Though the Victorian age is notable for the quality and variety of its
prose works, its dominant figure for years was the poet Tennyson. He alone,
of all that brilliant group of Victorian writers, seemed to speak not for
himself but for his age and nation; and the nation, grown weary of Byronic
rebellion, and finding its joy or sorrow expressed with almost faultless
taste by one whose life was noble, gave to Tennyson a whole-souled
allegiance such as few poets have ever won. In 1850 he was made Laureate to
succeed Wordsworth, receiving, as he said,
This laurel, greener from the brow
Of him that uttered nothing base;
and from that time on he steadily adhered to his purpose, which was to know
his people and to be their spokesman. Of all the poets who have been called
to the Laureateship, he is probably the only one of whom it can truthfully
be said that he understood his high office and was worthy of it.
Life
When we attempt a biography of a person we assume
unconsciously that he was a public man; but that is precisely what
Tennyson refused to be. He lived a retired life of thoughtfulness,
of communion with nature, of friendships too sacred for the world's
gaze, a life blameless in conduct, unswerving in its loyalty to
noble ideals. From boyhood to old age he wrote poetry, and in that
poetry alone, not in biography or letters or essays of criticism,
do we ever touch the real man.
Tennyson was the son of a cultured clergyman, and was born in the
rectory of Somersby, Lincolnshire, in 1809, the same year that saw
the birth of Lincoln and Darwin. Like Milton he devoted himself to
poetry at an early age; in his resolve he was strengthened by his
mother; and from it he never departed. The influences of his early
life, the quiet beauty of the English landscape, the surge and
mystery of the surrounding sea, the emphasis on domestic virtues,
the pride and love of an Englishman for his country and his
country's history,--these are everywhere reflected in the poet's
work.
His education was largely a matter of reading under his father's
direction. He had a short experience of the grammar school at
Louth, which he hated forever after. He entered Cambridge, and
formed a circle of rare friends ("apostles" they called themselves)
who afterwards became famous; but he left college without taking a
degree, probably because he was too poor to continue his course.
Not till 1850 did he earn enough by his work to establish a home of
his own. Then he leased a house at Farringford, Isle of Wight,
which we have ever since associated with Tennyson's name. But his
real place is the Heart of England.
A Poet and his Critics
His first book (a boyish piece of work, undertaken with his brother
Charles) appeared under the title Poems by Two Brothers
(1827). In 1830, and again in 1832, he published a small volume
containing such poems as "The Palace of Art," "The Lotos-Eaters,"
"The Lady of Shalott" and "The Miller's Daughter"; but the critics
of the age, overlooking the poet's youth and its promise, treated
the volumes unmercifully. Tennyson, always sensitive to criticism,
was sensible enough to see that the critics had ground for their
opinions, if not for their harshness; and for ten long years, while
he labored to perfect his art, his name did not again appear in
print.
There was another reason for his silence. In 1833 his dearest
friend, Arthur Hallam, died suddenly in Vienna, and it was years
before Tennyson began to recover from the blow. His first
expression of grief is seen in the lyric beginning, "Break, break,
break," which contains the memorable stanza:
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Then he began that series of elegies for his friend which appeared,
seventeen years later, as In Memoriam.
He Wins and Holds his Place
Influenced by his friends, Tennyson broke his long silence with a
volume containing "Morte d'Arthur," "Locksley Hall," "Sir Galahad,"
"Lady Clare" and a few more poems which have never lost their power
over readers; but it must have commanded attention had it contained
only "Ulysses," that magnificent appeal to manhood, reflecting the
indomitable spirit of all those restless explorers who dared
unknown lands or seas to make wide the foundations of imperial
England. It was a wonderful volume, and almost its first effect was
to raise the hidden Tennyson to the foremost place in English
letters.
Whatever he wrote thereafter was sure of a wide reading. Critics,
workingmen, scientists, reformers, theologians,--all recognized the
power of the poet to give melodious expression to their thought or
feeling. Yet he remained averse to everything that savored of
popularity, devoting himself as in earlier days to poetry alone. As
a critic writes, "Tennyson never forgot that the poet's work was to
convince the world of love and beauty; that he was born to do that
work, and do it worthily."
There are two poems which are especially significant in view of
this steadfast purpose. The first is "Merlin and the Gleam," which
reflects Tennyson's lifelong devotion to his art; the other is
"Crossing the Bar," which was his farewell and hail to life when
the end came in 1892.
Works of Tennyson
There is a wide variety in Tennyson's work: legend,
romance, battle song, nature, classic and medieval heroes, problems of
society, questions of science, the answer of faith,--almost everything that
could interest an alert Victorian mind found some expression in his poetry.
It ranges in subject from a thrush song to a religious philosophy, in form
from the simplest love lyric to the labored historical drama.
