Chapter 15
DESCRIPTION
Are the nature descriptions given for scenic effect, or do they serve as a background and setting for the story?
Does Scott employ incidents of plot for the sake of dragging in descriptions?
Which is the best in the poem: nature description, plot construction, character, description, or the portrayal of old life and customs?
Is the descriptive language suggestive?
Are the landscape scenes given minutely, or are they drawn broadly, with a free hand?
Does Scott keep closely to the geography of the region of his tale (see map, p. 6, and note 461, p. 259)?
Perry Pictures 912-17 (from Landseer's paintings of deer) and 1511 (Ben Lomond) may be used in illustration of _The Lady of the Lake_.
CHARACTERS
Are the characters distinctly drawn--do they seem real people of flesh and blood?
How is Ellen's character displayed?
Do you feel any sympathy for Roderick Dhu? Does your impression of his character improve (pp. 96, 98, 99, 182, 188, 195, and 241)?
Was Douglas an historical character?
Is the character of James Fitz-James true to James V of Scotland?
Is Allan-bane representative of the place in the ancient Scottish clan which the minstrel had?
THEME SUBJECTS
1. Scott's boyhood (with emphasis on the cultivation of characteristics displayed in his poems; pp. 10-12).
2. Scott as a landed proprietor (pp. 27-33). This may well take the form of an imaginary visit to Abbotsford.
3. Scott in business (pp. 23-25, 34-36). Compare his struggle against debt with Mark Twain's.
4. The historical setting of _The Lady of the Lake_ (pp. 46-48).
5. A visit to the scene of _The Lady of the Lake_.
6. Summary of the action; as a whole, or by parts (cantos or other logical divisions).
7. Character sketches of Fitz-James, Roderick Dhu, Ellen, Malcolm, Douglas.
8. Highland customs reflected in the poem (pp. 129 ff., 253, 254, etc.).
9. The use of the Minstrel in the poem.
10. The interpolated lyrics--what purposes do they, respectively, serve?
11. Descriptions of scenes resembling, in one way or another, attractive scenes depicted in _The Lady of the Lake_.
12. Soldier life in Stirling Castle (pp. 219 ff.).
13. Contrast feudal warfare (especially as shown on pp. 81, 182) with modern warfare.
14. Show, by selected passages, Scott's veneration for the ideals of feudalism (pp. 81, 228, etc.).
15. Rewrite the scene of the combat between Roderick and Fitz-James (pp. 198-200) in the prose style of Scott as in the tournament scene in _Ivanhoe_.
SELECTIONS FOR CLASS READING
1. The chase (pp. 60-65).
2. The Trossachs (pp. 66-68).
3. Ellen (pp. 72-74).
4. Ellen's song (pp. 83-85).
5. Roderick's arrival (pp. 100-105).
6. Roderick's proposal (pp. 113-118).
7. The consecration of the bloody cross (pp. 128-132).
8. The summoning of the clan (pp. 132-135).
9. The Coronach (pp. 136, 137).
10. Roderick overhears Ellen's song (pp. 148-149).
11. The ballad of Alice Brand (pp. 162-167).
12. Fitz-James and the mad woman (pp. 172-178).
13. The hospitality of a Highlander (pp. 180-183).
14. The hidden army (pp. 191-192).
15. The combat (pp. 195-200).
16. Douglas at the games (pp. 207-211).
17. The speech of Douglas (pp. 212, 213).
18. The Battle of Beal' an Duine (pp. 232-240).
19. Fitz-James reveals himself to Ellen (pp. 244-249).
CLASSES OF POETRY
It is important for the student of poetry to know the principal classes into which poems are divided. The following brief explanations do not pretend to be exhaustive, but they should be of practical aid. It must be remembered that a long poem is sometimes not very definitely of any one class, but combines characteristics of different classes.
_Narrative_ poetry, like narrative prose, aims primarily to tell a story.
The _epic_ is the most pretentious kind of narrative poetry; it tells in serious verse of the great deeds of a popular hero. The _Iliad_, the _Aeneid_, _Beowulf_, _Paradise Lost_ are important epics. The _Idylls of the King_ is in the main an epic poem.
The _metrical romance_ is a rather long story in verse, of a less exalted and heroic character than the true epic. Scott's _Lady of the Lake_ is a familiar example.
The _verse tale_ is shorter and likely to be less dignified and serious than the metrical romance. The stories in Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, or Burns's _Tam O'Shanter_, may serve as examples.
The _ballad_ is a narrative poem, usually rather short and in such form as to be sung. It is distinguished from a song by the fact that it tells a story. _Popular_ or _folk_ ballads are ancient and of unknown authorship--handed down by word of mouth and varied by the transmitters. _Artistic_ ballads are imitations, by known poets, of traditional ballads.
_Descriptive_ and _reflective_ poems have characteristics sufficiently indicated by the adjectives in italics.
The _pastoral_ is a particular kind of descriptive and narrative poem in which the scene is laid in the country.
The _idyll_ is, according to the etymology of its name, a "little picture." Tennyson's _Idylls of the King_ are rather more epic than idyllic in the strict sense of the term. The terms _idyll_ and _pastoral_ are not definitely discriminated.
_Lyric_ poetry is poetry expressing personal feeling or emotion and in tuneful form. _Songs_ are the simplest examples of lyric poetry; formal _odes_, such as Wordsworth's on "Immortality," the most elaborate. A lyric does not primarily tell a story, but it may imply one or refer to one.
The _elegy_ is a reflective lyric prompted by the death of some one. Tennyson's _In Memoriam_ is a collection of elegiac lyrics.
A _hymn_ is a religious lyric.
_Dramatic_ poetry presents human life in speech and action.
A _tragedy_ is a serious drama which presents its hero in a losing struggle ending in his death.
A _comedy_ does not end in death, and is usually cheerful and humorous.
The _dramatic monologue_ is a poem in which a dramatic situation is presented, or perhaps a story is told, by one speaker.
_Satire_ in verse aims to correct abuses, to ridicule persons, etc.
_Didactic_ poetry has the purpose of teaching.
[Transcriber's Note:
The following errors have been corrected in this text:
Page 41: added period after "Southey in 1774"
Page 89: put blank line between lines 18 and 19 of Canto Second
Page 98: moved line number 255 of Canto Second to correct position (in the original the line number was at line 254)
Page 165: changed "by their monarch's si" to "... side"
Page 196: changed "by" to "my" in "When foeman bade me draw my blade;"
Page 212: changed "shreik" to "shriek" in "the women shriek;"
Page 253: changed comma to period after "a harp unseen"
Page 256: changed "364" to "363" in note on line 343 of Canto Second
Page 258: changed "364" to "363" in note on line 116 of Canto Third
Page 260: added period after "150" in note on line 150 of Canto Fourth
Page 262: added period after "from the calendar"
Page 262: changed "Robinhood" to "Robin Hood" in "Bold Robin Hood and all his band."
Page 268: changed "p. 5" to "p. 6" in question "Does Scott keep ..."]