Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston’s book on the Grail legend: _From Ritual to Romance_ (Macmillan, Cambridge) Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston’s book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the great interest of the book itself) to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble. To another work of anthropology I am indebted in general, one which has influenced our generation profoundly; I mean _The Golden Bough_; I have used especially the two volumes _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_. Anyone who is acquainted with these works will immediately recognise in the poem certain references to vegetation ceremonies. I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD Line 20. Cf. _Ezekiel_ 2:1. 23. Cf. _Ecclesiastes_ 12:5. 31. V. _Tristan und Isolde_, i, verses 5-8. 42. Id. iii, verse 24. 46. I am not familiar with the exact constitution of the Tarot pack of cards, from which I have obviously departed to suit my own convenience. The Hanged Man, a member of the traditional pack, fits my purpose in two ways: because he is associated in my mind with the Hanged God of Frazer, and because I associate him with the hooded figure in the passage of the disciples to Emmaus in Part V. The Phoenician Sailor and the Merchant appear later; also the “crowds of people,” and Death by Water is executed in Part IV. The Man with Three Staves (an authentic member of the Tarot pack) I associate, quite arbitrarily, with the Fisher King himself. 60. Cf. Baudelaire: “Fourmillante cité, cité; pleine de rêves, Où le spectre en plein jour raccroche le passant.” 63. Cf. _Inferno_, iii. 55-7. “si lunga tratta di gente, ch’io non avrei mai creduto che morte tanta n’avesse disfatta.” 64. Cf. _Inferno_, iv. 25-7: “Quivi, secondo che per ascoltare, “non avea pianto, ma’ che di sospiri, “che l’aura eterna facevan tremare.” 68. A phenomenon which I have often noticed. 74. Cf. the Dirge in Webster’s _White Devil_. 76. V. Baudelaire, Preface to _Fleurs du Mal_. II. A GAME OF CHESS 77. Cf. _Antony and Cleopatra_, II. ii., l. 190. 92. Laquearia. V. _Aeneid_, I. 726: