Matthew Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum and Other Poems Part 23

=625. that old king.= The king of s.e.m.e.njan. See introductory note to poem.

=632. Of age and looks=, etc. That is, of such age as he (Sohrab) would be, if born of his (Rustum's) union with Tahmineh.

=658-660. I tell thee, p.r.i.c.k'd upon this arm=, etc. This is Arnold's conception. In the original story Sohrab wore an onyx stone as an amulet. The onyx was supposed to incite the wearer to deeds of valor.

=664. corselet.= Protective armor for the body.

=673. cunning.= Skilful, deft.

=679. griffin.= In the natural history of the ancients, an imaginary animal, half lion and half eagle. Here the Simurgh. See note, l. 232.

=708-710. unconscious hand.= Note how the dying Sohrab seeks to console the grief-stricken Rustum.

"Such is my destiny, such is the will of fortune.

It was decreed that I should perish by the hand of my father."

--_Shah Nameh_.

=717. have found= (him). Note the ellipsis.

=723-724. I came ... pa.s.sing wind.= The _Shah Nameh_ has--

"I came like a flash of lightning, and now I depart like the wind."

=736. caked the sand.= Hardened into cakes.

=751. Helmund.= See note, l. 82. [163]

=752. Zirrah.= Another lake in Seistan, southeast of Hamoon, now almost dry.

=763-765. Moorghab, Tejend and Kohik.= Rivers of Turkestan which lose themselves in the deserts to the south of Bokhara. The northern Sir is the Sir Daria, or Jaxartes. See note, l. 129.

=788. And heap a stately mound=, etc. Persian tradition says that a large monument, in shape like the hoof of a horse, was placed over the spot where Sohrab was buried.

=830. on that day.= Shortly after the death of Afrasiab, the Persian monarch Kai Khosroo, accompanied by a large number of his n.o.bles, went to a spring far to the north, the location fixed upon as a place for their repose. Here the king died, and those who went with him afterward perished in a tempest. Sohrab predicted Rustum would be one of those lost, but tradition does not have it so.

=861. Persepolis.= An ancient capital of Persia, the ruins of which are known as "the throne of Jems.h.i.+d," after a mythical king.

=878. Chorasma.= A region of Turkestan, the seat of a powerful empire in the twelfth century, but now greatly reduced. Its present limits are about the same as those of Khiva. See note, l. 120.

=880. Right for the polar star.= That is, due north. =Orgunje.= A village on the Oxus some seventy miles below Khiva, and near the head of its delta.

=890. luminous home.= The Aral Sea.

=891. new bathed stars.= As the stars appear on the horizon, they seem to have come up out of the sea.

=875-892.= Discuss the poet's purpose in introducing the remarkable word-picture of these closing lines of the poem. See also note, ll.

231-250, _The Scholar-Gipsy._

SAINT BRANDAN [164]

In this poem Arnold has vividly presented a quaint legend of Judas Iscariot, popular in the Middle Ages. Saint Brandan (490-577) was a celebrated Irish monk, famous for his voyages. "According to the legendary accounts of his travels, he set sail with others to seek the terrestrial paradise which was supposed to exist in an island of the Atlantic. Various miracles are related of the voyage, but they are always connected with the great island where the monks are said to have landed. The legend was current in the time of Columbus and long after, and many connected St. Brandan's island with the newly discovered America. He is commemorated on May 16."--_The Century Cyclopedia of Names_.

=7. Hebrides.= A group of islands off the northwestern coast of Scotland.

=11. hurtling Polar lights.= A reference to the rapid, changing movements of the Aurora Borealis.

=18. Of hair that red.= According to tradition, Judas Iscariot's hair was red.

=21. sate.= See note, l. 199, _Sohrab and Rustum_. (Old form of "sat,"

common in poetry.)

=31. self-murder.= After betraying Christ, Judas hanged himself. See Matt, xxvii. 5 and Acts i. 18.

=38. The Leper recollect.= There is no scriptural authority for this incident.

=40. Joppa=, or Jaffa. A small maritime town of Palestine--the ancient port of Jerusalem. There is also a small village called Jaffa in Galilee, some two miles southwest of Nazareth, which may have been the place the poet had in mind.

Image the situation as presented in the first several stanzas. Why locate in the sea without a "human sh.o.r.e," l. 12? Is there any especial reason for having the time Christmas night? Note the dramatic introduction of Judas. What effect did his appearance have on the saint? How was the latter rea.s.sured? Give reasons why Judas felt impelled to tell his story. Tell the story. Does he praise or belittle his act of charity? Why does he say "that _chance_ act of good"? How was it rewarded? Explain his last expression. Was he about to say more? If so, what? What effect did Judas's story have on Saint Brandan? Why? What is the underlying thought in the poem? Discuss the form of verse used and its appropriateness to the theme. [165]

THE FORSAKEN MERMAN

"The t.i.tle of this poem inevitably brings to mind Tennyson's two poems, _The Merman_ and _The Mermaid_. A comparison will show that, in this instance at least, the Oxford poet has touched his subject not less melodiously and with finer and deeper feeling.--Margaret will not listen to her 'Children's voices, wild with pain';--dearer to her is the selfish desire to save her own soul than is the light in the eyes of her little Mermaiden, dearer than the love of the king of the sea, who yearns for her with sorrow-laden heart. Here is there an infinite tenderness and an infinite tragedy."

--L. DUPONT SYLE, _From Milton to Tennyson_.

Legends of this kind abound among the sea-loving Gaelic and Cymric people. Nowhere, perhaps, have they been given a more pleasing and touching expression than in Arnold's poem. Note carefully the dramatic manner in which the pathos of the story is presented and developed.

=6. wild white horses.= Breakers, whitecaps.

=13. Margaret.= A favorite name with Arnold. See _Isolation_ and _A Dream_ in this volume.

=39. ranged.= See note, l. 73, _The Strayed Reveller_. (wander aimlessly about.)

=42. mail.= Protective covering.

=54.= Why "down swung the sound of a far-off bell"? [166]

=81. seal'd.= Fastened; fixed intently upon, as though spellbound.