Chapter II: Part 2

Some mariners find an enchanted isle ‘In which it seemed always afternoon.’ Bewitched by the magic lotos plant, they grow weary of wandering and declare that they ‘will no longer roam.’ The poem is founded on _Odyssey_ ix. 82 _seq._

LOVE AND DEATH.

A few lines in which the poet recounts the meeting of Love and Death and the former’s declaration--

‘--I shall reign for ever over all.’

LOVE AND DUTY.

A blank verse poem. Two lovers, parted by their sense of duty, contemplate a lonely future with a faint hope of love’s fulfilment in some future age.

LOVER’S TALE, THE.

_Argument._ Julian, whose cousin and foster-sister Camilla, has been wedded to his friend and rival Lionel, endeavours to relate the story of his own love for her and the strange sequel. He speaks of having been haunted by a vision and the sound of bells tolling for a funeral, and at last ringing for a marriage; but he breaks away overcome, as he approaches the event, and a witness to it completes the tale in the _Golden Supper_. Eleven months after her marriage to Lionel, Camilla, supposedly dead, is borne to the vault. Julian, going for a last farewell to his cousin, finds her alive. After some time has passed he gives a great feast, at which he contrives the meeting of Lionel and the wife he had thought dead.

LOVE THOU THY LAND.

An exhortation in the metre of _In Memoriam_ to a wise love of England.

LUCRETIUS.

Lucilla, wife of Lucretius, dissatisfied with her husband’s attitude towards herself, bought a love-philtre and mingled it with his drink. It, however, clouded his brain with insane fancies, and in a fit of madness he committed suicide, to the despair of his repentant wife.

MADELINE.

Three stanzas in praise of ‘Ever varying Madeline.’

MAKING OF MAN, THE.

Two stanzas in which the poet expresses a belief in the--as yet incompleted--evolution of man.

MARGARET.

Five stanzas in praise of ‘Sweet pale Margaret.’

MARIANA.

A poem in which the forlorn state of Mariana in waiting for her faithless lover is described. The character and circumstance are taken from Shakespeare’s _Measure for Measure_.

MARIANA IN THE SOUTH.

Another description of the sad betrothed of the faithless Angelo in _Measure for Measure_.

MAUD: A MONODRAMA.

A morbid man grows to love Maud the playmate of his youth. She, too, loves him. But he quarrels with her brother, she dies and he goes away. After her death, he is ill and for a time loses his reason, and fancies himself dead. He at length comes to a better frame of mind and finds consolation in fighting for his country. Part of the poem--the verses beginning ‘Come into the garden, Maud’--has been set to music and is well-known as a song.

MAY QUEEN, THE.

A poem in three parts. In the first a young girl requests her mother to call her early in the morning of may-day for she is to be may-queen. In the second part--called _New Year’s Eve_--the former may-queen supposes herself to be dying, and bids farewell to her mother with many regrets for the happy life she leaves. In the _Conclusion_, however, she is still alive though it is spring time again. She thinks that her death really is near and declares herself glad to go where

‘--the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.’

MECHANOPHILUS.

A short poem written in the time of the first railways. The poet marvels at present invention and anticipates great things to come.

MERLIN AND THE GLEAM.

Merlin speaks, though all his life he has had for guidance the gleam--a lodestar revealed to him by the great magician and prophet who has taught him his Art.

MERMAID, THE.

Three stanzas, descriptive of an imaginary mermaid loved by many mermen and married by a sea-king.

MERMAN, THE.

The poet’s idea, expressed in a poem of three stanzas, of the merry life of a merman under the sea.

MILLER’S DAUGHTER, THE.

A man happily married to a miller’s daughter goes through his former life in retrospect with his wife--now growing old with him. He says that his life has been so happy that

‘Would God renew me from my birth
I’d almost live my life again.’

MILTON.

An experiment in _Alcaics_. The poet praises Milton in glowing words.

MINE BE THE STRENGTH OF SPIRIT.

A sonnet expressing the poet’s desire for a spiritual strength corresponding with the tremendous strength of a river in the physical world.

MINNIE AND WINNIE.

A ‘child-song’ beginning--

‘Minnie and Winnie
Slept in a shell.’

and ending with--

‘Wake, little ladies,
The sun is aloft!’

MONTENEGRO.

A sonnet to Montenegro, which is thus addressed--

‘O smallest among peoples! rough rock-throne
Of Freedom!’

MORTE D’ARTHUR.

A beautiful description in blank verse of the mysterious passing and last words of the British hero-king.

MOVE EASTWARD, HAPPY EARTH.

A fragment in which the poet exhorts the earth to move eastward more quickly in order that his wedding day may come the sooner.

MY LIFE IS FULL OF WEARY DAYS.

A dying man bids farewell to his friend and leaves the last request--

‘Come only, when the days are still,
And at my headstone whisper low,
And tell me if the woodbines blow.’

NORTHERN COBBLER.

A dialect poem in which the Northern Cobbler tells a friend the story of how he cured himself of drunkenness.

NORTHERN FARMER, OLD STYLE.

A poem in dialect. A northern farmer who is failing, has been visited by doctor and parson and is equally scornful of both. He reviews his life and decides to disregard the doctor and take his beer as usual. The poem was suggested by a story told to the poet by his great-uncle of a Lincolnshire farm-bailiff, who on his death-bed said: ‘God A’mighty little knows what He’s aboot, a-takin’ me, an’ ’Squire ’ll be so mad an’ all!’

NORTHERN FARMER, NEW STYLE.

A dialect poem in which a more modern northern farmer gives his son advice as to marriage--

‘Doänt thou marry for munny, but goä wheer munny is!’

The poem was suggested by the remark of a rich neighbour, ‘When I canters my ’erse along the ramper I ’ears _proputty, proputty, proputty_.’

NOTHING WILL DIE.

One of the poet’s earlier efforts in which he declares that though the world may change yet nothing will die.

OAK, THE.

