The World of Romance: being Contributions to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, 1856

In Short

This collection brings together young narrative and descriptive prose centered on medieval romance, tragic love, and sacred architecture. Across distinct tales and essays, characters endure sudden bereavement, set out on multigenerational quests, fight desperate battles on castle walls, and find salvation amidst grief. Throughout these pieces, emotional life is reflected in physical spaces, from dismal clay pools and blood-slicked battlements to the soaring stone porches and flamboyant spire of Amiens Cathedral. The work endures as a vivid monument to the Pre-Raphaelite imagination, where intense visual detail and romantic idealism transform human sorrow into lasting art.

The Story

The narrative arc moves through cycles of profound loss, spiritual devotion, and martial struggle across several distinct tales and descriptive meditations. In an early tale, a speaker stands alongside Margaret at the bedside of their beloved companion, Amyot. Amyot has returned from a long absence only to be found dead the following morning. As golden autumn light streams through vine leaves and overblown roses, Margaret prays beside his body, keeps her vow never to leave him, and passes away herself, leaving the narrator isolated in his grief. The weight of memory drives the desolate speaker to a dark, unfathomable pool ringed by stiff reeds, yellow clay, and leafless trees, where he collapses beneath a howling wind, haunted by visions of lost fertility and forgotten fields.

The focus shifts to dark spiritual trial and chivalric ambition. A priest called to shrive a dying man undergoes a terrifying ordeal: as he administers the sacraments, the room fills with a swirling, mocking crowd dancing to modern tunes, culminating in a grotesque swine that snatches the holy host from his hands and scores his skin with its tusks. In another strand of romance, two lovers named Ella and Lawrence share a lingering farewell near a garden of lilies; Lawrence arms himself for a peril-fraught quest into a cavern at the red pike, while Ella vows to seek him through this life and any future lives granted by God. Elsewhere, a young man named Lionel digs up a chest containing exquisite serpent-scaled mail and a gold-hilted sword. Spurred by his mother's counsel and a desire for knightly renown, Lionel rides out to avenge a murdered youth, confronting the brutal Lord of La Haute Garde and fighting beside Sir William de la Fosse. Their cause meets a tragic end at a breached castle wall, where, overwhelmed by enemy forces, Lionel witnesses his friends fall and his love Alys isolated in a tower.

In a neighboring kingdom, a maiden named Cissela is spared by a courteous enemy king, only to be led away as a "Peace-Queen" amid the silent sorrow of her people, while her brothers—led by the golden-haired Svend—stand clad in black cloaks, addressing a clamorous crowd demanding war. Finally, the narrative shifts from fictional romance to a reverent walk through actual space: a detailed architectural homage to Amiens Cathedral. The observer surveys its grey towers, its vibrant stone carvings of bishops, cripples, and judgment angels, and its leaden spire rising into the August sky, bidding a solemn farewell to the sanctuary's enduring majesty.

How It Unfolds

A death in the golden light Walter and Margaret keep vigil beside the dead body of Amyot on a bright autumn morning, watching rose leaves hover at the window-pane. Margaret speaks a final prayer, dies by her lover's side to fulfill her promise, and leaves Walter alone in bitter grief.

The retreat to the dismal pool Driven by memory, the narrator wanders to a steep, clay-banked pool where leafless trees creak in the storm and unbroken reeds scrape against each other. He throws himself on the ground in the dark, overwhelmed by the horror of the barren landscape.

A nightmare of desecration A priest attempts to administer the last rites to an uncommunicative dying man, only to be surrounded by a phantom crowd dancing to gaiety and polkas. The ordeal ends in terror when a monstrous swine swathed in bedclothes tears the sacred wafer from his hand.

The farewell at the lily garden Lawrence and Ella pray together for extended lives to complete their quest before Lawrence arms himself and departs at moonrise. Ella watches him leave from the porch, embarking on a long separation across time.

The unearthing of the serpent mail Lionel digs up a heavy wooden chest bound with iron, discovering a set of glorious, gold-gilded armour fashioned like scaled serpents. Urged by his mother to ride out into the world, he leaves his home behind to pursue knightly glory.

