Chapter X: Part I: What is the opening situation in the poem? Why have it a

stormy night? What does Tristram's question (l. 7) reveal of his condition physically and mentally? What is the office of the parts of the poem coming between the intervals of conversation? How is the wounded knight identified? How the lady? Follow the wanderings of the sleeping Tristram's mind. Are the incidents he speaks of in the order of their occurrence? Explain ll. 102-103; ll. 161-169. Tell the story of Tristram and Iseult of the White Hands. What is shown by the fact that Tristram's mind dwells on Iseult of Ireland even at the time of battle? How account for his wanderings? For his morose frame of mind? What change has come over nature when Tristram awakes? Why this change? What is his mood now? Account for his addressing Iseult of Brittany as he does. Why his order for her to retire? What is her attitude toward him? Note the manner in which the children are introduced into the story (ll. 324-325) PART II. Give the opening situation. Discuss the meeting of Tristram and Iseult. What is revealed by their conversation? What is the purpose in introducing the Huntsman on the arras? PART III. What is the purpose of ll. 1-4? Give the opening situation in Part III. How is Iseult trying to entertain her children? What kind of a life does she lead? Discuss ll. 112-150 as to meaning and connection with the theme of the poem. Tell the story of Merlin and Vivian. Why introduced? Compare Arnold's version of the story of Tristram and Iseult with the version given in the introductory note to the poem.

[176]
THE CHURCH OF BROU

I. THE CASTLE

The church of Brou is actually located in a treeless Burgundian plain, and not in the mountains, as stated by the poet.

=1. Savoy=. A mountainous district in eastern France; formerly one of the divisions of the Sardinian States.

=3. mountain-chalets=. Properly, herdsmen's huts in the mountains of Switzerland.

=17. prickers=. Men sent into the thickets to start the game.

=35. dais=. Here, a canopy or covering.

=69. erst=. See note, l. 42, _The Scholar-Gipsy_. ( Formerly. (Obsolete except in poetry.))

=71. chancel=. The part of a church in which the altar is placed.

=72. nave=. See note, ll. 70-76, _Epilogue to Lessing's Laocoön_.

=77. palmers=. Wandering religious votaries, especially those who bore branches of palm as a token that they had visited the Holy Land and its sacred places.

=109. fretwork=. Representing open woodwork.

II. THE CHURCH

=17. matin-chime=. Bells for morning worship.

=21. Chambery=. Capital of the department of Savoy Proper, on the Leysse.

=22. Dight=. See l. 277, _Sohrab and Rustum_. (Adorned, dressed.)

=37. chisell'd broideries=. The carved draperies of the tombs.

III. THE TOMB

=6. transept=. The transversal part of a church edifice, which crosses at right angles between the nave and the choir (the upper portion), thus giving to the building the form of a cross.

=39. foliaged marble forest=. Note the epithet. [177] =45. leads=. That is, the leaden roof. See l. 1, Part II. (Upon the glistening leaden roof).

REQUIESCAT

This poem, one of Arnold's best-known shorter lyrics, combines with perfect taste, simplicity and elegance, with the truest pathos. It has been said there is not a false note in it.

=13. cabin'd=. Used in the sense of being cramped for space.

=16. vasty=. Spacious, boundless.

What is the significance of strewing on the roses? Why "never a spray of yew"? (See note, l.140, _The Scholar-Gipsy.)_ What seems to be the author's attitude toward death? (Read his poem, _A Wish_.) Discuss the poem as to its lyrical qualities.

CONSOLATION

=14. Holy Lassa= (that is, Land of the Divine Intelligence), the capital city of Thibet and residence of the Dalai, or Grand Lama, the pontifical sovereign of Thibet and East Asia. Here is located the great temple of Buddha, a vast square edifice, surmounted by a gilded dome, the temple, together with its precincts, covering an area of many acres. Contiguous to it, on its four sides, are four celebrated monasteries, occupied by four thousand recluses, and resorted to as schools of the Buddhic religion and philosophy. There is, perhaps, no other one place in the world where so much gold is accumulated for superstitious purposes.

