ntional epic form by its lack of a closely continuous
narrative, it has yet that lofty manner and underlying unity of
design which leads us to class it with the epics, at least, in the
essentials. It consists of a series of chivalric legends, taken
chiefly from the _Morte d'Arthur_ of Sir Thomas Malory, grouped so
as to exhibit the establishment, the greatness, and the downfall of
an ideal kingdom of righteousness among men. "The Coming of
Arthur," the ideal ruler, shows us the setting up of this kingdom.
Before this was disorder, great tracts of wilderness,

Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
But man was less and less.

Arthur slays the beast and fells the forest, and the old order
changes to give place to new. Then the song of Arthur's knights
rises, a majestic chorus of triumph:

Clang battle-axe and clash brand. Let the king reign.

In "Gareth and Lynette" the newly established kingdom is seen doing
its work among men. Arthur, enthroned in his great hall, dispenses
impartial justice. The knights

Ride abroad redressing human wrongs.

The allegory shows us, in Gareth's contests with the knights "that
have no law nor King," the contest of the soul with the temptations
that at different periods of life successively attack it:

The war of Time against the soul of man.

Then follow the "Idylls," which trace the entrance and growth of an
element of sin and discord, which, spreading, pulls down into ruin
that "fellowship of noble knights," "which are an image of the
mighty world." The purity of the ideal kingdom is fouled, almost at
its source, by the guilty love of Lancelot and the Queen. Among
some the contagion spreads; while others, in an extremity of
protest, start in quest of the Holy Grail, leaving the duty at hand
for mystical visions. Man cannot bring down heaven to earth; he
cannot sanctify the mass of men by his own rapturous anticipations;
he cannot safely neglect the preliminary stages of progress
appointed for the race; he "may not wander from the allotted field
before his work be done."

So by impurity and by impatience the rift in the kingdom widens,
and in "The Last Tournament," in the stillness before the impending
doom, we hear the shrill voice of Dagonet railing at the King, who
t