Typical Short Poems
Of the shorter poems of Tennyson there are a few which should be known to
every student: first, because they are typical of the man who stands for
modern English poetry; and second, because one is constantly meeting
references to these poems in books or magazines or even newspapers. Among
such representative poems are: "The Lotos-Eaters," a dream picture
characterized by a beauty and verbal melody that recall Spenser's work;
"Locksley Hall" and "Locksley Hall Sixty Years After," the one a romance
throbbing with youth and hope, the other representing the same hero grown
old, despondent and a little carping, but still holding fast to his ideals;
"Sir Galahad," a medieval romance of purity; "Ulysses," an epitome of
exploration in all ages; "The Revenge," a stirring war song; "Rizpah," a
dramatic portrayal of a mother's grief for a wayward son; "Romney's
Remorse," a character study of Tennyson's later years; and a few shorter
poems, such as "The Higher Pantheism," "Flower in the Crannied Wall,"
"Wages" and "The Making of Man," which reflect the poet's mood before the
problems of science and of faith.
To these should be added a few typical patriotic pieces, which show
Tennyson speaking as Poet Laureate for his country: "Ode on the Death of
Wellington," "Charge of the Light Brigade," "Defense of Lucknow," "Hands
all Round," and the imperial appeal of "Britons, Hold Your Own" or, as it
is tamely called, "Opening of the Indian and Colonial Exposition." The
beginner may also be reminded of certain famous little melodies, such as
the "Bugle Song," "Sweet and Low," "Tears," "The Brook," "Far, Far, Away"
and "Crossing the Bar," which are among the most perfect that England has
produced. And, as showing Tennyson's extraordinary power of youthful
feeling, at least one lyric of his old age should be read, such as "The
Throstle" (a song that will appeal especially to all bird lovers),
beginning:
"Summer is coming, summer is coming,
I know it, I know it, I know it;
Light again, leaf again, life again, love again"--
Yes, my wild little poet!
Here Tennyson is so merged in his subject as to produce the impression that
the lyric must have been written not by an aged poet but by the bird
himself. Reading the poem one seems to hear the brown thrasher on a twig of
the wild-apple tree, pouring his heart out over the thicket which his mate
has just chosen for a nesting place.
Idylls of the King
Of the longer works of Tennyson the most notable is the Idylls of the
King, a series of twelve poems retelling part of the story of Arthur
and his knights. Tennyson seems to have worked at this poem in haphazard
fashion, writing the end first, then a fragment here or there, at intervals
during half a century. Finally he welded his material into its present
form, making it a kind of allegory of human life, in which man's animal
nature fights with his spiritual aspirations. As Tennyson wrote, in his
"Finale" to Queen Victoria:
Accept this old, imperfect tale,
New-old, and shadowing Sense at war with Soul.
The beginner will do well to forget the allegory and read the poem for its
sustained beauty of expression and for its reflection of the modern ideal
of honor. For, though Malory and Tennyson tell the same story, there is
this significant difference between the Morte d' Arthur and the
Idylls of the King: one is thoroughly medieval, and the other almost
as thoroughly modern. Malory in simple prose makes his story the expression
of chivalry in the Middle Ages; his heroes are true to their own time and
place. Tennyson in melodious blank verse changes his material freely so as
to make it a reflection of a nineteenth-century gentleman disguised in a
suit of armor and some old knightly raiment.
One may add that some readers cleave to Tennyson, while others greatly
prefer Malory. There is little or no comparison between the two, and
selections from both should be read, if only to understand how this old
romance of Arthur has appealed to writers of different times. In making a
selection from the Idylls (the length of the poem is rather
forbidding) it is well to begin with the twelfth book, "The Passing of
Arthur," which was first to be written, and which reflects the noble spirit
of the entire work.
In The Princess: a Medley the poet attempts the difficult task of
combining an old romantic story with a modern social problem; and he does
not succeed very well in harmonizing his incongruous materials.
The Princess
The story is, briefly, of a princess who in youth is betrothed to a
prince. When she reaches what is called the age of discretion
(doubtless because that age is so frequently marked by
indiscretions) she rebels against the idea of marriage, and founds
a college, herself the principal, devoted to the higher education
of women. The prince, a gallant blade, and a few of his followers
disguise themselves as girls and enter the school. When an unruly
masculine tongue betrays him he is cast out with maledictions on
his head. His father comes with an army, and makes war against the
father of the princess. The prince joins blithely in the fight, is
sore wounded, and is carried to the woman's college as to a
hospital. The princess nurses him, listens to his love tale, and
the story ends in the good old-fashioned way.
