Professor Borges - A Course on English Literature

“fair Yoland of the flowers,” “
la hermosa Yolanda de las flores
,” who leads knights—all of this occurs in some kind of vaguely medieval era—to a castle where they die; she kills them, undoubtedly using magic.
    [
A student comes to the front of the class and begins to read the poem
.]
No one goes there now:
For what is left to fetch away
From the desolate battlements all arow,
And the lead roof heavy and grey?
“Therefore,” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
No one walks there now;
Except in the white moonlight
The white ghosts walk in a row;
If one could see it, an awful sight,
“Listen!” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
But none can see them now,
Though they sit by the side of the moat,
Feet half in the water, there in a row,
Long hair in the wind afloat.
“Therefore,” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
If any will go to it now,
He must go to it all alone,
Its gates will not open to any row
Of glittering spears—will you go alone?
“Listen!” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
    The stanzas end with the refrain, “‘This is the tune of the Seven Towers.’” It is an almost purely musical and ornamental poem: “‘
Oíd,’ dijo la Hermosa Yolanda de las flores, ‘ésta es la melodía de las siete torres
.’” [“
‘Listen!’ said fair Yoland of the flowers, / ‘This is the tune of Seven Towers.’
”] But at the same time, there is something ominous and terrible. The sorceress suggests the knight come alone, to die.
By my love go there now,
To fetch me my coif away,
My coif and my kirtle, with pearls arow,
Oliver, go today!
“Therefore,” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
I am unhappy now,
I cannot tell you why;
If you go, the priests and I in a row
Will pray that you may not die.
“Listen!” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
If you will go for me now,
I will kiss your mouth at last;
[She sayeth inwardly]
(The graves stand grey in a row.)
Oliver, hold me fast!
“Therefore,” said fair Yoland of the flowers,
“This is the tune of Seven Towers.”
    These poems were written in Morris’s youth. Soon, we will look at his mature works,
The Earthly Paradise
(a cycle of stories), and an epic poem,
Sigurd the Volsung
. But he wrote these later—one from the year 1868 to 1870, and the other in the year 1876. Then came other less important poems, to convert people to socialism.
    We will now read another poem,“The Sailing of the Sword.” 2
The Sword
is a ship carrying three warriors—I believe, to the Crusades—who leave behind three sisters and tell them they will return. There is a theme that repeats itself, a line: “When the Sword went out to sea.” There is alliteration. One of the sisters speaks. She has been abandoned, because I can tell you now that the knight will return, but with a splendid woman by his side.
    [
The student reads the poem
.]
Across the empty garden-beds,
When the Sword went out to sea,
I scarcely saw my sisters’ heads
Bowed each beside a tree.
I could not see the castle leads,
When the Sword went out to sea,
Alicia wore a scarlet gown,
When the Sword went out to sea,
But Ursula’s was russet brown:
For the mist we could not see
The scarlet roofs of the good town,
When the Sword went out to sea.
Green holly in Alicia’s hand,
When the Sword went out to sea;
With sere oak-leaves did Ursula stand;
O! yet alas for me!
I did but bear a peel’d white wand,
When the Sword went out to sea.
O, russet brown and scarlet bright,
When the Sword went out to sea,
My sisters wore; I wore but white:
Red, brown, and white, are three;
Three damozels; each had a knight,
When the Sword went out to sea.
Sir Robert shouted loud, and said:
When the Sword went out to sea,
Alicia, while I see thy head,
What shall I bring for thee?
O, my sweet Lord, a ruby red:
The Sword went out to sea.
Sir Miles said, while the sails hung down,
When the Sword went out to sea,
O, Ursula! while I see the town,
What shall I bring for thee?
Dear knight, bring back a falcon brown:
The Sword went out to sea.
But my Roland, no word he said
When the Sword went out to sea,
But only turn’d away his head;
A quick shriek came from me:
Come back, dear lord, to your white maid.
The Sword went out to sea.
The hot sun bit the garden-beds
When the Sword came back from