THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL

ACCORDING to friends of James Russell

Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal was composed in forty-eight hours under a "spell of poetic transport." The poem was written in 1848, published in a thin hand-book, and at once sprang wildly into popular favor. This was a day of fierce opposition to slavery. Lowell's soul burned with zeal for reform. In a letter to a friend, in 1846, he said,

"Then it seems as if my heart would break in pouring out one glorious song that should be the gospel of reform. . . That way my madness lies, if any."

The study of the poem is simplified by noticing the story within the story. The primary story deals with the real Sir Launfal who, in a night, dreams the secondary story, the Vision proper. The primary story covers but a night. The secondary story covers a lifetime in which the imaginary Sir Launfal, through wanderings, deprivations, and untold sufferings, experiences a refinement of soul that fits him to reflect the spirit of the lowly Nazarene.

The following note was prefixed to the first

edition by the author, and was retained by him in all subsequent editions:

"According to the mythology of the Romancers, the San Greal, or Holy Grail, was the cup out of which Jesus Christ partook of the last supper with his disciples. It was brought into England by Joseph of Arimathea, and remained there, an object of pilgrimage and adoration for many years, in the keeping of his lineal descendants. It was incumbent upon those who had charge of it to be chaste in thought, word, and deed; but one of the keepers having broken this condition, the Holy Grail disappeared. From that time it was a favorite enterprise of the knights of Arthur's court to go in search of it. Sir Galahad was at last successful in finding it, as may be read in the seventeenth book of the Romance of King Arthur. Tennyson has made Sir Galahad the subject of one of the most exquisite of his poems.

THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL

PART FIRST

PRELUDE

Over his keys the musing organist,

Beginning doubtfully and far away, First lets his fingers wander as they list,1

'List. Please, as in the Biblical statement, "The wind bloweth where it listeth."

And builds a bridge from Dreamland for his

lay;2

Then, as the touch of his loved instrument

Gives hope and fervor, nearer draws his

theme,3

First guessed by faint auroral flushes* sent
Along the wavering vista of his dream.

Not only around our infancy
Doth heaven with all its splendors lie;5
Daily, with souls that cringe and plot,
We Sinais climb and know it not.
Over our manhood bend the skies;
Against our fallen and traitor lives
The great winds utter prophecies;

With our faint hearts the mountain strives; Its arms outstretched, the druid wood"

Lay. Song-here meaning simply a musical composition. Theme. The subject or the simple tune of a piece of music. 'Auroral Flushes. Flushes like the faint pink that appears in the sky just before the dawn of day.

Stanza 2. The first two lines of the stanza are directly suggested by the statement in William Wordsworth's Ode on Intimations of Immortality,

"Heaven lies about us in our infancy."

Lowell believes, on the other hand, that heaven lies about us not only in our infancy, but throughout our lives.

"We Sinais climb. Sinai was the mountain upon which, as told in the Book of Exodus, the Lord descended to speak with Moses and gave him the Tables of the Testimony. See Exodus 19 and 24. Lowell means that we daily reach points from which we can come into close communion with God.

'Druid wood. The Druids were the ministers of the mysterious pagan religion of the Celts. Many of their rites were performed in oak woods.

Waits with its benedicite;8

And to our age's drowsy blood

Still shouts the inspiring sea.

Earth gets its price for what Earth gives us;

The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in, The priest hath his fee who comes and shrives us,9

11

We bargain for the graves we lie in;
At the Devil's booth10 are all things sold,
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells11 our lives we pay,
Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking:
"Tis heaven alone that is given away,
'Tis only God may be had for the asking;
No price is set on the lavish summer,
June may be had by the poorest comer.

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;

Benedicite. The Latin imperative meaning "Bless ye." It is common in the Latin translation of the Bible, and is the regular title of the beautiful hymn beginning, "O ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord."

"Shrives. Pronounces absolution.

10 Devil's booth. The world, as used in such a phrase as "the world, the flesh, and the devil"; the world of purely material enjoyment.

"Cap and bells. Part of the costume regularly worn by court fools, or jesters, in the Middle Ages. The cap and bells are mentioned as typical of what is absolutely frivolous and unenduring.