The Idylls of the King
- ISBN-10
- 1544801041
- ISBN-13
- 9781544801049
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-03-21
- Author
- Alfred Lord Tennyson
Description
Idylls of the King, published between 1859 and 1885, is a cycle oftwelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1892- 1850) which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his lovefor Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall ofArthur's kingdom. The whole work recounts Arthur's attempt and failureto lift up mankind and create a perfect kingdom, from his coming topower to his death at the hands of the traitor Mordred. Individualpoems detail the deeds of various knights, including Lancelot, Geraint,Galahad, and Balin and Balan, and also Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.There is little transition between Idylls, but the central figure ofArthur links all the stories. The poems were dedicated to the lateAlbert, Prince Consort. The Idylls are written in blank verse.Tennyson's descriptions of nature are derived from observations of hisown surroundings, collected over the course of many years. The dramaticnarratives are not an epic either in structure or tone, but deriveelegiac sadness in the style of the idylls of Theocritus. Idylls of theKing is often read as an allegory of the societal conflicts in Britainduring the mid-Victorian era.
