Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to ChaucerBaldwin, James
General
Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to Chaucer
Baldwin, James
English poetry
32. =Half of thy heart.= "Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the
conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of her affection for her
lord is well known."--_Gray._
Tennyson, in the "Dream of Fair Women," speaks of Queen Eleanor as
"Her who knew that Love can vanquish Death,
Who kneeling, with one arm about her king,
Drew forth the poison with her balmy breath,
Sweet as new buds in spring."
33. The bard's visions are resumed, and he sees the glories which were
ushered in with the advent of the Tudor line. Henry VII.'s paternal
grandfather was Sir Owen Tewdwr of Pernnyuydd, in Anglesey, whose mother
was of royal British blood. "Both Merlin and Taliessin had prophesied
that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; which
seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor."--_Gray._
34. =a form divine.= Elizabeth.
35. =awe-commanding face.= "Speed, relating an audience given by Queen
Elizabeth to Paul Dzialiuski, ambassador of Poland, says: 'And thus she,
lion-like rising, daunted the malapert orator no less with her stately
port and majestical deporture, than with the tartnesse of her princlie
cheekes.'"--_Gray._
36. Taliessin was a famous Welsh bard who flourished in the sixth
century. It is said that some of his works are still preserved by his
countrymen.
37. See "Faerie Queene," 1:
"Fierce warres and faithful love shall moralize my song."
38. =buskined measures.= The tragic drama as represented by Shakespeare.
So Milton speaks ("Il Penseroso," 102) of the "buskind stage." The
buskin was the Greek _cothurnus_, a boot with high heels, designed to
add stature and dignity to the tragic actor.
39. =Fond.= Foolish. This is the original meaning of the word, and is so
used by the older poets.
40. =he repairs.= So Milton:
"Sinks the day-star in the ocean bed,
And yet anon repairs his drooping head."
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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