NOTES TO THE POEMS
of women, and " In Memoriam " (1850) with religious
problems. Tennyson's poetry at its finest approaches
the poetry of Virgil in perfection of language and
emotional effect, and his acute powers of observation
are reflected in the accuracy of his descriptions and
character-studies. Tennyson is perhaps at his best
in his lyrics, such as those in " The Princess," and in
dramatic monologues, like " Ulysses," or poems like
the ode " To Virgil " or " The Lotos-Eaters," where
an atmosphere has to be created. His limitations—
a straining, at times over-conscious, after effective ex-
pression, a vein of sentimentality, and a limited power
of purely original thought—explain the decline which
he has suffered from his first enthusiastic popularity.
In the Morte (T Arthur King Arthur had been mortally
wounded in his last battle, and was now attended only
by the last of his knights. Sir Bedivere. The following is
Malory's account on which Tennyson's poem is based:—
" c But my time hieth fast,' said King Arthur unto
Sir Bedivere, * therefore take thou Excalibur, my good
sword, and go with it unto yonder water-side ; and
when thou comest there, I charge thee, throw my
sword into that water, and come again and tell me
what thou shalt see there.' ' My lord,' said Sir Bedi-
vere, * your command shall be done, and lightly bring
you word again.' And so Sir Bedivere departed,
and by the way he beheld that noble sword, where
the pommel and the haft were all of precious stones.
And then he said to himself, * If I throw this rich
sword into the water, thereof shall never come good,
but harm and loss.' And then Sir Bedivere hid
Excalibur under a tree, and as soon as he might, he
came again unto King Arthur, and said he had been
at the water, and had thrownjthe sword into the
water. ' What sawest thou there ? ' said the king.
6 Sir,' said he, * I saw nothing but waves and wind.'
6 That is untruly said of thee,' said King Arthur,
' therefore go thou lightly and do my command^ as
thou art to me lief and dear, spare not but throw it in.'
Then Sir Bedivere returned again, and took the sword
in his hand ; and then he thought it sin and shame
to throw away that noble sword ; and so after he hid
the sword, and returned again, and told to the king
that he had been at the water and done his command.
* What saw ye there ? ' said the King. ' Sir/ said^s..—,
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