Idylls of the King, published between 1859 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) which retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, their court at Camelot and the quest for the Holy Grail, Arthur's love for Queen Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him with Lancelot, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom.