From what I can interpret, Cantos 4-6 set up the scenes and
progression of war. Scott describes in detail and with various dialogues the
many happenings during a time when battle ensued. He combines love, chivalry,
valor, and loyalty to evoke a feeling of patriotism. The one thing that I find
very frustrating is the use of words that, today, are completely uncommon and impossible
to interpret without a dictionary. It almost seems as a tactic to further
enhance the nationality of Scotland. Despite this nuisance, I was able to
connect emotionally with the poem and felt sad for the minstrel. It seemed that
he suffered tremendously because he had witnessed the challenges of men at war
and because his memory would never allow him to forget. I feel that Scott used the
minstrel as a record keeper or rather took advantage of the minstrel’s position
as one who without knowing became the record keeper.
The archaic language is frustrating, but it is something true to the time of the minstrel. I applaud Scott for keeping it that way. In fact, I secretly loved that by the end of the poem I felt that I had started to read the poem with the voice of Sean Connery.
ReplyDelete