=17. Muses.= See note, l. 120, _The Strayed Reveller_.

=18. In their cool gallery=. That is, in the Vatican art gallery at Rome.

=19. yellow Tiber.= So called by the ancients because of the yellowish, muddy appearance of its waters. [178] =21. Strange unloved uproar.= At the time this poem was written,--1849,--the French army was besieging Rome.

=23. Helicon.= High mountain in Boeotia, legendary home of the Muses.

=32. Erst.= See note, l. 32, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.

=48. Destiny.= That is, Fate, the goddess of human destiny.

In what mood is the author at the opening of the poem? How does he seek consolation? How does the calm of the Muses affect him? Can you see how he might find help in dwelling on the pictures of the blind beggar and happy lovers? What is the final thought of the poem? Can you think of any other poem that has this as its central thought? What do you think of the author's philosophy of life as set forth in this poem? Discuss the verse form used.

LINES

WRITTEN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS

The Kensington Gardens form one of the many beautiful public parks of London. They are located in the Kensington parish, a western suburb of the city, lying north of the Thames and four miles west-southwest of St. Paul's. In his poem Arnold contrasts the serenity of nature with the restlessness of modern life. "Not Lucan, not Vergil, only Wordsworth, has more beautifully expressed the spirit of Pantheism."--HERBERT W. PAUL.

=4.= The pine trees here mentioned are since dead.

=14. What endless active life!= Compare with Arnold's sonnet of this volume, entitled _Quiet Work_, ll. 4-7 and 11-12.

=21. the huge world.= London.

=24. Was breathed on by rural Pan.= Note Arnold's classic way of accounting for his great love for nature, Pan being the nature god. See note, l. 67, _The Strayed Reveller_. [179] =37-42.= Compare the thought here presented with the following lines from Wordsworth:--

"These beauteous forms,
... have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye.
But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
... sensations sweet
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration."

Read also Wordsworth's _Lines to the Daffodil_.

What is the dominant mood of the poem? What evidently brought it to the author's mind? How does he show his interest in nature? In human beings? What inspiration does the author seek from nature, ll. 37-42? Explain the meaning of the last two lines.

THE STRAYED REVELLER

"I have such a love for these forms and this old Greek world, that perhaps I infuse a little soul into my dealings with them, which saves me from being entirely _ennuyx_, professorial and pedantic." (Matthew Arnold, in a letter to his sister, dated February, 1858.)

Circe, according to Greek mythology, was an enchantress, who dwelt in the island of Ææa, and who possessed the power to transform men into beasts. (See any mythological text on Ulysses' wanderings.) In Arnold's fantastic, visionary poem, the magic potion, by which this transformation is accomplished, affects not the body, but the mind of the youth.

=12. ivy-cinctured.= That is, girdled with ivy, symbolic of Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry, whose forehead was crowned with ivy. See also l. 33. [180]

=36. rout.= Consult dictionary.

=38. Iacchus.= In the Eleusinian mysteries, Bacchus bore the name of Iacchus. =fane.= A temple. From the Latin _fanum_, a place of worship dedicated to any deity.

=48. The lions sleeping.= As Ulysses' companions approached Circe's palace, following their landing on her island, they found themselves "surrounded by lions, tigers, and wolves, not fierce but tamed by Circe's art, for she was a powerful magician."

=67. Pan's flute music!= Pan, the god of pastures and woodlands, was the inventor of the syrinx, or shepherd's flute, with which he accompanied himself and his followers in the dance.

=71. Ulysses.= The celebrated hero of the Trojan war; also famous for his wanderings. One of his chief adventures, on his return voyage from Troy, was with the enchantress Circe, with whom he tarried a year, forgetful of his faithful wife, Penelope, at home.

