The Vigil-at-Arms -- Louise Imogen Guiney

(Poem #1860) The Vigil-at-Arms Keep holy watch with silence, prayer, and fasting Till morning break, and all the bugles play; Unto the One aware from everlasting Dear are the winners: thou art more than they. Forth from this peace on manhood's way thou goest, Flushed with resolve, and radiant in mail; Blessing supreme for men unborn thou sowest, O knight elect! O soul ordained to fail! -- Louise Imogen Guiney

          (from 'A Roadside Harp', 1893)

I didn't really understand what this poem was all about until I went and
looked up the vigil at arms. One website had this to say:

  After this, the squire attended a banquet where they had the last food
  they would recieve for many hours. that night, they laid their weapons
  on the altar of the chapel so they could be blessed by the priest. The
  spent the rest of the night praying. This part of the ceremony was
  called the Vigil at Arms and it reminded the squire to only use his
  weapons for the service of to only use his weapons for the service of
  God.
    -- http://home.texoma.net/~oops/index.html

The poem matches its subject matter well - the weighty, solemn tone of the
ceremony comes through nicely, and even though this is not a poem that has
aged gracefully, serendipitously the dated, Victorian feel of the lines
actually helps take the reader back to a still earlier age, increasing the
sense of immersion in a now-vanished ritual.

I must admit, though, that I don't care for the last line. While I see what
Guiney is aiming for, it strikes a dissonant note that, while it does make
the reader step back and take a second look, does not really enhance the
poem.

martin

[Links]

Biography:
  [broken link] http://www.poemhunter.com/louise-imogen-guiney/biography/poet-6656/

We've run one Guiney poem before, from her "London: Twelve Sonnets":
  http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/610.html

Full text of "A Roadside Harp":
  [broken link] http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/guiney/roadside.htm