175. Summers: What is gained by the use of this word instead of
winters?
176. Wold: A high, open and barren field that catches the full sweep
of the wind. The "wolds" of north England are like the "downs" of the
south.
181. The little brook: In a letter written in December, 1848, Lowell
says: "Last night I walked to Watertown over the snow with the new
moon before me and a sky exactly like that in Page's evening
landscape. Orion was rising behind me, and, as I stood on the hill
just before you enter the village, the stillness of the fields around
me was delicious, broken only by the tinkle of a little brook which
runs too swiftly for Frost to catch it. My picture of the brook in
_Sir Launfal_ was drawn from it." See the poem _Beaver Brook_
(originally called _The Mill_), and the winter picture in _An
Indian-Summer Reverie_, lines 148-196.
184. Groined: Groined arches are formed by the intersection of two
arches crossing at any angle, forming a ribbed vault; a characteristic
feature of Gothic architecture.
190. Forest-crypt: The crypt of a church is the basement, filled
with arched pillars that sustain the building. The cavern of the
brook, as the poet will have us imagine it, is like this subterranean
crypt, where the pillars are like trees and the groined arches like
interlacing branches, decorated with frost leaves. The poet seems to
have had in mind throughout the description the interior of the
Gothic cathedrals, as shown by the many suggestive terms used,
"groined," "crypt," "aisles," "fretwork," and "carvings."
193. Fretwork: The ornamental work carved in intricate patterns, in
oak or stone, on the ceilings of old halls and churches.
195. Sharp relief: When a figure stands out prominently from the
marble or other material from which it is cut, it is said to be in
"high relief," in distinction from "low relief," _bas relief_.
196. Arabesques: Complicated patterns of interwoven foliage, flowers
and fruits, derived from Arabian art. Lowell had undoubtedly studied
many times the frost designs on the window panes.
201. That crystalled the beams, etc.: That caught the beams of moon
and sun as in a crystal. For "that" the original edition has "which."
204. Winter-palace of ice: An allusion, apparently, to the
ice-palace built by the Empress of Russia, Catherine II, "most
magnificent and mighty freak. The wonder of the North," Cowper called
it. Compare Lowell's description of the frost work with Cowper's
similar description in _The Task_, in the beginning of Book V.
205-210. 'Twas as if every image, etc.: Note the exquisite fancy in
these lines. The elves have preserved in the ice the pictures of
summer foliage and clouds that were mirrored in the water as models
for another summer.
211. The hall: In the old castles the hall was always the large
banqueting room, originally the common living room. Here all large
festivities would take place.
213. Corbel: A bracket-like support projecting from a wall from
which an arch springs or on which a beam rests. The poet has in mind
an ancient hall in which the ceiling is the exposed woodwork of the
roof.
214. This line at first read: "With the lightsome," etc. Why did
Lowell's refining taste strike out "the"?
216. Yule-log: The great log, sometimes the root of a tree, burned in
the huge fireplace on Christmas eve, with special ceremonies and
merrymakings. It was lighted with a brand preserved from the last
year's log, and connected with its burning were many quaint
superstitions and customs. The celebration is a survival through our
Scandinavian ancestors of the winter festival in honor of the god
Thor. Herrick describes it trippingly in one of his songs:
"Come, bring with a noise,
My merrie, merrie boys,
The Christmas log to the firing;
While my good dame, she
Bids ye all be free,
And drink to your heart's desiring."
219. Like a locust, etc.: Only one who has heard both sounds
frequently can appreciate the close truth of this simile. The
metaphors and similes in this stanza are deserving of special study.
226. Harp: Prof. William Vaughn Moody questions whether "the use of
Sir Launfal's hair as a 'harp' for the wind to play a Christmas carol
on" is not "a bit grotesque." Does the picture of Sir Launfal in these
two stanzas belong in the Prelude or in the story in Part Second?
230. Carol of its own: Contrasted with the carols that are being
sung inside the castle.
231. Burden: The burden or refrain is the part repeated at the end
of each stanza of a ballad or song, expressing the main theme or
sentiment. _Still_ is in the sense of always, ever.
233. Seneschal: An officer of the castle who had charge of feasts
and ceremonies, like the modern Lord Chamberlain of the King's palace.
Note the effect of the striking figure in this line.
237. Window-slits: Narrow perpendicular openings in the wall,
serving both as windows and as loopholes from which to fire at an
enemy.
238. Build out its piers: The beams of light are like the piers or
jetties that extend out from shore into the water to protect ships.
Such piers are also built out to protect the shore from the violent
wash of the ocean. The poet may possibly, however, have had in mind
the piers of a bridge that support the arches and stand against the
sweep of the stream.
243. In this line instead of "the weaver Winter" the original has "the
frost's swift shuttles." Was the change an improvement?
244. A single crow: Note the effect of introducing this lone crow
into the bleak landscape.
250. It must not be forgotten that this old Sir Launfal is only in the
dream of the real Sir Launfal, who is still lying on the rushes within
his own castle. As the poor had often been turned away with cold,
heartless selfishness, so he is now turned away from his own "hard
gate."
251. Sate: The use of this archaic form adds to the antique flavor
of the poem. So with the use of the word "tree" for cross, in line 281
below. Lowell was passionately fond of the old poets and the quaint
language of the early centuries of English literature, and loved to
introduce into his own poetry words and phrases from these sources. Of
this habit he says:
"If some small savor creep into my rhyme
Of the old poets, if some words I use,
Neglected long, which have the lusty thews
Of that gold-haired and earnest-hearted time,
Whose loving joy and sorrow all sublime
Have given our tongue its starry eminence,--
It is not pride, God knows, but reverence
Which hath grown in me since my childhood's prime."