Chapter VIII: How to Read Fiction (3)

VI. _Good Lessons._ Through all the fun, the burlesque, the amusing exaggerations and the bombastic humor runs a scheme of advice and instruction. Sometimes it takes the form of a direct caution to the reader, again it may be shown by inference, and lastly the events speak for themselves and give their own lesson. The author meant to teach adults as well as children. The graphic history of the Doasyoulikes is rather a clear-cut study in degeneracy for older people, as well as a lively warning for youngsters. But what is the author's main theme? Is his real text in the advice the poor Irishwoman gives to Grimes and Tom? "_Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish to be foul, foul they will be. Remember._" (page 225). Perhaps a second text or at least a corollary to this is expressed in the name of the cuddly lady, Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. This may mean the same as the advice she gives on page 328: "_Those who go there must go first where they do not like, and do what they do not like, and help somebody they do not like._" Besides these leading ideas there are several others that run through the story. Meanness and wickedness are made unattractive and bring punishment. The punishment grows logically out of the offense and has a direct relation to the misdeed. Persons are not rewarded for their good deeds but they are happy in being good. It is not a credit to do right, but wrongdoing is discreditable. Little meannesses stand in the way of happiness though they may not bring any definite punishments. Evil is ugliness, goodness is beauty. Friendship is made attractive and filial love is strongly inculcated. The strong appeal made to the sympathy of the reader by the very real and very human Tom, the chimney sweep, is a strong influence for good, and progress toward character in the clever little water baby is a continuous refining influence on the reader.

The bits of advice, the little asides, are slipped into the text so naturally that they are never repulsive or calculated to raise antagonism in the minds of those who naturally dislike advice. Taken from the text they seem more formal and less helpful, but here are a few of them as illustrations:

"Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times."

"You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if you live such a life as a man ought to live."

"Ah, first thoughts are best, and a body's heart'll guide them right, if they will but hearken to it."

"It was not quite well bred, no doubt; but you know, Tom had not finished his education yet."

"For salmon, like other true gentlemen, always choose their lady and love her, and are true to her, and take care of her, and work for her, and fight for her, as every true gentleman ought."

"What has been once can never come over again."

"No more to be bought for money than a good conscience or the Victoria cross."

"You see, experience is of very little good unless a man, or a lobster, has wit enough to make use of it."

"It is not good for little boys to be told everything, and never to be forced to use their own wits."

"And so if you do not know that things are wrong, that is no reason why you should not be punished for them; though not as much, my little man (and the lady looked very kindly, after all), as if you did know."

"I am quite sure that she knows best. Perhaps she wishes people to learn to keep their fingers out of the fire by having them burned."

"I always forgive people the minute they tell me the truth of their own accord."

"But even they were no foolisher than some hundred scores of papas and mamas; who fetch the rod when they ought to fetch a new toy, and send to the dark cupboard instead of to a doctor."

VII. _Life-like Characters._ The great storyteller makes his characters seem like human beings. The reader can almost see them; at any rate, he feels that he knows them and that they are real, not merely life-like. It is hard to understand how the author accomplishes the wonderful feat (for it is the most wonderful thing about story writing), and it is much more difficult to tell how it is done. One word here, a clear descriptive phrase there, and Tom, or the Squire, or the old schoolmistress, or Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid with her awkward name, has become so much of a personality that you cannot forget if you would. Certainly one of the fine things about _Tom, the Water Baby_ is the living reality of its characters, which appeals universally to young and old, even in the first reading of the story.

VIII. _The Writer's Art._ It will add something to a child's interest in the story if his attention is called to the skilful way in which Kingsley handles his plot. It is high _art_ to throw into the early part of the story the conversation between the keeper and Grimes. It shows that Grimes is a poacher and known to be one. The keeper is inclined to wink at the offense, but still he feels that a warning is necessary. Nothing more is said about poaching till much later, where Tom, the Water Baby, sees Grimes meet a poacher's death.

Again, it is early evident that Grimes has done other wicked things and that the poor Irishwoman knows of one at least. She even mentions Vendale, but the reader attaches no importance to it. Tom flees to Vendale and is pitied and kindly treated by the old Schoolmistress, but it is not until Tom finds Grimes suffering his punishment in the chimney flues that the reader learns what the poor Irishwoman knew about Grimes, and that the schoolmistress was Grimes's poor ill-treated mother.