=72. Art.= That is, are you. (Now used only in solemn or poetic style.)

=73. range.= Wander aimlessly about.

=74. See what the day brings.= That is, the youth. See ll. 24-52

=81. Nymphs.= Goddesses of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters, belonging to the lower rank of deities.

=102-107.= Compare in thought with Tennyson's poem, _Ulysses_.

=110. The favour'd guest of Circe.= Ulysses. See note, l. 71.

=120. Muses.= Daughters of Jupiter and Minemosyne, nine in number. According to the earliest writers the Muses were only the inspiring goddesses of song; but later they were looked to as the divinities presiding over the different kinds of poetry, and over the arts and sciences. [181] =130-135.= Note the poet's device for presenting a series of mental pictures. Compare with Tennyson's plan in his _Palace of Art_. Does Arnold's plan seem more or less mechanical than Tennyson's?

=135-142. Tiresias.= The blind prophet of =Thebes= (l. 142), the chief city in Boeotia, near the river =Asopus= (l. 138). In his youth, Tiresias unwittingly came upon Athene while she was bathing, and was punished by the loss of sight. As a recompense for this misfortune, the goddess afterward gave him knowledge of future events. The inhabitants of Thebes looked to Tiresias for direction in times of war.

=143. Centaurs.= Monsters, half man, half horse.

=145. Pelion.= A mountain in eastern Thessaly, famous in Greek mythology. In the war between the giants and the gods, the former, in their efforts to scale the heavens, piled Ossa upon Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa.

=151-161.= What in these lines enables you to determine the people and country alluded to?

=162-167. Scythian ... embers.= The ancient Greek term for the nomadic tribes inhabiting the whole north and northeast Europe and Asia. As a distinct people they built no cities, and formed no general government, but wandered from place to place by tribes, in their rude, covered carts (see l. 164), living upon the coarsest kind of food (ll. 166-167).

=177-180. Clusters of lonely mounds, etc.= That is, ruins of ancient cities.

=183. Chorasmian stream.= See note, l. 878, _Sohrab and Rustum_.

=197. milk-barr'd onyx-stones.= A reference to the white streaks, or bars, common to the onyx.

=206. Happy Islands.= Mythical islands lying far to the west, the abode of the heroes after death.

=220. Hera's anger.= Hera (or Juno), wife to Jupiter, was noted for her violent temper and jealousy. She is here represented as visiting punishment upon the bard, perhaps out of jealousy of the gods who had endowed him with poetic power, and his life, thus afflicted, seems lengthened to seven ages. [182]

=228-229. Lapithæ.= In Greek legends, a fierce Thessalian race, governed by Pirothous, a half-brother to the Centaurs. =Theseus.= The chief hero of Attica, who, according to tradition, united the several tribes of Attica into one state, with Athens as the capital. His life was filled with adventure. The reference here is to the time of the marriage of Pirothous and Hippodamia, on which occasion the Centaurs, who were among the guests, became intoxicated, and offered indignities to the bride. In the fight that followed, Theseus joined with the Lapithæ, and many of the Centaurs were slain.

=231. Alcmena's dreadful son.= Hercules. On his expedition to capture the Arcadian boar, his third labor, Hercules became involved in a broil with the Centaurs, and in self-defence slew several of them with his arrows.

=245. Oxus stream.= See note, l. 2, _Sohrab and Rustum_.

=254. Heroes.= The demigods of mythology.

=257. Troy.= The capital of Troas, Asia Minor; the seat of the Trojan war.

=254-260.= Shortly after the close of the Trojan war, a party of heroes from all parts of Greece, many of whom had participated in the expeditions against Thebes and Troy, set out under the leadership of Jason to capture the Golden Fleece. Leaving the shores of Thessaly, the adventurers sailed eastward and finally came to the entrance of the =Euxine Sea= (the =unknown sea=, l. 260), which was guarded by the Clashing Islands. Following the instructions of the sage Phineus, Jason let fly a dove between the islands, and at the moment of rebound the expedition passed safely through. The ship in which the adventurers sailed was called the Argo, after its builder, Argus; hence our term Argonauts. [183] =261. Silenus.= A divinity of Asiatic origin; foster-father to Bacchus and leader of the =Fauns= (l. 265), satyr-like divinities, half man, half goat, sometimes represented in art as hearing torches (l. 274).

