Sir Lancelot and Guinevere a poem by Alfred Tennyson describes and compares the affair and Guinevere's beauty to nature.
The first stanza begins to describe the sensitive balance that the two must keep to maintain their affair a secret. The first line of the poem, " Like souls that balance joy and pain," refers to Lancelot and Guinevere directly. They must know how to balance and control their joy when their together and their pain when their apart. The second stanza, I believe, refers to the rumors that began to spread about the affair. Tennyson compares the rumors to the chirping and noise making of different birds but then they are silenced by the "fear of wrong." The fear of wrong could be the fear of betraying Lancelot because many of the knights were very faithful to him. But even though the rumors were silenced the effect of their romance had already caused change. The firs half of the third stanza show how happy Lancelot and Guinevere are when they're together. Her attire is compared is described by beautiful earthy tones which would cause a hunting man like Lancelot to admire her beauty even more. The ironic part is that the beautiful attire he might admire was probably given to her by King Arthur. The last stanza gives warning of Guinevere's beauty.
As she fled fast thro' sun and shade,/
The happy winds upon her play'd,/
Blowing the ringlet from the braid./
She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd/
The rein with dainty finger-tips,/
A man had given all other bliss,/
And all his worldly worth for this,/
To waste his whole heart in one kiss/
Upon her perfect lips./
As beautiful as she may seem, a man in Lancelot's position must be willing to risk his own happiness and all he is for a woman such as Guinevere.
The first stanza begins to describe the sensitive balance that the two must keep to maintain their affair a secret. The first line of the poem, " Like souls that balance joy and pain," refers to Lancelot and Guinevere directly. They must know how to balance and control their joy when their together and their pain when their apart. The second stanza, I believe, refers to the rumors that began to spread about the affair. Tennyson compares the rumors to the chirping and noise making of different birds but then they are silenced by the "fear of wrong." The fear of wrong could be the fear of betraying Lancelot because many of the knights were very faithful to him. But even though the rumors were silenced the effect of their romance had already caused change. The firs half of the third stanza show how happy Lancelot and Guinevere are when they're together. Her attire is compared is described by beautiful earthy tones which would cause a hunting man like Lancelot to admire her beauty even more. The ironic part is that the beautiful attire he might admire was probably given to her by King Arthur. The last stanza gives warning of Guinevere's beauty.
As she fled fast thro' sun and shade,/
The happy winds upon her play'd,/
Blowing the ringlet from the braid./
She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd/
The rein with dainty finger-tips,/
A man had given all other bliss,/
And all his worldly worth for this,/
To waste his whole heart in one kiss/
Upon her perfect lips./
As beautiful as she may seem, a man in Lancelot's position must be willing to risk his own happiness and all he is for a woman such as Guinevere.