NOTES TO THE POEMS
But evermore ^ the queens and the ladies wept and
shrieked, that it was pitiful for to hear them : and, as
soon as Sir Bedivere had lost the sight of the barge, he
wept and wailed, and so took the forest, and so he went
all the night."
P. 40, 1. 6. Table : the Round Table, at which sat King
Arthur's knights.
1. 7. Lyonesse: the land (now submerged) west of
Gamelot whence Arthur was supposed to have come.
1. 24. Camelot: a legendary place in England where
Arthur was said to have his palace and court.
1. 26. Merlin : the wizard who guided Arthur's fortunes.
P. 41, 1. 5. Samite : silk.
L n. Middle mere : the middle of the lake.
1. 12. Lightly : quickly.
1. 34. Dividing the swift mind : hesitating.
P. 42,1. 10. Betrayed thy . . . name: Bedivere, Lat. verus, true.
1.12. Fealty: fidelity, loyalty.
1. 17. Lief: dear.
P. 43, 1. 10. Conceit: imagination, idea.
P. 44, 1. 2. The northern morn : the Aurora Borealis.
P. 45, L 35. Casque : helmet.
P. 46, 1. 6. Greaves: armour for the legs (below the knee).
Cuisses : armour for the thighs.
P. 47,1. 13. Avilion: Avalon, the legendary " island of the
blest," the supposed abode near Glastonbury of King
Arthur. Tennyson calls it Avilion (*e the apple island * *).
The Lady ofShnlott.
Shalott: a secluded island in which the action of the
poem takes place.
P. 47,1. 31. Camelot: See Note on " Morte d' Arthur "
above, P. 40,1. 24.
P. 48, 1. 17. Shallop : a light open boat.
P. 50, 1. 9. Sir Lancelot: the most famous of the Knights
of the Round Table.
L 16. The Golden Galaxy : the Milky Way.
--*
Herve Kiel
Robert Browning (1812-1889) began his poetic career
with "Pauline" (1833), written under the influence
of Shelley. •" Paracelsus " (1835) followed. His work
gradually became more dramatic in intention, with
" Strafford " and other dramas, " Dramatic Lyrics "
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