Three short stanzas in which the poet exhorts his readers to imitate in their own lives the stages in the life of an oak tree.

ODE ON THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

A beautiful funeral ode, on the death of the great duke. The poet expresses an ‘Empire’s lamentation,’ recounts the great deeds and fine qualities of the duke and ends with the prayer

‘God accept him, Christ receive him.’

ODE SUNG AT THE OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

An Ode written for the opening of the Exhibition. The poet regrets that the Prince Consort--upon whose suggestion the Exhibition was founded--had succumbed to an attack of typhoid fever, and foreshadows the time when the ‘arts of peace’ shall have entirely superseded for all time the ‘works of war.’

ODE TO MEMORY.

An invocation to Memory which the poet personifies as a friend with whom--

‘to live alone
Were how much better than to own
A crown, a sceptre, and a throne!’

ŒNONE.

The very beautiful lament of the nymph Œnone, deserted by her lover, the shepherd-prince, Paris. She relates the story of the Three Goddesses and Paris’s judgment in favour of Aphroditè and of the consequent love of Paris for Helen of Troy. Œnone ends her tragic story with the declaration

‘That, wheresoe’er I am by night and day,
All earth and air seem only burning fire.’

OF OLD SAT FREEDOM ON THE HEIGHTS.

A five stanza poem in which Freedom is described, personified as ‘Grave mother of majestic works.’

ON A MOURNER.

A poem in seven stanzas in which the poet describes the ways in which Religion and Nature combine to console a mourner.

ON ONE WHO AFFECTED AN EFFEMINATE MANNER.

Four lines, the gist of which seems to be--‘man woman is not woman man.’

ON THE JUBILEE OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

Eleven stanzas in which the poet recounts the glories of the Queen and of her reign, and ends with a forecast of a happy future.

ON TRANSLATIONS OF HOMER.

An experiment in _Hexameters and Pentameters_.

OPENING OF THE INDIAN AND COLONIAL EXHIBITION BY THE QUEEN.

Lines written by the poet, as Laureate, for the royal opening of the above Exhibition.

OWD ROÄ.

An old native of the North of England tells his son--in dialect--the story of the way in which ‘old Rover’ saved his (the son’s) life in a fire. The grateful father declares that his intention is ‘to maäke ’is owd aäge as ’appy’ as he possibly can. ‘Owd Roä’ is the northern version for Old Rover. The poem is the poet’s version of a report that he had read in a newspaper about a black retriever which saved a child from a burning house.

OWL, THE.

A song in two stanzas addressed to a white owl who ‘in the belfry sits.’

PALACE OF ART, THE.

‘A sort of allegory’ in which the poet tells the story of a gifted soul who had a passion for Beauty _que_ beauty--‘Art for Art’s sake.’ She dwells for some time secure in a palace of perfect beauty but is at length cast out to bemoan her error in excluding Love from her scheme of life.

PARNASSUS.

A description in three stanzas of the Mountain of the Gods. The poem is prefaced by a quotation from Horace.

PLAY, THE.

A quatrain descriptive of the gradual unwinding of the plot of a drama.

POET, THE.

A short poem setting forth the mission of a Poet.

POET’S MIND, THE.

Two stanzas, beginning--

‘Vex not thou the poet’s mind
With thy shallow wit:

The poet goes on to describe the nature of a poet’s mind and warns off all alien spirits from what he declares is ‘holy ground.’

POET’S SONG, THE.

Two stanzas in which the effect of the song of a poet on birds and beasts is described.

POETS AND CRITICS.

An exhortation to poets bidding them disregard critics and

‘Hold thine own, and work thy will!’

In two stanzas.

POETS AND THEIR BIBLIOGRAPHIES.

Tennyson congratulates the ancient poets that they lived

‘Before the Love of Letters, overdone,
Had swampt the sacred poets with themselves.’

POLAND.

An early sonnet expressing a passionate sympathy with the woes of Poland.

POLITICS.

A short poem of a single stanza addressed to

‘--you that drive, and know your Craft,’

_i.e._, politicians, exhorting them not to be swayed by the cries of the multitude.

PREFATORY POEM TO MY BROTHER’S SONNETS.

A poem written as a preface to the dead poet’s dead brother’s sonnets. It contains tender memories of the dead and earnest hopes that the living poet may follow the example of the dead one.

PREFATORY SONNET TO THE ‘NINETEENTH CENTURY.’

A sonnet as described in the title.

PRINCESS, THE: A MEDLEY.

A story in blank verse--interspersed with lyrics of great beauty--of a certain princess Ida ‘proxy wedded’ in infancy to a neighbouring prince. The princess however, on attaining marriageable age, elects to found a college for women from which men are rigidly excluded. To this house of learning the prince and his two friends gain access disguised as girls, would-be students. After many amusing adventures, the sex of the three friends is discovered and the prince woos and weds Ida after all.

PROGRESS OF SPRING.

A poem in nine stanzas describing the gradual coming of Spring to its full perfection.

PROLOGUE TO GENERAL HAMLEY.

Lines addressed to Sir Edward Hamley as a prologue to _The Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava_. The short poem is descriptive of the visit of General Hamley to Aldworth and the fine autumnal view from that place.

PROMISE OF MAY, THE.

A play described as a ‘Village Tragedy.’ The hero--a selfish libertine--among other wickednesses, seduces and then deserts a village girl. After many years he returns to the scene of his crime, determined to make reparation by marrying the surviving elder sister, and rescue her old father from ruin. But the girl whom he had betrayed long ago appears, and with her dying forgiveness, awakes in her seducer a true repentance, such as he had not felt before. The magnanimity of the father completes his moral salvation, and he quits the scene to make expiation by lifelong contrition.

QUEEN MARY.

A five-act play in blank verse, setting forth the tragedy of the reign of Mary Tudor, of her bigoted Roman Catholicism, of her piteous childless marriage with Philip of Spain, and of her painful illness and final death. The tragedy ends with the accession of Elizabeth.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS.