Once more, Kingsley's art is seen in the selection of incidents and the arrangement of influences which bring to Tom the conviction of his dirtiness and create in him the overpowering desire to be clean.

But this interpretation of _Tom, the Water Baby_ has already reached the limits of space and we must forego the pleasure of pointing out other examples of artistic treatment. Probably it is better to leave the story to plead its own cause.

_The Passing of Arthur_

(Volume V, page 237)

While the outline differs in form from those we have been using, it is a helpful variation, and shows that while a narrative poem must be studied first in the same manner as a story, there are still other points that need careful examination.

Tennyson's _The Passing of Arthur_ is one of the noble things in literature, solemn, impressive, inspiring. In order to appreciate a careful study of it, one should have read at least those selections which appear in the fifth volume, beginning with page 113 and extending to page 236. With this preliminary setting there should be no difficulty in feeling a sufficient interest in King Arthur to be appreciative of Tennyson's work from the very beginning.

a. _Characters._ Three characters appear in this poem, viz: King Arthur; Sir Bedivere, the knight first made and last surviving of all those who sat about King Arthur's table; Modred, Arthur's traitorous nephew. Besides these three human characters, the ghost of Gawain, the three queens who came in the barge, and even Excalibur itself are of so much interest that they may be considered as almost human.

King Arthur is shown in his old age, when wife and friend are traitor to his peace, and all his realm has sunk back into disorder and is rapidly approaching extinction.

Bedivere, oldest of the knights, now in the white winter of his age, when he himself was really no more than a voice, is supposed to tell the story to those with whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds.

Modred is seen retreating league by league before King Arthur. At Lyonnesse, after a fierce battle in which confusion reigned and friends and foes were shadows in the mist, he meets his king. The false knight strikes Arthur hard upon the helmet, and gives the wound that finally proves fatal; while the king, with the last stroke of Excalibur, slays his traitorous nephew.

The dead Gawain appears, a ghost blown along a wandering wind, and on the eve of the battle warns King Arthur of approaching death, but intimates that somewhere is an isle of rest for him.

b. _The Incidents._
1. Arthur mourns for his departed kingdom.

2. Gawain warns Arthur of his approaching death; Arthur is depressed
by the warning.

3. Bedivere warns Arthur that he must rise and conquer Modred;
Arthur hesitates to make war against his people.

4. He moves his host to Lyonnesse: the last weird battle is fought.

5. Arthur thinks himself king only among the dead.

6. Bedivere professes affection, and calls Arthur's attention to the
traitor, Modred.

7. The king promises one last act of kinghood.

8. Modred wounds the king; the king kills Modred.

9. Bedivere carries the wounded Arthur to the ruined chapel.

10. The dying Arthur directs Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the
mere; Bedivere twice deceives Arthur and is twice reproved.

11. Bedivere throws Excalibur into the mere, and tells King Arthur
what happened.

12. Bedivere bears Arthur to the margin of the mere.

13. The three black-hooded queens with crowns of gold come in the
dusky barge.

14. Arthur is placed in the barge and speaks his last words to
Bedivere; the barge moves swan-like from the brink.

15. Bedivere watches the speck that bears the king move down the long
water opening on the deep.

c. _Scenes._
1. Arthur in his tent among the slumbering host.

2. The march to the sunset bound of Lyonnesse, and the moving
pageant to the battlefield.

3. The dark strait of barren land with the ocean on one side and on
the other the great water; the ruined chapel with its broken
chancel and broken cross, and, near at hand, the place of tombs
with its bones of ancient mighty men; athwart all shines the
moon, and over all the chill wind with flakes of foam sings
shrilly. Zigzag paths lead around jutting points of rock down to
the shining levels of the lake, where the ripple washes softly in
the reeds, the wild water laps the crags, and many-knotted
water-flags whistle stiff and dry. Frozen hills, barren chasms
with icy caves, the bare black cliff and slippery crag wall, and
the level lake gleaming in the glories of the winter moon.

d. _Descriptive Passages._ Besides those passages which relate especially to the scenes, there are other beautiful and powerful bits of description that will well repay examination. For instance:

1. Of King Arthur's dream the poet says,

"And fainter onward, like wild birds that change
Their season in the night and wail their way
From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream
Shrill'd."

Note the figure of speech (simile), beginning with the word
_like_.

