On the Art of Writing

water side; and when thou comest there I charge thee throw my sword in that water and come again and tell me what there thou seest.” “My lord,” said Bedivere, “Your commandment shall be done; and lightly bring you word again.” So Sir Bedivere departed, and by the way he beheld that noble sword, that the pommel and the haft was 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 Excaliber under a tree. And so, as soon as he might, he came again unto the king, and said he had been at the water and had thrown the sword into the water, “What saw thou there?” said the king, “Sir,” he said, “I saw nothing but waves and winds.”

Now I might say a dozen things of this and of the whole passage that follows, down to Arthur’s last words. Specially might I speak to you of the music of its monosyllables⁠—“ ‘What sawest you there?’ said the king⁠ ⁠… ‘Do as well as thou mayest; for in me is no trust for to trust in. For I will into the Vale of Avilion, to heal me of my grievous wound. And if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul.’ ” But, before making comment at all, I shall quote you another passage; this from Lord Berners’ translation of Froissart, of the death of Robert Bruce:⁠—

It fortuned that King Robert of Scotland was right sore aged and feeble: for he was greatly charged with the great sickness, so that there was no way for him but death. And when he felt that his end drew near, he sent for such barons and lords of his realm as he trusted best, and showed them how there was no remedy with him, but he must needs leave this transitory life.⁠ ⁠… Then he called to him the gentle knight, Sir William Douglas, and said before all the lords, “Sir William, my dear friend, ye know well that I have had much ado in my days to uphold and sustain the right of this realm; and when I had most ado I made a solemn vow, the which as yet I have not accomplished, whereof I am right sorry; the which was, if I might achieve and make an end of all my wars, so that I might once have brought this realm in rest and peace, then I promised in my mind to have gone and warred on Christ’s enemies, adversaries to our holy Christian faith. To this purpose mine heart hath ever intended, but our Lord would not consent thereto⁠ ⁠… And sith it is so that my body can not go, nor achieve that my heart desireth, I will send the heart instead of the body, to accomplish mine avow⁠ ⁠… I will, that as soon as I am trespassed out of this world, that ye take my heart out of my body, and embalm it, and take of my treasure as ye shall think sufficient for that enterprise, both for yourself and such company as ye will take with you, and present my heart to the Holy Sepulchre, whereas our Lord lay, seeing my body can not come there. And take with you such company and purveyance as shall be appertaining to your estate. And, wheresoever ye come, let it be known how ye carry with you the heart of King Robert of Scotland, at his instance and desire to be presented to the Holy Sepulchre.” Then all the lords, that heard these words, wept for pity.

There, in the fifteenth century and early in the sixteenth, you have Malory and Berners writing beautiful English prose; prose the emotion of which (I dare to say) you must recognise if you have ears to hear. So you see that already our English prose not only achieves the “high moment,” but seems to obey it rather and be lifted by it, until we ask ourselves, “Who could help writing nobly, having to tell how King Arthur died or how the Bruce?” Yes, but I bid you observe that Malory and Berners are both relating what, however noble, is quite simple, quite straightforward. It is when prose attempts to philosophise, to express thoughts as well as to relate simple sayings and doings⁠—it is then that the trouble begins. When Malory has to philosophise death, to think about it, this is as far as he attains:⁠—

“Ah, Sir Lancelot,” said he, “thou wert head of all Christian Knights! And now I dare say,” said Sir Ector, “that, Sir Lancelot, there thou liest, thou were never matched of none earthly hands; and thou were the curtiest knight that ever bare shield: and thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever strood horse, and thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman; and thou were the kindest man that ever strooke with sword; and thou were the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; and thou were the meekest man and gentlest that ever sat in hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest Knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.”

Beautiful again, I grant! But note you that, eloquent as he can be on the virtues of his dead friend, when Sir Ector comes to the thought of death itself all he can accomplish is, “And now I dare say that, Sir Lancelot, there thou liest.”

Let us make a leap in time and contrast this with Tyndale and the translators of our Bible, how they are able to make St. Paul speak of death:⁠—

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

There you