=275. Mænad.= A bacchante,--a priestess or votary of Bacchus.

=276. Faun with torches.= See note, l. 261.

What is the situation at the beginning of the poem? What effect does the "liquor" have upon the youth? Why is the presence of Ulysses so much in harmony with the situation? How does he greet Circe; how the youth? What does his presence suggest to the latter? Why? Note the vividness of the pictures he describes; also the swiftness with which he changes from one to another. What power is ascribed to the poet? Why his "pain"? What effect is gained by closing the poem with the same words with which it is opened? Why the irregular verse used?

DOVER BEACH

In this poem is expressed the peculiar turn of Arnold's mind, at once religious and sceptical, philosophical and emotional. It is one of his most passionate interpretations of life.

=15. Sophocles= (495-406 B.C.). One of the three great tragic poets of Greece. His rivals were Æschylus (526-456 B.C.) and Euripides (486-406 B.C.).

=16. Ægean Sea.= See note, l. 236, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.

* * * * *

Image the scene in the opening stanzas. What is the author's mood? Why does he call some one to look on the scene with him? What is the "eternal note of sadness"? Why connect it in thought with the sea? Why does this thought suggest Sophocles? What thought next presents itself to the author's mind? From what source must one's help and comfort then be drawn? Why so? Why the irregular versification? State the theme of the poem. [184]

PHILOMELA

"Philomela unites the sensibilities and intellectual experience of modern Englishmen with the luminousness and simplicity of Greek poetry."--SAINTSBURY.

The myth of the nightingale has long been a favorite with the poets, who have variously interpreted the bird's song. See Coleridge's, Keats's, and Wordsworth's poems on the subject. The most common version of the myth, the one followed by Arnold, is as follows:--

"Pandion (son of Erichthonius, special ward to Minerva) had two daughters, Procne and Philomela, of whom he gave the former in marriage to Tereus, king of Thrace (or of Daulis in Phocis). This ruler, after his wife had borne him a son, Itys (or Itylus), wearied of her, plucked out her tongue by the roots to insure her silence, and, pretending that she was dead, took in marriage the other sister, Philomela. Procne, by means of a web, into which she wove her story, informed Philomela of the horrible truth. In revenge upon Tereus, the sisters killed Itylus, and served up the child as food to the father; but the gods, in indignation, transformed Procne into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale, forever bemoaning the murdered Itylus, and Tereus into a hawk, forever pursuing the sisters."--GAYLEY'S _Classic Myths_.

=4.= Use the subjoined questions in studying the poem.

=5. O wanderer from a Grecian shore.= See note, l. 27.

=8.= Note the aptness and beauty of the adjectives in this line, not one of which could be omitted without irreparable loss.

=18. Thracian wild.= Thrace was the name used by the early Greeks for the entire region north of Greece. [185] =21. The too clear web=, etc. See introductory note to poem for explanation of this and the following lines.

=27. Daulis.= A city of Phocis, Greece, twelve miles northeast of Delphi; the scene of the myth of Philomela. =Cephessian vale.= The valley of the Cephissus, a small stream running through Doris, Phocis, and Boeotia, into the Euboean Gulf.

=29. How thick the bursts=, etc. Compare with the following lines from
Coleridge:--

"'Tis the merry nightingale
That crowds and hurries and precipitates
With fast, thick warble his delicious notes,
As he were fearful that an April night
Would be too short for him to utter forth
His love-chant, and disburthen his full soul
Of all its music!"
--_The Nightingale_.

