# Whence this line of poetry?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 17, 1999, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989 "1999-09-17T19:02:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989/1 "1999-09-17T19:02:00Z")

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I have a friend, a retired reference librarian, who asked me to locate a line–maybe it’s from “The Death of King Arthur,” maybe not:  
“Lest one good [thing] corrupt the world.”  
Does anyone among the Teeming Millions know where this line came from? Thanks very much. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Born2Read](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@Born2Read](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Born2Read)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989/2 "1999-09-17T19:41:00Z")

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Could it be this, from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Passing of Arthur-  
“And slowly answer’d 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.”

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989/3 "1999-09-17T19:45:00Z")

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It’s “The Passing of Arthur,” from Tennyson’s IDYLLS OF THE KING, and it goes thus:

And slowly answer’d 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.

* * *

Uke

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989/4 "1999-09-17T19:46:00Z")

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DAMN it. That’s the last time _I_ try to answer first.

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-this-line-of-poetry/7989/5 "1999-09-17T19:50:00Z")

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Thanks, guys. 🙂