Idylls of the king; (edition 1939)

As usual, I thought right up there the short story of Balin, who is to blame for his own tragedy ('My violences, my violences!').

Darker than I had expected and gutsier. I think I decided to read this at last after I saw a book on Tennyson's battle poetry. How he wrote 54 battle poems and had a genuine feel for the 'heroic ethos' of ancient fiction to which he was devoted. Fair enough, I thought. Tried a couple of short ones: his Boadicea is as bloody as she came, and I throbbed to 'The Revenge: a Ballad of the Fleet'. I even felt the tribute in his Ode on Wellington.

I think he's a gorgeous poet, on the whole, although I'd make cuts. The guy can write.

Arthur is his hero, and not Lancelot. This isn't the courtly love version, but the version where a self-indulgent love corrupts a heroic kingdom. Arthur's certainly a fighting king against pagans. Give him a pagan, he can let loose without qualms and soar with the sword.

The comedy can be faux-medieval -- I mean you think of those silly films in tights, but perhaps comedy wasn't his forte. I expect tragedy is, and melancholy.

Again, I'll have Balin, ten pages of him, gut-wrenchingly tragic and very darkly done. But I'd say that about Malory's Balin. Which proves to me Tennyson was awake to the old authentic stuff, though he's often condemned for Victorian. ( )

Book dated 1876 with inscript Oct 1881, Book has lost its cover. ( )

A venture of epic poetry, this is Alfred Lord Tennyson's take on the Arthurian legends. An incredible read in its own right, when taken in relation to Malory, Tennyson's work highlights the passion, tragedy, and Romanticism that sometimes was left at a simmer in Malory's work. Tennyson's work is more 'fantastic' than Malory's, and his descriptions of Camelot are as awe inspiring for the reader as they are for the characters he follows. For those familiar with Malory, Tennyson does not parallel the tales Malory depicts but rather has his own interpretations to suit his goal in describing the tragic emotional arc of the fall of Camelot. Though I would not consider myself an expert in poetry, I have read quite a few epic pieces, and this is a monumental work with a humanisitic focus, anchoring its place among the timeless classics, such as Homer's 'Illiad'. Whether you are a fan of Malory, or Arthurian legend in general, this should be part of your collection. ( )

Tennyson's epic poem is required reading for anyone interested in the mythology of King Arthur. ( )

Tennyson, unhappy in school, early recognized a beauty and significance in epic poetry, reciting Pope's Homer's 'Iliad' at the age of nine, improvising a la Walter Scott by ten, and composing his own epic by the age of twelve, largely in his father's excellent library.[8] The Arthurian romances made a deep impression. [33] By the age of 24, Tennyson began the work of poetrifying the drama of King Arthur, although it took many years --decades-- of preparation.
There are four character studies of women, comprising four "Idylls" of the King (!): Elaine, tender and innocent, in contrast with Vivien, crafty and wicked. Enid, the faithful wife, in contrast with Guinevere, who strays.
But the work goes far beyond character, into an epic surrounding the great figure of Arthur himself, warring in some way between sense and spirit, struggling with his own nature against his own ideals. Tennyson intended this allegory in the tale: "New-old, and shadowing Sense at war with Soul/...one touched by the adulterous finger of a time/ That hover'd between war and wantonness,/ And crownings and dethronements." [37]
With quite helpful Notes, and a Glossary which cites back to the text where the defined word is used. ( )