Notice  the  brutal  use  of  the  word  "iitte"  (often  spelled
fytte).  This  was  an  old  name  for  the  divisions  of  a  long
poem,  romance,  or  epic.  Later  the  Italian  term  "canto"
was  substituted  for  it.  Godmar  refers  to  the  woman's  love
as  her  romance,  her  poem :  "Now  the  first  canto  of  our  love-
romance  has  been  read — only  the  first,  remember  I"  The
second  fitte  will  be  perhaps  the  burning  of  the  woman  when
she  is  brought  back  to  the  castle  prison  from  which  she  fled.
It  all  depends  upon  circumstances.  If  she  has  really  be-
come mad,  she  may  escape.  The  poem  ends  here,  leaving
us  in  doubt  about  the  rest.  We  can  only  imagine  the  termi-
nation. I  think  that  she  has  not  really  become  mad,  that
she  is  too  selfish  and  weak  to  bear  or  even  to  feel  the  real
emotional  shock  of  the  thing;  and  that  when  they  are  half
way  to  the  prison  she  is  likely  to  yield  to  Godmar's  will.
If  she  does  so,  he  will  probably  keep  her  in  his  castle  until
he  tires  of  her,  and  finds  it  expedient  to  end  her  existence
with  as  little  scruple  as  he  showed  in  killing  Robert.  But,
as  an  actual  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  be  sure  of  anything,  be-


250  WILLIAM  MORRIS

cause  we  know  neither  the  beginning  nor  the  end  of  the
affair.  We  have  only  a  glimpse  of  the  passion,  suffering,
selfishness,  cruelty — then  utter  darkness.  And  this  method
of  merely  glimpsing  the  story  causes  it  to  leave  a  profound
impression  upon  the  imagination.  Please  do  not  forget
this,  because  it  is  the  most  important  art  in  any  kind  of
narrative  literature,  whether  of  poetry  or  of  prose.
