The Big Tree

"...a tincture of grandness in simplicity".

An Allegory

T. H. White's King Arthur is not dissimilar to a certain former American President whose inheritance and ambition belied a genuinely simple nature.

yet the conscientious reader does not extend the metaphor further.

two characteristics clearly distinguish these men; White's King Arthur is not prideful and he is guided by the perpetually-retrospective Merlyn (rather than Uther Pendragon incarnate).

The Once and Future King

I have begun reading a rather heady novel.

I am fortunate not to have read the book as a youth. in my immaturity, I would have been impressed by its deprecating humor and preoccupation with thaumaturgy.

reading it now, I appreciate its bucolic setting, royal characters and righteous message.

indeed, my character would have been much attenuated had I read this novel, rather than The Pilgrim's Progress and The Faerie Queene, early in life.