5 November 2026
(24 June 2016) In Tuesday’s post from Tennyson’s “Morte D’Arthur,” the brave Sir Bedivere finally did as King Arthur had commanded, casting the sword into the lake from whence it came; this week, we see Bedivere answering Arthur’s question, reporting what he saw:
And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
“Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
Not tho’ I live three lives of mortal men,
So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
But when I look’d again, behold an arm,
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish’d him
Three times, and drew him under in the mere.”
And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
“My end draws nigh; ‘t is time that I were gone.
Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die.”
So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
Remorsefully regarded thro’ his tears,
And would have spoken, but he found not words,
Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
O’er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
And rising bore him thro’ the place of tombs.
I always find it significant the Bedivere tells his king the he “closed his eyes” so the swords pretty hilt did not again beguile him. His answer satisfies the king, and now he asks his loyal knight to take him to the lake, for across the waters lies Avalon, and Arthur worries that he will die before he can reach there. On Saturday, we will continue with this poem of Tennyson, going with Arthur and Bedivere to the mystic lake. Until then, good reading!
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