Bedivere's hesitancy, in Malory's book. "So Sir Bedivere departed, and
by the way he beheld that noble sword, that the pommel and haft were all
of precious stones, and then he said to himself, 'If I throw this rich
sword in the water, thereof shall never come good, but harm and loss.'
And then Sir Bedivere hid Excalibur under a tree."

104. THE LONELY MAIDEN OF THE LAKE. The "Lady of the Lake" was present
at the crowning of Arthur. In the _Coming of Arthur_ she is described as
dwelling--

Down in a deep; calm, whatsoever storms
May shake the world, and when the surface rolls
Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord.

Arthur's first meeting with her is described in Malory:-- "So they rode
till they came to a lake, the which was a fair water and broad, and in
the midst of the lake Arthur was ware of an arm clothed in white samite,
that held a fair sword in that hand. 'Lo,' said Merlin, 'yonder is that
sword that I spake of.' With that they saw a damsel going upon the lake;
'What damsel is that?' said Arthur. 'That is the Lady of the Lake,' said
Merlin; 'and within that lake is a rock, and therein is as fair a place
as any upon earth, and richly beseen.'"

In _Gareth and Lynette_ the Lady of the Lake is mystically figured forth
upon the great gate of Camelot.

105-106. NINE YEARS--HILLS. Hallam, Lord Tennyson, in the Memoir, quotes
Fitzgerald's short account of a row on Lake Windermere with the poet;
"'Resting on our oars one calm day on Windermere, whither we had gone for
a week from dear Spedding's (Mirehouse), at the end of May, 1835; resting
on our oars, and looking into the lake quite unruffled and clear, Alfred
quoted from the lines he had lately read us from the MS. of _Morte
d'Arthur_ about the lonely lady of the lake and Excalibur:

"Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps,
Under the hidden bases of the hills.

"--Not bad, that. Fitz, is it?

"This kind of remark he would make when rendering his own or others'
poetry when he came to lines that he particularly admired from no vanity
but from a pure feeling of artistic pleasure." (Vol. I. pp. 152-153).

112. Note the slowness of the movement expressed in the rhythm of this
line, and compare with it line 168. Contrast the swiftness and energy
expressed in ll. 133-136.

121. AUTHORITY--KING. This line has been described as Shakespearian.
Its strength is derived from the force of the metaphorical
personification. The boldnes