LOVE AND DUTY

Sangharakshita: A Life in Verse

Love and Duty

Guinevere loved the King
Much less than she esteemed,
And so of gallant Lancelot
She dreamed and dreamed and dreamed.

One day the dream became so deep
That it was dream no more,
And she and gallant Lancelot
Stood on a lonely shore,

And standing on that lonely shore
They heard a dreadful sound,
A sound as of the Crack of Doom,
As split the Table Round;

And thus the lawless passion
Of Arthur’s guilty queen
Broke up the goodliest fellowship
That e’re on earth was seen.

Let love and duty coincide,
Lest both of them be hurled
To ruin, and the Crack of Doom
Be heard around the world.

Sangharakshita on “Love and Duty”

Listen to the whole interview. Or to individual tracks below.

The seventh in a series of ten intimate interviews between Sangharakshita and Saddhanandi, reflecting on Sangharakshita’s own selections from his extensive body of poetry. In this segment they discuss the poem “Love and Duty”.

Track 1: Reading of the three Arthurian poems

Track 2: Drawing literary inspiration and personal meaning from myth and legend

Track 3: The writing of the Arthurian poems

Track 4: Verse 1 – Aligning the Heart and the Ideal

Track 5: Verse 2 – Be Careful What You Dream of

Track 6: Verse 3 – The Social Effect of Unskilfulness

Track 7: Romantic Love

Track 8: The Round Table – Fellowship and Leadership

Track 9: Verse 4 – The Tension Between the Collective and the Individual

Track 10: Integration and Balance

Track 11: Final thoughts on Love and Duty