Also

"O Nightingale! thou surely art
A creature of a 'fiery heart':--
These notes of thine--they pierce and pierce;
Tumultuous harmony and fierce!
Thou sing'st as if the god of wine
Had helped thee to a Valentine."
--WORDSWORTH.

=31-32. Eternal passion!
Eternal pain!= Compare:--

"Thou warblest sad thy pity-pleading strains."
--COLERIDGE, _To a Nightingale_.

and

"Sweet bird ...
Most musical, most melancholy!"
--MILTON, _Il Penseroso_.

Image the scene in the poem. How does the author secure the proper atmosphere for the theme of the poem? Account for the note of triumph in the nightingale's song; note of pain. What is shown by the poet's question, ll. 10-15? What new qualities are added to the nightingale's song, l. 25? Account for them. Why _eternal_ passion, _eternal_ pain? Do you feel the form of verse used (Pindaric blank) to be adapted to the theme? [186]

HUMAN LIFE

=4. kept uninfringed my nature's law.= That is, have lived a perfect life.

=5. inly-written chart.= The conscience.

=8. incognisable.= Not to be comprehended by finite mind.

=23. prore.= Poetical word for _prow_, the fore part of a ship.

=27. stem.= Consult dictionary.

What important incident in the destiny of the soul is alluded to in stanza 1? Interpret ll. 13-14, and apply to your own experience. Why cannot we live "chance's fool"? Is there any hint of fatalism in the poem, or are we held accountable for our own destiny?

ISOLATION

TO MARGUERITE, ON RETURNING A VOLUME OF THE LETTERS OF ORTIS

This poem, the fifth in a loosely connected group of lyrics, under the general name _Switzerland_, is a continuation of the preceding poem, _Isolation--to Marguerite_, and is properly entitled, _To Marguerite--Continued_. When printed separately, the above title is used.

Jacopo Ortis was a pseudonym of the Italian poet, Ugo Foscolo. His _Ultime Lettere di Ortis_ was translated into the English in 1818.

[187]
=1. Yes!= Used in answer to the closing thought of the preceding poem.

=7. moon.= Note the frequency with which reference to the moon, with its light effects, appears in Arnold's lines. Can you give any reason for this?

=24.= Mr. Herbert W. Paul, commenting on this line, says: "_Isolation_ winds up with one of the great poetic phrases of the century--one of the 'jewels five (literally five) words long' of English verse--a phrase complete and final, with epithets in unerring cumulation."

Give the poem's theme. To what is each individual likened? Discuss l.2 as to meaning. In what sense do we live "alone," l.4? Why "endless bounds," l.6? How account for the feeling of despair, l.13? Answer the questions asked in the last stanza. In what frame of mind does the poem leave you?

KAISER DEAD

APRIL 6, 1887

Arnold's love for animals, especially his household pets, was most sincere. Despite the playful irony of his poem, there is in the minor key an undertone of genuine sorrow. "We have just lost our dear, dear mongrel, Kaiser," he wrote in a letter dated from his home in Cobham, Kent, April 7, 1887, "and we are very sad." The poem was written the following July, and was published in the _Fortnightly Review_ for that month.

=2. Cobham.= See note above.

=3. Farringford,= in the Isle of Wight, was the home of Lord Tennyson.

=5. Pen-bryn's bold bard.= Sir Lewis Morris, author of the _Epic of Hades_, lived at Pen-bryn, in Caermarthanshire. [188] =11-12.= In Burns's poem, _Poor Mailie's Elegy_, occur the following lines:--

"Come, join the melancholious croon
O' Robin's reed."

=20. Potsdam.= The capital of the government district of Potsdam, in the province of Brandenburg, Prussia; hence the dog's name, _Kaiser_.

=41. the Grand Old Man.= Gladstone.

=50. agog.= In a state of eager excitement.

=65. Geist.= Also remembered in a poem entitled _Geist's Grave_, included in this volume.

