Beschreibung:
<jats:p>“You have but fed on the roses and Iain in the lilies of life.” With this Swinburnian line Tennyson concludes the introductory section of Maud and turns to the lyrical development of the conflict for which preparation has been made. In its immediate context the statement is deliberately ambiguous, suggesting little more than that Maud has hitherto led a sheltered and luxurious life. Yet the announcement of the lily and rose motifs in this place is not without significance. Considered apart, the two flowers evoke a wealth of traditional symbolic meaning, traceable throughout English poetry from Chaucer on; placed in direct relation to each other as here, they create an added potential for dramatic interplay. That Tennyson understood and desired to exploit the dramatic uses to which symbols may be put becomes apparent on analysis of the conditions under which the lily and rose reoccur in subsequent passages of the narrative.</jats:p>