I need help with an analysis of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Passing of Arthur" from "Idylls of the King". I've looked around but there seems to be precious little information available on this poem. Specifically, I'm trying to find all the ways that the number three is used in the poem. Thanks for any help you can give me.

If it's the one titled 'Morte d' Arthur, it's in the archives here.

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My first recommendation would be to read it, note down all the times that 'three' is used, and then analyze the usage.

A quick glance shows that Bedivere tries three times to complete his task; there are three queens; Bedivere says 'if I lived three lives, I wouldn't see another miracle such as this.'

Probably connected with the idea of three as a lucky or holy number, and with Peter denying Christ.

pam

Well, there's the old saying "everything comes in threes"
And the three Fates, virgin, mother and crone.
And the old Welsh triads, things grouped in threes in poetic form to remember them, Arthur is one of the three pig stealers of Britain.



Post Edited (03-11-05 17:19)

some more:

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3 THE FIRST TRINITY - Adam and Eve and child. Thus 3 means manifestation and expansion. Other trinities survive in our world - body, soul, and spirit, and the three divisions of mind - conscious, subconscious and super-conscious.

[afgen.com] /> 3 SYMBOLIZES THE TRINITY, triad and trine - the three dimensions. In a larger sense, the 3 stands for multiplication and growth.

And the three Fates, virgin, mother and crone.

I seem to remember the fates were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. The first spun the thread of life, the 2nd determined its length and the last cut the thread. I am not sure who the virgin, mother and crone are/were, but I would be interested to learn more.

The pig-stealer reference whooshed over me as well - any details?

Were I to speculate on the number three, the Trinity would be high on my list as well. Here is some stuff from the Victorian Web links:

[www.victorianweb.org] />
Click your way around all the Tennyson links, such as,

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Brewer's offers,

[www.bartleby.com]

The three fates, under whatever name they went were often represented as the three stages of womanhood, the young virgin, a mature mother, an old crone. Or as three young women or three old women.

[camelot.celtic-twilight.com] has a list of the Welsh triads. They were used to help remember the stories for telling by the bards.

you should go to the library and look at the refrence book titled "Poetry Criticism." Theres lots of information that you need in there.

The poet must correctly identify the Triple Goddess in all her aspects - the young maiden - the earth mother and the hag that rides the nightmare-

The constant cycle of death and rebirth - the only story worth the telling!
gill

look at the refrence book titled "Poetry Criticism."

This one?

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Not in my library, sad to say.