Tennyson's Excalibur '

Tennyson’s Morte D’arthur emphasizes the breakdown of an era of rule and authority and a rise in chaos, which is accordant with the collapse of Arthur’s kingdom. Although this extract does consist of melancholic themes, it also offers a glimmer of hope. The eventual discarding of the sword “Excalibur” which “flash’d and fell” on the third time of asking is one of the examples of a sequence of three within the poem, which occurs frequently throughout the text. The capitalized name for his sword “Excalibur” not only encapsulates the legend of Arthur and his importance but it embodies a way of life for Bedivere. The fact it is being discarded hints at the instability the world faces without Arthur’s rule. However, hope and faith is partially restored by Bedivere’s account of “an arm” which was “clothed in
white samite, mystic, wonderful” who “caught” the sword and “brandish’d him” This is an example of a rule of three, which within literature of the western tradition can commonly represent the completion of a sequence and reaching of a resolution. The Latin phrase ‘omne trium perfectum’ or ‘every set of three is complete’ conveys this same idea. This could reflect Arthur’s reign over the kingdom coming to an end, or perhaps more morbidly, his life coming to an end. The listing of adjectives to describe the weapon slows down the pace of the verse and adds to the magnificence of the sword. The splendor has previously been alluded to in the poem with the use of light imagery and frequent references to the sword’s blinding beauty. The sword is personified using masculine pronouns such as “him”, which is significant as the weapon originally belonged to a female, the Lady of the Lake, who has reclaimed it once more. The fact that masculine pronouns are used could represent the power Arthur had, especially with the sword in his possession. The lexical repetition of the description of the sword’s disposal stresses the importance and the conclusiveness of this event. The fact that the Lady of the Lake “brandish’d” the sword, suggests that the finality of its passage is no longer in Arthur’s hands. The enjambment used in Bedivere’s account of the sword being submerged into the lake goes some way to depicting his determination to fulfill Arthur’s wishes and reminds the reader that he is recalling a real life event.
This extract presents the conflict that Bedivere faces when having to let his faith in Arthur triumph over his common sense. There is another reference to the light of the sword with Bedivere having to close his “eyelids” or the “gems should blind” his “purpose”. This creates a strong contrast between the darkness of the bleak winter setting and of the sombre themes of the inevitability of Arthur’s death and decline with the light and radiance of the sword, which represents Arthur’s kingship and previous influential rule. There is also subtle wordplay within Bedivere’s answer to King Arthur with the lines “for I never saw/Nor shall see, here or elsewhere”. The word “see” could be construed as a double entendre, meaning both to see with ones eyes, but also the sea in which the sword became submerged. The word “here” is also part of the pun, representing the importance of the location as well as also meaning “hear” as one of the five senses. This would be particularly important if Bedivere was “blind” and could not rely on his sight, but in this sense he is more likely to be blinded by his purpose due to his reluctance to follow Arthur’s command to discard the
Excalibur. Although hope was provided by this “great miracle”, the extract takes a more grave turn when the inevitability of Arthur’s death becomes clearer. Previously in the extract Arthur is described to have taken a “thicker breath” which indicates his declining health, and by the end he is described as “breathing hard”. The fact he is breathing “hard” suggests desperation for Bedivere to hear his words but when he speaks he is solemn and monosyllabic. He claims his “end draws nigh” and that it is “time” that he “were gone”. He is stoic in the face of death and comes to accept it, with the extract ending on another monosyllabic, dysphemistic phrase“, and I shall die”.