And all was blank, and meaningless, and void; 101 For the dull form, abandon'd thus below, Scarcely it felt the closing waves that buoy'd Its limbs, light-drifting down the gentle flow-- And when the conscious life return'd again, Lo, noon lay tranquil on the ocean main. As from a dream he woke, and look'd around, 102 For the lost Lake and AEgle's distant grave; But dark, behind, the silent headlands frown'd; And bright, before him, smiled the murmuring wave; His right hand rested on the falchion won; And the Dove pruned her pinions in the sun. NOTES TO BOOK VII. 1.--Page 314, stanza iii. _Or the Nymph-mother of the silver feet._ 'The silver-footed Thetis.'--HOMER. 2.--Page 322, stanza lvii. _An armed King--three lions on his shield_-- Richard Coeur de Lion;--poetically speaking, the mythic Arthur was the Father of the age of adventure and knighthood--and the legends respecting him reigned with full influence in the period which Richard Coeur de Lion here (generally and without strict prosaic regard to chronology) represents; from the lay of the Troubadour and the song of the Saracen--to the final concentration or chivalric romance in the muse of Ariosto. BOOK VIII. ARGUMENT. Lancelot continues to watch for Arthur till the eve of the following day, when a Damsel approaches the Lake--Lancelot's discreet behaviour thereon, and how the Knight and the Damsel converse--The Damsel tells her tale--Upon her leaving Lancelot, the fairy ring commands the Knight to desert his watch, and follow the Maiden--The story returns to Arthur, who, wandering by the sea-shore, perceives a bark with the Raven flag of the sea-kings--The Dove enjoins him to enter it--The Ship is deserted, and he waits the return of the Crew--Sleep falls upon him--The consoling Vision of AEgle--What befalls Arthur on waking--Meanwhile Sir Gawaine pursues his voyage to the shrine of Freya, at which he is to be sacrificed--How the Hound came to bear him company--Sir Gawaine argues with the Viking on the inutility of roasting him--The Viking defends that measure upon philosophical and liberal principles, and silences Gawaine--The Ship arrives at its destination--Gawaine is conducted to the shrine of Freya--The Statue of the Goddess described--Gawaine's remarks thereon, and how he is refuted and enlightened by the Chief Priest--Sir Gawaine is bound, and in reply to his natural curiosity the Priest explains how he and the Dog are to be roasted and devoured--The sagacious proceedings of the Dog--Sir Gawaine fails in teaching the Dog the duty of Fraternization--The Priest re-enters, and Sir Gawaine, with much satisfaction, gets the best of the Argument--Concluding Stanzas to Nature.