Merlin Enthralled

“Merlin Enthralled” is from Richard Wilbur’s 1956 poetry collection Things of This World, a book that was awarded both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. The poem offers a new look at the ancient legend of Merlin, the magician who served as counselor to the legendary King Arthur of England. The episode that Wilbur recounts is from the end of Merlin’s life when he falls under a spell cast by Niniane, a sorceress who lulls him to sleep. In most versions, this story ends with Merlin trapped within a tree or cave or tomb where he slowly wastes away in an agonizing death, but, in Wilbur’s poem, Merlin lies peacefully beside a lake, becoming one with nature as he dies.

Among this poem’s noteworthy aspects is the way it modernizes a traditional story dating back almost a millennium. Arthur, Gawen, and the other knights, who have stood for centuries as figures of military force, are shown to be almost childlike when they cannot find Merlin, while the sorcerer himself seems to be released, rather than captured, by Niniane (the medieval sense of the word “enthrall” entailed holding one in slavery). Wilbur’s use of formal elements of rhyme and meter links this work with centuries of poetic tradition, but he uses enough verbal flexibility to make this formal structure nearly inconspicuous. “Merlin Enthralled” is generally considered to be one of the best of Richard Wilbur’s early poems, a standout in a career that has lasted for more than fifty years.

Merlin Enthralled Summary

Lines 1–4
At the start of “Merlin Enthralled,” the knights of the Round Table are already aware of Merlin’s disappearance. The first few words, “after a while,” indicate that they have waited for some word of him or for someone to lead them into action. The fact that they have no clue about where to begin looking is made clear in the first line, which specifies that they are “aimlessly riding.” The reference to their “drained cups” shows that the knights have held off their search until their drinks were finished. In line four, the lack of any “unnatural sound” presents readers with a paradox. If “unnatural” is taken to be a bad or threatening thing, the sort of mischief an evil sorcerer might perpetrate, then its lack is a good thing, but if Merlin himself is considered something different than nature, then the lack of unnatural sound might indicate that he is dead.

Lines 5–8
In line five “mystery” is personified. The word is usually used to describe a mood, but Wilbur gives it human characteristics. It watches the way a person would watch, and it “darkle[s],” which is the action of making things dark or mysterious. In line seven “mystery” is said to have a voice, which is the sound of the wind through the leaves. Line eight describes the squirrels as making an “alien” sound as they chase each other. They are contrasted with the “ancient” trees that are solid, still, and steady.

Lines 9–12
The third stanza refers back to the distorted reality frequently implied throughout the poem. Wilbur does not describe for readers what it is that might have made the knights stop, or what they felt that made them suspect that Merlin might be near the edge of the lake. Instead, the poem describes this feeling in line nine with the vague word “something.” Stopping and being still for once, the knights pay attention to the small things of nature that they might ordinarily be too busy to notice, such as frogs and insects. Line eleven describes the bugs skating on top of the water and states that the top of the water is “shut,” as though nothing could penetrate it. In line twelve, the sun is described as hot enough to dry out algae on a log.