The siege at the castle breach Lionel and Sir William defend their walls against overwhelming numbers, fighting spear to spear until the enemy forces break through. As his allies fall and his beloved Alys is trapped in the tower, Lionel hurls his helmet over the battlements in despair.

The rise of the Peace-Queen Cissela is captured and brought with golden carpet spread beneath her feet to the tent of a genial king, who kisses her and proclaims her queen. Back in her homeland, her brother Svend stands before a sea of furious citizens shouting for war.

Farewell to the stone cathedral The observer wanders through the cavernous porches of Amiens Cathedral, tracing the carved histories of St. Honore and the Virgin Child. He leaves the grey, weather-beaten structure behind under the summer sky, marveling at its leaden spire and quiet beauty.

The People

• Walter: A sorrow-stricken observer who witnesses the sudden deaths of his closest companions. He is driven into deep loneliness, seeking solace near a dark, unfathomable pool while haunted by happier memories.
• Margaret: A devoted companion to Amyot. Moved by an intense passion of prayer, she chooses to die alongside her lover rather than live without him, keeping her solemn promise to remain by his side.
• Amyot: A traveler who returns home after a long absence only to pass away overnight, leaving his companions to mourn over his silent body.
• Ella: A resolute woman who pledges her love to Lawrence. She prays for extended lifetimes so that she may follow him on his perilous quest, even if it requires searching until death.
• Lawrence: A knightly seeker who bids farewell to Ella in a garden of lilies, arming himself at moonrise to fulfill a sacred duty and seek another chance to fight in his Lord's cause.
• Lionel: A young man who inherits a magnificent set of serpent-scaled mail. Eager to win honor in battle, he fights valiantly at La Haute Garde and on the castle walls, only to see his world break apart under siege.
• Cissela: A maiden spared by an invading sovereign who accepts her fate as the "Peace-Queen," leaving her homeland behind with quiet sorrow to marry the genial enemy king.
• Svend: A golden-haired prince who stands helmeted and black-cloaked before a raging populace, possessing a calm, quiet confidence even as his people demand war.

In Its Own Voice

"I remember dwelling on the strange lines the autumn had made in red on one of the gold-green vine leaves, and watching one leaf of one of the over-blown roses, expecting it to fall every minute..."

A grieving observer watches the morning light pass through a window while leaning over a companion's deathbed.

"...behold therein lay armour--mail for the whole body, made of very small rings wrought most wonderfully, for every ring was fashioned like a serpent..."

A young man unearths a buried chest containing finely wrought war gear before riding out to seek his fortune.

"Farewell to the cavernous porches of the west front, so grey under the fading August sun, grey with the wind-storms, grey with the rain-storms, grey with the beat of many days' sun..."

An admirer bids adieu to the weathered stone arches and carved figures of a beloved medieval cathedral.

What It's Really About

Underneath its chivalric quests and gothic imagery, the text explores the fragile nature of earthly happiness and the search for permanence in a world governed by loss. It asks how human beings endure sudden bereavement, whether through spiritual devotion, martial ambition, or artistic creation. The stories examine the tension between individual desire and historical necessity, showing lovers separated by noble duties and young men drawn into destructive conflicts. Throughout the work, physical structures—whether an unfathomable, stagnant pool or a grand stone cathedral—become vessels for human emotion, suggesting that memory, devotion, and art are the only enduring responses to mortal decay and political turmoil.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers a compelling glimpse into the early creative mind of one of the nineteenth century's most influential cultural figures. Readers who appreciate rich visual prose, Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics, and medieval legend will find themselves immersed in landscapes painted with sensory precision. The prose moves with a deliberate, rhythmic cadence, treating architectural details and romantic tragedy with equal gravity.

The collection does present certain difficulties for the modern reader. The prose relies heavily on archaic phrasing, elaborate sentence structures, and deliberate stylistic repetitions characteristic of Victorian medievalism. The narrative logic is often dreamlike or episodic rather than tightly plotted, shifting rapidly from eerie, nightmare-like visions to detailed descriptions of cathedral statuary. Yet for those willing to match its measured pace, the work provides a rare transportive experience, capturing the exact moment when Victorian romanticism began to rebuild the Middle Ages out of dream, stone, and story.