An early poem in which the poet describes the imaginary adventures of a boy after reading the _Arabian Nights_.

REQUIESCAT.

Two quatrains in memory of a woman who died while young. The poet is sure that

‘Her peaceful being slowly passes by
To some more perfect peace.’

REVENGE, THE.

A stirring ‘Ballad of the Fleet,’ in which the poet tells the story of Sir Richard Grenville’s single-handed achievement, when his flagship, the little ‘Revenge,’ fought a fleet of fifty-three Spanish galleons for a day and a night before the death from wounds of the heroic Sir Richard, with these words on his lips--

‘I have fought for Queen and Faith like a valiant man and true;
I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do:
With a joyful spirit I Sir Richard Grenville die!’

The materials of this ballad were drawn from a ‘Report’ of the fight by Sir Walter Raleigh.

RIFLEMEN FORM!

A recruiting song written to encourage the volunteer movement, before it was properly started.

RING, THE.

A blank verse poem in the form of a conversation between father and daughter on the latter’s wedding morning. The father gives his child the ring which had belonged to her dead mother, and tells the legend which endowed it with certain magic powers. He then relates the full story of the ring’s effect in his own life and that of his daughter’s mother and stepmother.

RIZPAH.

A poem in seventeen stanzas, in which a criminal’s mother, on her deathbed, tells a woman the story of her son’s crime, his death by hanging and her own theft of his bones in order to bury them in holy ground. She ends with a confident trust in God’s mercy--

‘--He means me I’m sure to be happy with Willy, I know not where.’

The poem was suggested by a story, which appeared in a magazine entitled _Old Brighton_, of a young man named Rooke who was hanged in chains for robbing the mail in the eighteenth century. ‘When the elements had caused the clothes and flesh to decay, his aged mother, night after night, in all weathers, and the more tempestuous the weather the more frequent the visits, made a sacred pilgrimage to the lonely spot on the Downs, and it was noticed that on her return she always brought something away with her in her apron. Upon being watched, it was discovered that the bones of the hanging man were the objects of her search, and as the wind and rain scattered them on the ground she conveyed them to her home. There she kept them, and, when the gibbet was stripped of its horrid burden, in the dead silence of the night she interred them in the hallowed enclosure of Old Shoreham Churchyard.’

ROMNEY’S REMORSE.

Romney, in his youth, was told that ‘wife and children drag an artist down,’ so he deserted his young wife and child. In this poem the dying Romney expresses his remorse and implores the forgiveness of the wife, who heaps coals of fire upon his head by nursing him when he comes to her in his last illness.

ROSALIND.

A song to Rosalind--whom the poet likens to a bright-eyed falcon--in three stanzas.

ROSES ON THE TERRACE.

The sight of the roses on the terrace brings to the poet memories of a courtship fifty years old.

SAILOR BOY.

A song of a boy who went to sea in obedience to his irresistible desire, and in spite of all ‘danger of the roaring sea.’

ST. AGNES’ EVE.

A beautiful poem in three stanzas. The young virgin-martyr, St. Agnes, soliloquizes on the eve of her death.

ST. SIMEON STYLITES.

The Saint, who spent ‘thrice ten years’ on the top of a column to expiate his sins, in this poem makes his last prayer to God.

ST. TELEMACHUS.

The story, in blank verse, of an heroic man, who in the time of gladiatorial combats in Rome, came from the East to stop these murderous exhibitions. He was stoned to death, for daring to enter the arena to stop the people’s pleasure. But the emperor forbade such combats for the future.

SEA DREAMS.

A narrative in blank verse. A man--bitter at the loss of money--his wife and infant daughter go to stay at the sea-side. The man and wife dream of the coast, wake, recount their dreams, and the man is prevailed upon to forgive a preacher of the town, against whom he bore a grudge, but who has died suddenly. The slumber song ‘What does little birdie say’ occurs in the poem.

SEA-FAIRIES.

A short poem in which the poet describes the legendary syrens of the sea and their enchanted singing which lured mariners on to dangerous rocks. The theme is taken from Homer.

SILENT VOICES, THE.

The poet beseeches the ‘silent voices’ of the dead to urge him forward--‘On! and always on!’--not drag him back.

SIR GALAHAD.

A short poem in which king Arthur’s youngest and purest knight describes himself and his quest for the Holy Grail.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

Lines on the cenotaph in Westminster Abbey. The poet praises the ‘heroic sailor-soul’ of the great Arctic explorer.

SIR JOHN OLDCASTLE, LORD COBHAM.

Soliloquy of Lord Cobham--one of the earliest protestants--who was burnt for heresy on Christmas Day, 1417.

SIR LAUNCELOT AND QUEEN GUINEVERE.

A fragment--a description of king Arthur’s Queen and her lover, Sir Launcelot, as they ride through the woods in Spring.

SISTERS, THE.

A short poem. One of two sisters is seduced by an earl, and after death is avenged by the death of the earl at the hands of the surviving sister.

SISTERS, THE (EVELYN AND EDITH).

A narrative in blank verse. A man tells the story of his love for two sisters. He married one but was never able to make up his mind which he cared for most. His wife was alienated from him by hearing of his former wooing of her sister--since dead.

SNOWDROP, THE.

A single stanza in which the poet welcomes the first appearance of the ‘February fair maid.’

SONNET TO----.

The poet here seems to believe in a former existence, for he writes in this sonnet to a friend that at the first meeting--

‘Methought that I had often met with you,
And either lived in either’s heart and speech.’

SPECIMEN OF A TRANSLATION OF THE ILIAD IN BLANK VERSE.

Translation into stirring blank verse of _Iliad_ viii. 542-561.

SPINSTER’S SWEET-ARTS, THE.

A dialect poem. The soliloquy of an ‘old maid’ who has named her cats after her one-time sweethearts. She speaks to the cats as though they were indeed the men, and reminds them of her young days of courtship.

SPIRIT HAUNTS THE YEAR’S LAST HOURS, A.

