[Cumaean Sibyl was the most famous of the Sibyls, the prophetic
old women of Greek mythology; she guided Aeneas through Hades in
the Aeneid. She had been granted immortality by Apollo, but
because she forgot to ask for perpetual youth, she shrank into
withered old age and her authority declined.] Not only the
title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism
of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston's book on
the Grail legend: From Ritual to Romance (Macmillan
[Macmillan→Cambridge.]). Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss
Weston's book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much
better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the
great interest of the book itself) to any who think such
elucidation of the poem worth the trouble. To another work of
anthropology I am indebted in general, one which has influenced
our generation profoundly; I mean The Golden Bough; I have used
especially the two volumes Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Anyone who is
acquainted with these works will i