay thee with my hands.”
~In these stanzas, Bedivere attempts to hide the fact that he once again did not throw Excalibur into the water. Arthur is very angered by the fact that Bedivere is once again trying to deceive him, calling out his not following his King’s instruction as a true betrayal! This is a very tense moment in the poem, fraught with anger and desire to circumvent fate on both sides (Arthur wants to live even knowing he is dying and Bedivere wants to have the sword even knowing it must be returned from whence it came).
Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
Among the bulrush-beds, and clutch’d the sword,
And strongly wheel’d and threw it. The great brand
Made lightnings in the splendour of the moon,
And flashing round and round, and whirl’d in an arch,
Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
By night, with noises of the northern sea.
So flash’d and fell the brand Excalibur:
But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
And caught him by the hilt, and brandish’d him
Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
And lightly went the other to the King.
~In this stanza, Bedivere finally gets up the courage to throw Excalibur into the water, knowing he has to honor Arthur’s final wish. As the third time was the charm the arm of the Lady of the Lake rose from the water to catch the blade, which was finally returned to the enchanted land from whence it came! This scene is one of the most iconic moments in Arthurian legend, making famed appearances in many adaptations, and is often the way that Excalibur is depicted in artwork generally.
Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
“Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?”
And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
“Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
Not tho’ I live three lives of mortal men,
So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
But when I look’d again, behold an arm,
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish’d him
Three times, and drew him under in the mere.”
~In these stanzas, Arthur is appeased to know that Bedivere has truly completed his final task for the King. He asked Bedivere what happened and the Knight described the arm that had come from the lake to retrieve the sword. I read this need so deeply ingrained in Arthur to return his magickal blade to the Faery Woman who had gifted it to him as a way of atoning for any ill deeds he had done, or the fact that he had lost the Sovereignty of the land by not valuing his marriage to Guinevere, who is a Sovereignty Goddess whose marriage to Arthur cemented his right to rule. That is my interpretation of the true downfall of Camelot, at least, for even with Morgan le Fay plotting his demise (in many versions) it was truly always Arthur’s own choices that ended the Kingdom of Camelot. We see this mirrored in many tales of Celtic Kings not valuing their brides, who are Faery Women and Sovereignty Goddesses, representatives of the land herself that bless the King with his right to rule! Once the love of the land is lost, the rulership of the King is forever in question, until his ultimate downfall.
And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
“My end draws nigh; ‘t is time that I were gone.
Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die.”
So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
Remorsefully regarded thro’ his tears,
And would have spoken, but he found not words,
Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
O’er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
And rising bore him thro’ the place of tombs.
~In these stanzas, Arthur knows that he is in the final moments of life and asks Bedivere to prepare to take his body closer to the water.
But, as he walk’d, King Arthur panted hard,
Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
When all the house is mute. So sigh’d the King
Muttering and murmuring at his ear, “Quick, quick!
I fear it is too late, and I shall die.”
But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk’d
Larger than human on the frozen hills.
He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
Before. His own thought drove him like a goad.
Dry clash’d his harness in the icy caves
And barren chasms, and all to left and right
The bare black cliff clang’d round him, as he based
His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang
Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels—
And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
And the long glories of the winter moon.
~In this stanza, Bedivere is moving Arthur’s body, and Arthur is very agitated, obviously feeling the fear of his impending demise.
Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge
Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
Beneath them; and descending they were ware
That all the decks were dense with stately forms
Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream—by these
Three Queens with crowns of gold—and from them rose
A cry that shiver’d to the tingling stars,
And, as it were one voice, an agony
Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills
All night in a waste land, where no one comes,
Or hath come, since the making of the world.
~In this stanza, the Barge of Avalon appears to take Arthur away to Avalon to be healed. There are three Queens present, one of them is obviously Morgan le Fay herself, although it is not stated outright here. It is one of the most important functions Morgana has in her literary tales, no matter how evil she may have been depicted as being, in almost every version you will read it is always Morgan le Fay who ferries Arthur to Avalon. This is her role as a Psychopomp, a Goddess who helps the dead cross over into the afterlife. Interestingly, it also shows her aspect as a healer, for Arthur is always said to be taken to Avalon to be healed, but more on that below!
Then murmur’d Arthur, “Place me in the barge,”
And to the barge they came. There those three Queens
Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept.
But she that rose the tallest of them all
And fairest, laid his head upon her lap,
And loosed the shatter’d casque, and chafed his hands,
And call’d him by his name, complaining loud
And dropping bitter tears against his brow
Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white
And colourless, and like the wither’d moon
Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east;
And all his greaves and cuisses dash’d with drops
Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls—
That made his forehead like a rising sun
High from the daïs-throne—were parch’d with dust;
Or, clotted into points and hanging loose,
Mix’d with the knightly growth that fringed his lips.
So like a shatter’d column lay the King;
Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest,
From spur to plume a star of tournament,
Shot thro’ the lists at Camelot, and charged
Before the eyes of ladies and of kings.
~In this stanza, Arthur is placed upon the Barge and the three Queens weep at his dying state. The fairest of them all, Morgan le Fay (although once again not named) takes his head into her lap. She spoke to him kindly and her tears began to fall onto his face. Much of the imagery here reminds me of how in many fairytales, like that of Rapunzel, tears have healing qualities, especially since the Morgan le Fay is associated with healing and that is the reason Arthur is being ferried to Avalon!
Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
“Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
For now I see the true old times are dead,
When every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight.
Such times have been not since the light that led
The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.
But now the whole ROUND TABLE is dissolved
Which was an image of the mighty world;
And I, the last, go forth companionless,
And the days darken round me, and the years,
Among new men, strange faces, other minds.”
And slowly answer’d Arthur from the barge:
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
I have lived my life, and that which I have done
May He within Himself make pure! but thou,
If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
But now farewell. I am going a long way
With these thou seëst—if indeed I go—
(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)
To the island-valley of Avilion;
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
Deep-meadow’d, happy, fair with orchard-lawns
And bowery hollows crown’d with summer sea,
Where I will heal me of my grievous wound.”
~In these stanzas, Bedivere is distraught to know Arthur will no longer be with him. Arthur explained that times were indeed changing, but there is a note of hope that they may possibly see one another again, but if not Arthur seems to want Bedivere to continue to have faith in humanity. Arthur also mentions that he is being taken to Avalon to be healed of his grievous wound. I personally view the healing of Arthur in Avalon to be a spiritual healing rather than the simple healing of his mortal body, which is an even more important type of healing!
So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
Revolving many memories, till the hull
Look’d one black dot against the verge of dawn,
And on the mere the wailing died away.
~In the final stanza, Bedivere watches the Barge leave with Arthur aboard. It is a bittersweet, yet hopeful, ending to the Arthurian legends. Arthur has been ferried away to Avalon and will be spiritually healed to await a time when he is needed again. I think we can even think of Arthur’s being ferried to Avalon and living there after being spiritually healed to be a journey into the mysteries, much like we can interpret the tale of Taliesin and Cerridwen’s chase as a mystery initiation!
~I hope you have enjoyed reading my interpretation of this beautiful poem by Tennyson. What is your favorite part of this poem? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services! I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon! Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/
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