Explanation:

The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfills Himself in many ways,

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

Answer: These are the most frequently quoted and proverbial lines in “Morte D’Arthur”, an exquisite narrative poem written by Lord Alfred Tennyson, the poet laureate and the representative poet of the Victorian Age. Here King Arthur is trying to console Sir Bedivere uttering a universal truth.

Sir Bedivere is the favorite knight of King Arthur. He feels sorrowful. His much-loved Round Table will disappear after his passing. He has been brought up in that atmosphere. He will be a misfit in the new set of circumstances that will follow. Hence he is afraid that there will be none to understand him in the new world. Arthur is a wise king. He teaches him a good lesson. He remarks that change is the order of the world. Everything must give place to another in course of time. This is the law of nature. So it is needless to be regretted in the view of Arthur. Even a good thing may do harm when it lingers long. It may do bad to the people if it tends to delay permanently. The spirit of a customer will be lost. People will observe it merely in a formal way. Hence it may corrupt the people. Arthur, therefore, asks his knight to adjust himself to the new order. An old thing must be replaced with a new thing. Thus God fulfills His own mission on earth. He does it by creating always various changes in the natural courses. He keeps doing it lest one good custom should corrupt the world. A good and accepted rule may be directed wrongly when it will go on for a long period of time.

In fact, the words of Arthur may be applied to the conservatives of Tennyson’s own time. The conservatives cling to the past in a blind manner. Tennyson appears to advise them to adapt themselves to the changing circumstances.