"Ah! My Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
For now I see the true old times are dead,
When every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight.
. . .
But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
Which was an image of the mighty world;
And I, the last, go forth companionless,
And the days darken round me, and the years
Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfills himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
. . .

These poignant lines from Idylls of the King capture the profound sense of loss and transformation faced by Sir Bedivere, the last of King Arthur's knights. As he grapples with the end of an era—the dissolution of the Round Table—Bedivere mourns the passing of a time when knights embraced noble opportunities and ideals. His lament highlights the isolation he feels as he confronts a future populated by "new men, strange faces, other minds." The desolation of a once-glorious past is palpable.

Arthur's response, however, offers a glimmer of wisdom amid the sorrow. His acknowledgment that "the old order changeth, yielding place to new" suggests that change is inevitable and even necessary. Arthur implies that clinging to "one good custom" risks stagnation, hinting at the broader cycle of renewal and growth. In these reflections, Tennyson addresses themes of impermanence, evolution, and the continuous unfolding of divine purpose through history's ever-turning wheel.