A song in two stanzas in which the poet laments the passing of the old year.

SPITEFUL LETTER, THE.

The soliloquy of a poet on receiving a ‘Spiteful Letter’ from a jealous fellow-poet.

SUPPOSED CONFESSIONS OF A SECOND-RATE SENSITIVE MIND.

Morbid, self-centred reflections about the relation of the soul to God. An early poem.

TALKING OAK, THE.

A youthful poet obtains an account of the doings--in his absence--of the girl he loves from an oak gifted with speech. In return for the information he vows to honour the oak in prose and rhyme and make for his bride a chaplet of oak-leaves. A playful narrative in quatrains.

THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1852.

Lines written on the political situation at this time. The poet regrets with scorn the suggestion of the House of Lords that English politicians should curb their ‘honest censure’ in order to placate France, who, at this time, was regarded as somewhat of a menace to England.

THROSTLE, THE.

A short set of verses in which the poet sets words to the music of the song-thrush and hails the bird as a ‘wild little poet.’

TIRESIAS.

Tiresias, as a young man, had looked upon Pallas Athene as she came from the bath. He was blind from that time, but also gifted with a fatal gift of prophecy to which none would give ear. In this poem the old and dying Tiresias tells his son the story of his life, and prophesies the ruin of Thebes unless the young man will fight bravely for the city of his birth. The poem was suggested by the _Phœnissæ_ of Euripides.

TITHONUS.

A soliloquy in blank verse, in which Tithonus regrets bitterly the irrevocable gift of immortality bestowed on him by the gods. The story is told in the Homeric _Hymn_ to _Aphroditè_.

TO ALFRED TENNYSON, MY GRANDSON.

Lines written to ‘golden-hair’d Ally,’ grandson and namesake of the poet, who is addressed as a ‘Glorious poet who never hast written a line.’

TO DANTE.

Lines written at request of the Florentines. The poet casts at Dante’s feet his tribute of verse.

TO E. FITZGERALD.

Lines written on the death of Edward Fitzgerald, an old and close friend of the poet. In these lines Tennyson introduces a hope of eternal life into his sadness at his friend’s death.

TO E. L., ON HIS TRAVELS IN GREECE.

Lines to a friend who had apparently sent the poet vivid accounts of Greece, for Tennyson declares himself to be transported in spirit to the Greece of the Golden Age. ‘E.L.’ was Edmund Lushington, who married Tennyson’s sister.

TO H.R.H. PRINCESS BEATRICE.

Lines written on the marriage of princess Beatrice, daughter of queen Victoria. The poet rejoices that the princess’s marriage will not entirely separate her from her widowed mother.

TO J. M. K.

A sonnet written to a ‘soldier priest.’

TO J. S.

Lines written to a friend on the death of a brother, who was also a friend of the poet.

TO MARY BOYLE.

Lines written to accompany a copy of _The Progress of Spring_, sent by the poet to induce his friend to leave London for his own country home.

TOMORROW.

A narrative poem. An old woman recognizes the body of a young man laid in an Irish churchyard as that of the lover of her girlhood days. The man had been lost in a peat bog, and the peat had preserved the body perfectly.

TO ONE WHO RAN DOWN THE ENGLISH.

Four lines in which the poet expresses his hope that the fears of one who depreciated the English may prove false.

TO PROFESSOR JEBB.

Three stanzas dedicating _Demeter and Persephone_ to Professor Jebb.

TO THE DUKE OF ARGYLL.

Lines to the ‘Patriot Statesman’ in which the poet urges wisdom, foresight and courage.

TO THE MARQUIS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA.

Viceroy of India. The poet praises the virtues of the marquis and mourns for Lionel Tennyson, who died in India, and whose memory brought to the poet affectionate memories of lord Dufferin.

TO THE MASTER OF BALLIOL.

Lines written to dedicate _The Death of Œnone_ to the Master of Balliol.

TO THE PRINCESS FREDERICA OF HANOVER ON HER MARRIAGE.

A marriage blessing in which the poet assures the Princess that her dead father’s blessing is upon her.

TO THE QUEEN. I.

A Dedication to queen Victoria of the poet’s collected poems--‘this poor book of song.’ The poem was written on the occasion of Tennyson’s appointment as Poet Laureate, 1850.

TO THE QUEEN. II.

An epilogue to _The Idylls of the King_, in which with fervent loyalty the poet begs her to accept them as a tribute to the memory of

‘one to whom I made it o’er his grave.’

He prays for blessings for the Queen and England.

TO THE REV. F. D. MAURICE.

An invitation to pay a visit to the poet and his family sent by Tennyson to the godfather of Hallam Tennyson.

TO THE REV. W. H. BROOKFIELD.

A sonnet written at the death of an old Cambridge friend. The poet recalls past companionship and prays a blessing for the dead.

TO ULYSSES.

Lines sent by the poet to W. G. Palgrave. _Ulysses_ was the title of a book of Palgrave’s _Essays_, descriptive of Travels. This poem conveys the poet’s pleasure in this book of Palgrave’s _Essays_--a ‘various book’--in thanks for which he sends ‘a gift of slenderer value,’ a book of his own.

TOURNEY, THE.

The story of a knight who was victorious in a tourney and won his lady-love. A short poem in three stanzas.

TO VICTOR HUGO.

A sonnet written to Victor Hugo, after Lionel Tennyson had visited the French poet in France.

TO VIRGIL.

A poem in ten stanzas. Tennyson salutes the ancient poet as the

‘Wielder of the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man.’

TO W. C. MACREADY.

A sonnet addressed to the actor on his retirement from the stage.

TO ---- WITH PALACE OF ART.

Lines in which the poet dedicated his ‘sort of allegory,’ to a friend who ‘will understand.’

TWO VOICES, THE.

The poem is an account of the agitations, the suggestions, and counter-suggestions of a mind sunk in hopeless despondency, and meditating self-destruction; together with the manner of its recovery to a more healthy condition.

