99. _Half of thy heart_. "Eleanor of Castile died a few years after
the conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of her affection for
her lord is well known.[2] The monuments of his regret and sorrow for
the loss of her[3] are still to be seen at Northampton, Geddington,
Waltham, and other places" (Gray). Cf. Horace, _Od._ i. 3, 8: "animae
dimidium meae."
[Footnote 2: See Tennyson, _Dream of Fair Women_:
"Or her who knew that Love can vanquish Death,
Who kneeling, with one arm about her king,
Drew forth the poison with her balmy breath,
Sweet as new buds in spring."]
[Footnote 3: Gray refers to the "Eleanor crosses," erected at the
places where the funeral procession halted each night on the journey
from Hardby, in Nottinghamshire (near Lincoln), where the queen died,
to Westminster. Of the thirteen (or, as some say, fifteen) crosses
only three now remain--at Northampton, Geddington, and Waltham. The
one at Charing Cross in London has been replaced by a fac-simile of
the original. These monuments were all exquisite works of Gothic art,
fitting memorials of _la chère Reine_, "the beloved of all England,"
as Walsingham calls her.]
101. _Nor thus forlorn_. In MS. "nor here forlorn;" in next line,
"Leave your despairing Caradoc to mourn;" in 103, "yon black clouds;"
in 104, "They sink, they vanish;" in 105, "But oh! what scenes of
heaven on Snowdon's height;" in 106, "their golden skirts."
107. Cf. Dryden, _State of Innocence_, iv. 1: "Their glory shoots
upon my aching sight."
109. "It was the common belief of the Welsh nation that King Arthur
was still alive in Fairyland, and would return again to reign over
Britain" (Gray).
In the MS. this line and the next read thus:
"From Cambria's thousand hills a thousand strains
Triumphant tell aloud, another Arthur reigns."
110. "Both Merlin and Taliessin had prophesied that the Welsh should
regain their sovereignty over this island; which seemed to be
accomplished in the house of Tudor" (Gray).
111. _Many a baron bold_. Cf. _L'Allegro_, 119: "throngs of knights
and barons bold."
The reading in the MS. is,
"Youthful knights, and barons bold,
With dazzling helm, and horrent spear."
112. _Their starry fronts_. Cf. Milton, _Ode on the Passion_, 18:
"His starry front;" Statius, _Theb._ 613: "Heu! ubi siderei vultus."
115. _A form divine_. Elizabeth. Wakefield quotes Spenser's eulogy of
the queen, _Shep. Kal._ Apr.:
"Tell me, have ye seene her angelick face,
Like Phoebe fayre?
Her heavenly haveour, her princely grace,
Can you well compare?
The Redde rose medled with the White yfere,
In either cheeke depeincten lively chere;
Her modest eye,
Her Majestie,
Where have you seene the like but there?"
117. "Speed, relating an audience given by Queen Elizabeth to Paul
Dzialinski, ambassador of Poland, says: 'And thus she, lion-like
rising, daunted the malapert orator no less with her stately port and
majestical deporture, than with the tartnesse of her princelie
checkes'" (Gray). The MS. reads "A lion-port, an awe-commanding
face."
121. "Taliessin, chief of the bards, flourished in the sixth century.
His works are still preserved, and his memory held in high veneration
among his countrymen" (Gray).
As Hales remarks, there is no authority for connecting him with
Arthur, as Tennyson does in his _Holy Grail_.
123. Cf. Congreve, _Ode to Lord Godolphin_: "And soars with rapture
while she sings."