2. The description of the last, dim, weird battle in the west,
beginning at the bottom of page 240 with the line "A death-white
mist slept over land and sea," is one of the most stirring things
in the poem, and deserves particularly close reading. The
pictures are crowded, the figures vivid, the phrases full of
force.

3. Tennyson has used his highest art in the composition, and makes
the sound of his lines imitate in no feeble way the noise of
battle. For instance:

"Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn,
Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash
Of battle-axes on shatter'd helms, and shrieks
After the Christ, of those who falling down
Look'd up for heaven, and only saw the mist."

4. The brilliancy of description corresponds well with the
glittering marvel of Excalibur:

"For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work
Of subtlest jewelry."

".....the wonder of the hilt,
How curiously and strangely chased,"

"The great brand
Made lightnings in the splendor 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."

5. King Arthur, as he lay in the barge with his weary head upon the
lap of the fairest and tallest of the three queens, is described
as follows:

"a brow
Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white
And colorless, 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 dais-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."

_e. Character Study_--King Arthur. The best estimate of King Arthur's character is made from his own words and those of Bedivere, not from Tennyson's description.

1. He has been a devout man. He has fought for Christ and searched
for Christ and

"found Him in the shining of the stars,
Mark'd Him in the flowering of His fields."

2. He is now discouraged. He has not found Him in His ways with men,
and now it seems to him,

"As if some lesser god had made the world,
But had not force to shape it as he would."

"My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death."

3. Yet he is hopeful, and he feels that perchance the world is
wholly fair, and that his doubts come because he has not the
power to see it as it is, and may not see it to the close.

4. He desires to be just, and feels that in the coming battle in the
west he may not have the right on his side:

"Ill doom is mine
To war against my people and my knights.
The king who fights his people fights himself."

5. Yet courage and confidence are not all gone:

"Yet let us hence, and find or feel a way
Thro' this blind haze."

6. After the battle, he grows more confused:

"I know not what I am,
Nor whence I am, nor whether I be King.
Behold, I seem but King among the dead."

7. He must be noble, kingly, to have inspired such devotion as
Bedivere shows. Hear what the latter says:

"My King,
King everywhere! and so the dead have kings,
There also will I worship thee as King."

8. He is a warrior to the last. Listen to his reply to Bedivere:

"King am I, whatsoever be their cry;
And one last act of kinghood shalt thou see
Yet, ere I pass."

9. He is resigned: "Let what will be, be."

10. He is faithful to the trust imposed upon him when he acquired
Excalibur. Three times he sends Bedivere to cast the sword into
the mere. The last time he says:

"But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
I will arise and slay thee with my hands."

11. He loves truth and reveres it:

"This is a shameful thing for men to lie."

12. Though he appears to fear death, rather is his fear that he shall
die before he reaches the water where he expects something.

13. At the last his philosophy bears him up, though still he calls
for devotion from his faithful knight. The whole speech is
matchless. Note these fine passages:

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils himself in many ways."

"And that which I have done
May He within himself make pure!"

"More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day."

"The whole round earth is everyway
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."

14. His faith rises triumphant:

"I am going a long way ...
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."

_f. Beauty._ All the elements of poetic beauty join to make _The Passing of Arthur_ a masterpiece. Sublime sentiment thrills through the stanzas. A stately meter gives a solemn, rhythmic swing to the noble lines. Sonorous words add to the grandeur. Apt phrases and beautiful figures of speech seize the imagination and enchain the fancy. Rare and choice diction gives artistic finish to every sentence.

Most beautiful are such phrases as the following:

"The phantom circle of a moaning sea."

"Some whisper of the seething sea."

"Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful."

"Let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day."

"And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
As in a picture."

"Clothed with his breath."

"A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars."

Note how the following phrases give color to the poem:

"that day when the great light of heaven
Burn'd at his lowest in the rolling year."

"Among the mountains by the winter sea."

"The winter moon,
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud."

Observe the pictorial power of these quotations:

"Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight."

"Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand."

"One black dot against the verge of dawn."

Most forceful are the following phrases:

"And the days darken round me, and the years,
Among new men, strange faces, other minds."

"From the great deep to the great deep he goes."

"Authority forgets a dying king."

"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."

There never was a more beautiful comparison than the following:

"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."

FOOTNOTES:

[189-1] _Haec fabula docet_ means _This fable teaches_. It is with these words that the "Morals" of the old Latin fables begin.