ULYSSES.

A short poem. The soliloquy of the aged Ulysses expressing his unconquerable love of adventure. He leaves his son to manage his kingdom and sets forth once more on his voyaging with undiminished zest. The theme of the poem is from Dante’s _Inferno_, Canto XXVI.

VASTNESS.

A poem in which the poet declares the whole Creation to be simply an unmeaning vastness unless interpreted by the doctrine of the immortality of life and love.

VICTIM, THE.

A narrative poem. An ancient kingdom was ravaged by plague and famine. The priests consulted the gods and declared that only the sacrifice of the ‘nearest and dearest’ to the king would appease their wrath. The priests took the king’s only son, but at the last moment the queen substituted herself for her son, declaring that she was the dearest to the king.

VILLAGE WIFE, THE.

A poem in Lincolnshire dialect, in which an old ‘village wife’ tells the story of an old book-loving, impractical squire, whose estate was entailed, and was to come to the nearest male relation, passing over the squire’s many daughters. The death of the squire and his only son at the same time leaves the daughters entirely unprovided for, and a stranger becomes squire and owner of the estate.

VISION OF SIN, THE.

A poem in which the poet recounts a vision of a purely sensual soul. It may have been suggested by Shelley’s _Triumph of Life_.

VOICE AND THE PEAK, THE.

The Peak signifies height, the voice of the Peak is drawn downwards, for ‘the deep has power on the height,’ but the ‘thought of man’ is higher and deeper than either, and will endure long after

‘The valley, the voice, the peak, the star,
Pass, and are found no more.’

VOICE SPAKE OUT OF THE SKIES, A.

A fragment. A heavenly voice declares that the earth will endure but for a moment. The poet in answer to a beggar’s cry for food, reflects that if the Voice speak truth, the giving and receiving of food is of very little moment.

VOYAGE, THE.

A poem in twelve stanzas. The story of an endless voyage in the wake of a vision--

‘--blind or lame or sick or sound,
We follow that which flies before.’

VOYAGE OF MAELDUNE, THE.

The story of a legendary Irish Chief who called his men together to sail with him to the Isle of Finn to avenge the death of his father. They reached the Isle, but were blown away before they could land. They continued their voyage and landed at various magic islands in all of which they fought. After a while they came to the Isle of Brendan, who blest them and bade them ‘Let the past be past,’ so when they reached the Isle of Finn where the murderer of Maeldune’s father was, they forewent revenge and left the murderer alive.

WAGES.

‘The wages of sin is death,’ but, says the poet, the wages of virtue is ‘the glory of going on.’ Two stanzas.

WALKING TO THE MAIL.

A conversation in blank verse between two men walking to the mail. They discuss a neighbour and politics, and their own youthful doings.

WANDERER, THE.

Four stanzas in which a ‘wanderer’ bids farewell to his friends and passes on.

WAN SCULPTOR, WEEPEST THOU TO TAKE THE CAST.

A sonnet in which the poet contrasts the grief of a sculptor or painter making a portrait of some dead friend with the greater grief of one who mourns the death of love itself--more generous than the death of love’s object.

WELCOME TO ALEXANDRA, A.

A poem written to welcome the young and beautiful Danish bride of the Prince of Wales--afterwards Edward VII. It is full of enthusiasm and praise for the young Princess, now the Queen-mother.

WELCOME TO H.R.H. MARIE ALEXANDROVNA, DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH.

Another poem of welcome for a bride. It was written at the time of the marriage of the duke of Edinburgh with the Russian princess Marie Alexandrovna.

WILL.

Two stanzas in which the poet praises the man who possesses a strong will and pities the man whose will is weak.

WILL WATERPROOF’S LYRICAL MONOLOGUE.

A monologue of a wine-loving man, seated in his favourite tavern. It is a discourse upon wine and the purely physical pleasures of life, in light, humorous verse.

WINDOW, THE.

A song cycle ‘in the German fashion’ written for music of sir Arthur Sullivan. The story is a series of little songs of the loves of two wrens.

WINDS, AS AT THEIR HOUR OF BIRTH, THE.

A song, in two stanzas, of the freedom of the winds.

WRECK, THE.

A woman, unhappily married, escapes by sea with a more congenial lover than her husband. She is haunted by memories of her only child, and when, after ten days, the boat is wrecked and her lover killed, she cries to be taken back to it. Her remorse comes too late, as the child died on the night of the wreck. The poem is in the form of a story told by the woman herself to her mother.

YOU ASK ME WHY, THO’ ILL AT EASE.

In this poem the poet answers those who question him as to why, in spite of disadvantage, he still chooses to live in England. England is free, ‘a man may speak the thing he will,’ but in spite of his choice of England as a permanent home, the poet desires to visit other lands before he dies.

YOU MIGHT HAVE WON THE POET’S NAME.

A poem written after reading a biography of one who ‘might have won the poet’s name’ but preferred a silent ‘deedful’ life and so escaped the unseemly posthumous publicity which is the lot of poets.

THE TENNYSON DICTIONARY

ABADDON.

The angel of the bottomless pit.

And they had a king over them, _which_ is the angel of the bottomless
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue _is_ Abaddon. _Rev. ix. 2._

_St. Simeon Stylites._

ABDIEL.

One of the Seraphim, who withstood Satan in his revolt against God.

So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found;
Among the faithless faithful only he;
Among innumerable false unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;

Milton: _Paradise Lost_, Book v. 896-900.

_Milton._

ABEL.

Hear me, son. As gold
Outvalues dross, light darkness, Abel Cain,
The soul the body, and the Church the Throne,

_Becket._

ABOMINABLE.

The Abominable, that uninvited came
Into the fair Peleïan banquet-hall,

Has reference to Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. She was the only goddess who was not invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and in revenge threw a golden apple among the guests, which led to the Trojan war.

_Œnone._

ABSALOM.

Deal gently with the young man Absalom.

Bishop Foliot’s reference to Archbishop Becket.