=76. chiel.= A Scotch word meaning lad, fellow.

"Buirdly _chiels_ an clever hizzies."
--BURNS, _The Twa Dogs_.

=Skye.= The largest of the Inner Hebrides. See note, l. 7, _Saint Brandan_.

THE LAST WORD

In this poem Arnold describes the plight of one engaged in a hopeless struggle against an uncompromising, Philistine world too strong for him.

State the central thought in the poem. To whom is it addressed? What is the _narrow bed_, l. 1? Why give up the struggle? With whom has it been waged? Explain fully l. 4. What is implied in l. 6? What is meant by _ringing shot_, l. 11? Who are the victors, l. 14? What would they probably say on finding the body near the wall? Can you think of any historical characters of whom the poem might aptly have been written?

[189]
PALLADIUM

At the time of the Trojan war there was in the citadel of Troy a celebrated statue of Pallas Athene, called the Palladium. It was reputed to have fallen from heaven as the gift of Zeus, and the belief was that the city could not be taken so long as this statue remained within it. Ulysses and Diomedes, two of the Greek champions, succeeded in entering the city in disguise, stole the Palladium and carried it off to the besiegers' camp at Argos. It was some time, however, before the city fell.

=1. Simois.= A small river of the Troad which takes its rise in the rocky, wooded eminence which, according to Greek tradition, formed the acropolis of Troy. The Palladium was set up on its banks near its source, in a temple especially erected for it (l. 6), and from this lofty position was supposed to watch over the safety of the city and her defenders on the plains below.

=3. Hector.= Hector, son of Priam, king of Troy (Ilium), and his wife, Hecuba, was the leader and champion of the Trojan armies. He distinguished himself in numerous single combats with the ablest of the Greek heroes; and to him was principally due the stubborn defence of the Trojan capital. He was finally slain by Achilles, aided by Athene, and his body dragged thrice around the walls of Troy behind the chariot of his conqueror.

=14. Xanthus.= The Scamander, the largest and most celebrated river of the Troad, near which Troy was situated, was presided over by a deity known to the gods as Xanthus. His contest with Achilles, whom he so nearly overwhelmed, forms a notable incident of the _Iliad_.

=15. Ajax, or Aiax.= One of the leading Greek heroes in the siege of Troy, famous for his size, physical strength, and beauty. In bravery and feats of valor he was second only to Achilles. Not being awarded the armor of Achilles after that hero's death, he slew himself. [190] =16.= Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, was celebrated for her beauty, by reason of which frequent references are made to her by both classic and modern writers. Goethe introduces her in the second part of _Faust_, and Faustus, in Marlowe's play of that name, addresses her thus:--

"Oh! thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars."

Her abduction by Paris, son of Priam (see note, l. 3), was the cause of the Trojan war, the most notable incident of Greek mythology, which forms the theme of Homer's greatest poem, the _Iliad_.

What is the central thought of the poem? Of what is the Palladium typical? Explain the thought in stanza 3. What is the force of the references of stanza 4? Discuss the use of the words "rust" and "shine," l. 17. Just what is meant by "soul" as the word is used in the poem?

SELF-DEPENDENCE

_Self-Dependence_ is a poem in every respect characteristic of its author. In it Arnold exhorts mankind to seek refuge from human troubles in the example of nature.

Picture the situation in the poem. What is the poet's mood as shown in the opening stanzas? From what source does he seek aid? Why? What answer does he receive? What is the source of nature's repose? Where and how must the human soul find its contentment?

[191]
GEIST'S GRAVE

This poem appeared in the January number of the _Fortnightly Review_ for 1881.

=12. homily.= Sermon.

=15. the Virgilian cry.= _Sunt lacrimæ rerum!_ These words are interpreted in the following line.

=42. On lips that rarely form them now.= Arnold wrote but little poetry after 1867.

=55-56. thine absent master.= Richard Penrose Arnold, the poet's only surviving son.