How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
[…] That weird yell,
Unearthlier than all shriek of bird or beast,
Thrill’d thro’ the woods; and Balan lurking there—
His quest was unaccomplish’d—heard and thought
‘The scream of that wood-devil I came to quell!’
(“Balin and Balan,” 535-539)
Balin’s cry of rage when Vivien confirms Guinevere’s adultery is compared to the shriek of “bird or beast.” Hearing it, Balan assumes that his brother is the “wood-devil.” He is correct in a figurative sense, for Balin has allowed his passions, or his “demon,” to control him.
Quote #5
Then thrice essay’d, by tenderest-touching terms,
To sleek her ruffled peace of mind, in vain.
At last she let herself be conquer’d by him,
And as the cageling newly flown returns,
The seeming-injured simple-hearted thing
Came to her old perch back and settled there.
(“Merlin and Vivien,” 895-900)
This description of Vivien compares her to a bird whose “ruffled” feathers are smoothed by Merlin’s encouragement. Seemingly soothed, she is a young caged bird returning to her “perch.” Throughout “Merlin and Vivien,” Vivien is portrayed in animal terms: she is called a serpent coiling at Merlin’s feet and compares herself to a “gilded spider” caught in his web.
Quote #6
‘ “Nay—but thou errest, Lancelot: never yet
Could all of true and noble in knight and man
Twine round one sin, whatever it might be,
With such a closeness but apart there grew,
Save that he were the swine thou spakest of.’”
(“The Holy Grail,” 777-780)
Arthur disagrees with Lancelot’s description of himself as completely overtaken by a single sin. To Arthur, what’s true and noble in a man is too strong to be completely overcome by any one sin unless that man is actually an animal. Arthur’s optimism about human nature is at odds with the pessimism of characters like Lancelot and Vivien throughout the Idylls.