_Becket._

ABÛ SAÎD.

Sufee poet, born +A.D.+ 968, died at the age of 83. He was a mystical poet, and some of his expressions have been compared to our George Herbert. _Poet’s Note._

_Akbar’s Dream._

ACACIA.

The name of a thorny tree found in Egypt.

_The Princess_;
_Maud_.

ACADEME.

= Academy.

who could think
The softer Adams of your Academe,

Shakespeare in _Love’s Labour’s Lost_ uses the same term.

_The Princess._

ACANTHUS-WREATH.

The Acanthus is a prickly plant, the leaves of which are reproduced in the capital of Corinthian and Composite Orders.

_Lotos-Eaters._

ACHÆANS.

The common name for the Greek nation in the Homeric period.

_Achilles over the Trench._

ACHILLES.

Son of Peleus and Thetis, grandson of Æacus, king of the island of Ægina, and the most famous of the Greek heroes in the Trojan war. When a baby he was taken to the river Styx, for it was said that those who bathed in its waters could never be wounded. Afraid to let go her child for fear he might drown, his mother plunged him into the tide, holding him fast by one heel. This she held so tightly that the waters never wet it, and some time after, when too late to remedy it, the oracle told her he would be wounded in his heel. At Troy he slew Hector, tied the corpse by the heels to his chariot and dragged it three times round the walls of Troy. After several other great fights Achilles was wounded in his heel by a poisoned arrow, shot by Paris, from which he died. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy. Upon his death his arms were awarded to Ulysses, who afterwards saw and conversed with him in Hades. It is supposed that he married Helen after the siege of Troy, but others maintain that he was married after death in the island of Leuce, where many of the ancient heroes lived.

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

The story of his quarrel with Agamemnon--who deprived him of his favourite mistress, Briseis--is the main subject of the _Iliad_ of Homer. In the _Odyssey_ he is one of the heroes of the underworld visited by Odysseus, and is also one of the characters in Shakespeare’s _Troilus and Cressida_.

_Ulysses_;
_Achilles over the Trench_.

ACRE.

A seaport on the coast of Syria, on a promontory north of Mount Carmel. It was captured by the Saracens in 638, by the Crusaders in 1104, recaptured by the Saracens in 1187, and in 1191, after a two years’ siege and a loss of 300,000 soldiers, it was taken by the Crusaders under Richard Cœur de Lion and Philip Augustus. It was then named St. Jean d’Acre on account of it being the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St. John. It was again taken by the Saracens in 1291, when 60,000 Christians perished. In 1517 it was captured by the Turks, and in 1799 was besieged by the French under Napoleon, but was successfully defended by the garrison with the aid of English sailors under sir Sydney Smith. In 1832 it was stormed by Ibrahim Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt, in whose possession it remained until 1840, when it was captured by a combined English, Austrian and Turkish fleet under sir Robert Stopford.

_The Foresters._

ACRISIUS.

The included Danaë has escaped again
Her tower, and her Acrisius--where to seek?
I have been about the city.

In Greek mythology, king of Argos and father of Danaë (_q.v._). Being told by an oracle that his daughter’s son would kill him, he kept her shut up in a tower of brass, where she became the mother of Perseus--who won the Golden Fleece, and cut off the Gorgon’s head--by Jupiter, in the form of a golden shower. Acrisius then ordered his daughter and her child to be cast into the sea, but they were rescued by a fisherman named Dictys. When Perseus was grown to manhood, wishing to show his skill in throwing the quoit, he by misadventure struck the foot of Acrisius with a quoit, which caused his death, and thus the oracle was unhappily fulfilled. Acrisius reigned about 31 years.

_Becket._

ACTON (Roger).

_See_ =Roger Acton=.

ADAIR.

_See_ =Ellen, Ellen Adair=.

ADAM.

For since the time when Adam first
Embraced his Eve in happy hour,
And every bird of Eden burst
In carol, every bud to flower,

_Day-Dream._

ADAM.

so might there be
Two Adams, two mankinds, and that was clean
Against God’s work:

_Columbus._

ADAM.

From yon blue heavens above us bent
The gardener Adam and his wife
Smile at the claims of long descent.

_Lady Clara Vere de Vere._

ADAMS.

who could think
The softer Adams of your Academe,

_The Princess._

Adam is used here as ‘Galen’ in Canto 1, line 19.

ADAM’S WINE.

A cant phrase for water as a beverage.

_Northern Cobbler._

ADDER.

A small serpent of the genus _Vipera_.

_Harold_;
_Becket_.

ADELINE.

You are not less divine,
But more human in your moods,
Than your twin-sister, Adeline.

_Margaret._

ADELINE.

_Adeline._

ADMIRAL OF THE OCEAN.

A title conferred upon Columbus and on his heirs and successors for ever, by Ferdinand of Spain.

ÆAKIDES.

_See_ =Achilles=.

ÆGIS.

In mythology the shield of Jupiter, made of the hide of the goat Amalthæa. Jupiter gave this shield to Pallas, who placed upon it Medusa’s head, which turned into stone all those who fixed their eyes upon it. It was the symbol of divine protection.

and round
The warrior’s puissant shoulders Pallas flung
Her fringed ægis,

_Achilles over the Trench._

ÆOLIAN HARP.

A stringed instrument consisting of a box, on or in which were stretched strings, on which the wind acted to produce the notes. It was usually placed at an open window.

_Two Voices._

ÆSOP.

Inverted Æsop--mountain out of mouse.
Say for ten thousand ten--and pothouse knaves,

Æsop was a famous Greek fabulist who lived in the sixth century +B.C.+ Little is known of his history except that he was a native of Phrygia and a slave, but subsequently set free by Jadmon of Samos. Visiting the court of Crœsus he gained his confidence to such an extent that he was sent on several missions, on one of which to Delphi he was put to death by the priests. (+B.C.+ 620-560).

_Queen Mary._

ÆTNA.

A mountain on the east coast of Sicily, noted for its volcano.

