The Vision of Sir Launfal

This section of the poem contains six numbered stanzas. The first stanza contains Sir Launfal's recollection of how he set out on his journey to find the Holy Grail. He calls for his “golden spurs” (Line 96) and “richest mail” (Line 97), references to the expensive armor worn by medieval knights and which indicated their position in society. He contrasts this with his vow not to sleep on a bed or pillow, but on “rushes” (Line 103), plants that grow near lakes, like a pauper. This reference to the life of the less fortunate is a foreshadowing of the humility and compassion learnt by Launfal during his quest. Launfal then falls asleep or into a vision which holds the memory of his quest.

The second stanza describes the castle where Launfal lives and from where he departs. It is surrounded by the bucolic landscape of cattle, crows, and trees, all in harmony on a perfect summer day. However, the castle presents a much less pleasant image: its cold, “dull and gray” (Line 115) walls recall winter, and its uninviting stone creates a fortress accessible only to the richest “lord or lady of high degree” (Line 118). The castle is personified and described as proud and “churlish” (Line 120), or arrogant. Summer is also personified and is unable to enter the fortifications of the castle, so “chilly” (Line 121) are the walls, despite her efforts to besiege and assault them. The language of war is used to emphasize the struggle between the positive force of summer and its generosity, and the impermeable defenses of winter, or the cold, uncharitable richer classes.

In Stanza 3, Launfal leaves the castle to commence his search for the Grail. Despite the “surly clang” (Line 128) of the drawbridge as Launfal passes through the “dark arch” (Line 129), the knight and his horse are full of energy, seemingly bestowed upon them by the powerful forces of the sunlight which has beaten down on the castle walls over the previous three centuries. Now, the knight, young, “lightsome” (Line 137), and strong, but also naïve and untested: “maiden” (Line 130) and “unscarred” (Line 138), begins his noble and idealistic quest.

The next stanza, which is short, offers a reminder of the contrast between the castle, which is moody, gloomy, mean, and rejects the free gifts of the sunshine, and the generosity of the summer.

The same sunshine surrounds and fills Launfal in Stanza 5 as he reaches the outside of the castle, only to be quenched when he comes across a poor, moaning, crouching leper. Launfal is repulsed, and his mood becomes cold as his joyful, optimistic morning is spoilt. He throws the leper a gold coin, not in pity or empathy but rather “in scorn” (Line 158), showing his disregard for the poor and his nonchalance regarding his own wealth.

The last stanza of Part First is a soliloquy by the leper, who does not pick up the coin. He expresses his disdain for the money given by such as Launfal from a sense of duty, preferring to receive “a poor man’s crust” (Line 160) as it is given with true sacrifice and in the spirit of God: “that thread of the all-sustaining Beauty” (Line 168). The leper says that alms from a truly compassionate source represent the generosity of God and provide more than just money or food, instead offering relief to “a soul that was suffering in darkness before” (Line 173).