There are many beautiful passages in The Princess, and had Tennyson
been content to tell the romantic story his work would have had some
pleasant suggestion of Shakespeare's As You Like It; but the social
problem spoils the work, as a moralizing intruder spoils a bit of innocent
fun. Tennyson is either too serious or not serious enough; he does not know
the answer to his own problem, and is not quite sincere in dealing with it
or in coming to his lame and impotent conclusion. Few readers now attempt
the three thousand lines of The Princess, but content themselves
with a few lyrics, such as "Ask Me No More," "O Swallow Flying South,"
"Tears," "Bugle Song" and "Sweet and Low," which are familiar songs in many
households that remember not whence they came. [Footnote: The above
criticism of The Princess applies, in some measure, to Tennyson's
Maud: a Monodrama, a story of passionate love and loss and sorrow.
Tennyson wrote also several dramatic works, such as Harold,
Becket and Queen Mary, in which he attempted to fill some of
the gaps in Shakespeare's list of chronicle plays.]
English Idyls
More consistent than The Princess is a group of poems reflecting the
life and ideals of simple people, to which Tennyson gave the general name
of English Idyls. The longest and in some respects the best of these
is "Enoch Arden," a romance which was once very popular, but which is now
in danger of being shelved because the modern reader prefers his romance in
prose form. Certain of the famous poems which we have already named are
classed among these English idyls; but more typical of Tennyson's purpose
in writing them are "Dora," "The Gardener's Daughter" and "Aylmer's Field,"
in which he turns from ancient heroes to sing the romance of present-day
life.
Among mature readers, who have met the sorrows of life or pondered its
problems, the most admired of Tennyson's work is In Memoriam (1850),
an elegy inspired by the death of Arthur Hallam. As a memorial poem it
invites comparison with others, with Milton's "Lycidas," or Shelley's
"Adonais," or Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." Without going deeply
into the comparison we may note this difference: that Tennyson's work is
more personal and sympathetic than any of the others. Milton had only a
slight acquaintance with his human subject (Edward King) and wrote his poem
as a memorial for the college rather than for the man; Shelley had never
met Keats, whose early death he commemorates; Gray voiced an impersonal
melancholy in the presence of the unknown dead; but Tennyson had lost his
dearest friend, and wrote to solace his own grief and to keep alive a
beautiful memory. Then, as he wrote, came the thought of other men and
women mourning their dead; his view broadened with his sympathy, and he
wrote other lyrics in the same strain to reflect the doubt or fear of
humanity and its deathless faith even in the shadow of death.
It is this combination of personal and universal elements which makes In
Memoriam remarkable. The only other elegy to which we may liken it is
Emerson's "Threnody," written after the death of his little boy. But where
Tennyson offers an elaborate wreath and a polished monument, Emerson is
content with a rugged block of granite and a spray of nature's evergreen.
Plan of the Poem
In Memoriam occupied Tennyson at intervals for many years,
and though he attempted to give it unity before its publication in
1850, it is still rather fragmentary. Moreover, it is too long; for
the poet never lived who could write a hundred and thirty-one
lyrics upon the same subject, in the same manner, without growing
monotonous.
There are three more or less distinct parts of the work, [Footnote:
Tennyson divided In Memoriam into nine sections. Various
attempts have recently been made to organize the poem and to make a
philosophy of it, but these are ingenious rather than convincing.]
corresponding to three successive Christmas seasons. The first part
(extending to poem 30) is concerned with grief and doubt; the
second (to poem 78) exhibits a calm, serious questioning of the
problem of faith; the third introduces a great hope amid tender
memories or regrets, and ends (poem 106) with that splendid outlook
on a new year and a new life, "Ring Out Wild Bells." This was
followed by a few more lyrics of mounting faith, inspired by the
thought that divine love rules the world and that our human love is
immortal and cannot die. The work ends, rather incongruously, with
a marriage hymn for Tennyson's sister.
The spirit of In Memoriam is well reflected in the "Proem"
or introductory hymn, "Strong Son of God, Immortal Love"; its
message is epitomized in the last three lines:
One God, one law, one element,
And one far-off divine event
To which the whole creation moves.
The Quality of Tennyson
The charm of Tennyson is twofold. As the voice of
the Victorian Age, reflecting its thought or feeling or culture, its
intellectual quest, its moral endeavor, its passion for social justice, he
represents to us the spirit of modern poetry; that is, poetry which comes
close to our own life, to the aims, hopes, endeavors of the men and women
of to-day. With this modern quality Tennyson has the secret of all old
poetry, which is to be eternally young. He looked out upon a world from
which the first wonder of creation had not vanished, where the sunrise was
still "a glorious birth," and where love, truth, beauty, all inspiring
realities, were still waiting with divine patience to reveal themselves to
human eyes.
There are other charms in Tennyson: his romantic spirit, his love of
nature, his sense of verbal melody, his almost perfect workmanship; but
these the reader must find and appreciate for himself. The sum of our
criticism is that Tennyson is a poet to have handy on the table for the
pleasure of an idle hour. He is also (and this is a better test) an
excellent poet to put in your pocket when you go on a journey. So shall you
be sure of traveling in good company.
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