_Demeter and Persephone_;
_Lover’s Tale_.

AFRIC (Africa).

The voices of our universal sea
On capes of Afric as on cliffs of Kent,
The Maoris and that Isle of Continent,
And loyal pines of Canada murmur thee,

_A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna,
Duchess of Edinburgh._

AGARIC.

A fungus, to which the common mushroom belongs.

_Edwin Morris_;
_Gareth and Lynette_.

AGATHA.

A sister of mercy, who persuaded Eva Steer, who was supposed to be drowned, to return home to her father and implore his forgiveness. Agatha rescued Eva when she was about to commit suicide by drowning.

_Promise of May._

AGAVE.

A plant, native of the warmer parts of America. It takes from ten to seventy years, according to climate, to attain maturity, the stem rising to a height of 40 feet.

_The Daisy._

AGINCOURT.

A village in Pas-se-Calais where one of the more important battles in the Hundred Years’ War was fought; Henry V defeating the French on October 25, 1415.

_The Princess._

AGLAÏA.

The child of Lady Psyche. Means brightness, and is the name of one of the Graces.

Her maiden babe, a double April old,
Aglaïa slept.

_The Princess._

AGNED-CATHREGONION.

The scene of one of king Arthur’s battles. Some authorities consider it to be a hill in Somersetshire; according to others Edinburgh is the place, as the old name of that city was Agned.

And up in Agned-Cathregonion too,
And down the waste sand-shores of Trath Treroit,
Where many a heathen fell;

_Lancelot and Elaine._

AGRIPPINA.

A cultured and courageous Roman matron, daughter of Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia, and the granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. She married Germanicus, whom she accompanied on his campaigns, and upon his death brought his ashes to Rome; was subsequently exiled to the island of Pandataria, by Tiberius, where she died in 33 +A.D+.

and the Roman brows
Of Agrippina.

The Princess here is pointing out the brows on the marble statue of Agrippina.

_The Princess._

AGYPT (Egypt).

_Tomorrow._

AÏDONEUS.

A surname of Pluto, king of the Molossi, who imprisoned Theseus because he and Pirithous attempted to ravish his daughter Proserpine, hence the fable of the descent of Theseus and Pirithous into hell.

_Demeter and Persephone._

AILMER (John).

Chaplain to Henry Grey, marquis of Dorset, and tutor of lady Jane Grey. In 1522 he was made archdeacon of Stow, but on the accession of Mary was deprived of preferments for opposing in Convocation the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and fled to Zurich. In 1558, upon Elizabeth’s accession, he returned, was made archdeacon of London 1562; D.D. of Oxford 1573; and bishop of London 1577 (1521-1594).

_Queen Mary._

AJALON.

Than that earth should stand at gaze like Joshua’s moon in Ajalon!

A valley in Palestine, and the scene of a battle between Joshua and five Canaanitish kings, during which Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still.

‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of
Ajalon.’ _Joshua x. 12._

_Locksley Hall._

AKBAR (Jellal-Ud-Din-Mohammed).

The greatest of the Mogul emperors, who, at the age of 13, succeeded his father Humayun. Assuming the reins of government at the age of 18, he commenced his conquest of Hindustan. He subdued and ruled over fifteen provinces, and his empire extended from Cashmir to Ahmedabad and from Cabul to Dacca. His reign was marked by his daring change of policy from fanatical Mohammedanism to universal tolerance. He consulted Mohammedans, Hindus, Parsees, Jews and Christians, and drew up a new faith upon eclectic principles, by which he hoped to unite all creeds and peoples; he abolished the poll-tax on infidels and the pilgrimage tax on Hindus (1542-1605).

_Akbar’s Dream._

AKROKERAUNIAN WALLS.

The long divine Peneïan pass,
The vast Akrokeraunian walls,

The Acroceraunia: a mountain range along the coast of north-west Greece jutting out into the Ionian sea.

_To E. L._

ALBERIGHI (Federigo degli).

_See_ =Federigo degli Alberighi=.

ALBERT.

The Prince Consort, husband of queen Victoria. Before the _Idylls of the King_ were published the Prince died (1861), and to his memory they were afterwards dedicated.

These to His Memory--since he held them dear,
Perchance as finding there unconsciously
Some image of himself--I dedicate,
I dedicate, I consecrate with tears--
These Idylls.

In the concluding lines of the _Dedication_ Tennyson added some words of comfort to the Queen on the death of the Prince:

May all love,
His love, unseen but felt, o’ershadow Thee,
The love of all Thy sons encompass Thee,
The love of all Thy daughters cherish Thee,
The love of all Thy people comfort Thee,
Till God’s love set Thee at his side again!

The success of the Exhibition of 1851 was mainly due to the efforts of the Prince, who at the time of his death was planning the International Exhibition of 1862. In the _Ode sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition_, and the _Opening of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition by the Queen_, the poet alludes to the part played by the Prince in connexion with these two Exhibitions.

It was chiefly owing to the Prince’s admiration of _In Memoriam_ that Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate.

_Dedication of Idylls._

ALBERT.

And with him Albert came on his.
I look’d at him with joy;
As cowslip unto oxlip is,
So seems she to the boy.

Brother of Olivia, who was betrothed to Walter.

_Talking Oak._

ALBION.

Ancient name for Britain, in use among the early Celtic inhabitants. The word means ‘white island’ and was used by the Gauls to describe the white-chalked cliff land they saw to the North.

_On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria._

ALCESTIS.

Had I but known you as I know you now--
The true Alcestis of the time.

In Greek mythology, daughter of Pelias and Anaxibia, and wife of Admêtus. In order that her father might be restored to youth by Medea, she, with her sisters, put him to death, but Medea refused to redeem her promise, and the sisters fled to Admêtus, who married Alcestis. Their brother Acastus with an army pursued them, and Admêtus being taken prisoner, was redeemed from death by Alcestis who gave herself to save her husband; but Hercules descended to the lower world and brought her back. Alcestis is the subject of one of the tragedies of Euripides.

_Romney’s Remorse._

ALCOR.

The name of a star in the tail of the Great Bear.

_Last Tournament._

ALDER.

A tree related to the birch, usually growing in moist land.

_Edwin Morris_;
_Amphion_;
_A Farewell_;
_Balin and Balan_.

ALDRED.

Abbot of Tavistock, 1027; bishop of Worcester, 1044; appointed ambassador by Edward the Confessor to the emperor of Germany, Henry III, 1054; and was the first English bishop to visit Jerusalem, which he did in 1058. On his return, he was made archbishop of York, 1060, with leave to hold his former See, but upon visiting Rome the pope refused him the pallium unless he resigned his former post. On the death of Edward (1066) Aldred supported Harold, and officiated at his coronation; but after the battle of Senlac he became a faithful servant of the Conqueror, and crowned William at Westminster before the year was completed in which he had crowned Harold (_d._ 1069).

_Harold._

ALDWYTH.

Daughter of Alfgar, and widow of Griffyth, king of Wales; she subsequently became the wife of Harold.

_Harold._

ALENÇON.

Capital of the department of Orne, North France, once famous for its point-lace. The title of a Duchy held by various members of the royal family of France, from Charles II of Valois. In 1048 duke William of Normandy captured the town, and inflicted great cruelty on the inhabitants who had taunted him with his birth, by hanging raw hides over the walls,

hast thou never heard
His savagery at Alençon--the town
Hung out raw hides along their walls, and cried,
‘Work for the tanner.’

The town was taken and retaken in the French Wars during the reigns of Henry V and Henry VI of England; and in 1871 it capitulated to the Germans under the grand duke of Mecklenburg. The only remains of the ancient castle are three towers which form part of the present Town Hall.

_Harold._

ALEXANDRA.

Eldest daughter of the late king Christian IX of Denmark; married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward VII, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, on March 10, 1863. The poem was written as a welcome to her upon her arrival in England.

Sea-Kings’ daughter from over the sea, Alexandra!
Saxon and Norman and Dane are we,
But all of us Danes in our welcome of thee Alexandra
Welcome her, thunders of fort and of fleet
Welcome her, thundering cheer of the street

_A Welcome to Alexandra._

ALEXANDROVNA.

_See_ =Marie, Marie Alexandrovna=.

ALFGAR.

Son of Leofric, earl of Mercia and Godgifu (Lady Godiva). He and his father supported king Edward the Confessor against earl Godwin at Gloucester, 1051. Was outlawed by the Witan, 1055, and took refuge in Ireland; invaded Herefordshire with Welsh allies but was defeated by Harold; made peace and succeeded as the earl of Mercia, 1057. In the same year he was again outlawed, but regained his earldom with the help of Northmen.

_Harold._

ALFRED.

Duke of Edinburgh and duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; second son of queen Victoria and prince Albert; married February 23, 1874, at St. Petersburg to the grand duchess Marie Alexandrovna, only daughter of Alexander II, czar of Russia. The bride and bridegroom made their public entry into London on March 12 of the same year.

_A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna,
Duchess of Edinburgh._

ALFRED.

King of the West Saxons, born at Wantage. His father was king Ethelwulf, and although the youngest of five sons succeeded to the crown in 872 +A.D.+--at the age of 22. In the first year of his reign the young king fought nine battles against the Danes who had overrun the greater part of England north of the Thames. After a respite of several years a second invasion took place in 878 under Guthrum, king of the Danes in East Anglia, who overran Somerset without opposition, and Alfred retired to Athelney, where tradition says he burnt the cakes. In the same year he inflicted a defeat on the Danes at Edington in Wiltshire. By the peace of Wedmore, Guthrum consented to become a Christian and to acknowledge the supremacy of Alfred of the country south of the Thames and the greater part of Mercia. He subsequently devoted himself to legislation, the administration of government, and to the encouragement of learning, being himself a man of letters. It is to him we owe the foundation of England’s greatness on the seas (849-901).

_An Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington_;
_Harold_.

ALFWIG.

Abbot of New Minster and uncle of king Harold. With twelve of his monks, joined Harold at the battle of Senlac, and after the battle was found among the slain, his body being recognized by the habit of his order.

_Osgod._ I am sure this body
Is Alfwig, the king’s uncle.

_Athelric._ So it is!

_Harold._

ALICE.

A lady in waiting to queen Mary.

_Queen Mary._

ALICE.

Daughter of a wealthy miller, betrothed to a man whose parents at first thought he ‘might have looked a little higher.’ They were married, and in later years her husband expressed a wish that they might die together.

Pray, Alice, pray, my darling wife,
That we may die the self-same day.

_Miller’s Daughter._

ALICE.

The nurse of the supposed lady Clare. On the eve of the wedding of lady Clare and lord Ronald, Alice revealed to her the secret of her birth, namely, that she was the daughter of her own nurse.

_Lady Clare._

ALICE.

There’s Margaret and Mary, there’s Kate and Caroline:
But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say,

_May Queen._

ALIF.

we scarce can spell
The Alif of Thine alphabet of Love.

The first letter of the Arabic alphabet.

_Akbar’s Dream._

ALINGTON.

A castle--near the river Medway--originally built in Saxon times by a family named Columbary, but was razed afterwards by the Danes. After the conquest it was given to bishop Odo, and on his disgrace to earl Warrenne. It afterwards passed to the Cobham family, and from them to the Brents, by whom it was alienated to sir Thomas Wyatt, who made it his residence, and where was born his son and successor, sir Thomas Wyatt, Junior, who was subsequently deprived of his estates and executed for treason against Mary.

Ah, gray old castle of Alington, green field
Beside the brimming Medway, it may chance
That I shall never look upon you more.

_Queen Mary._

ALIOTH.

The name of a star in the tail of the Great Bear.

_Last Tournament._

ALLA.

The word used by the Arabs to denote their chief god, and adopted by Mahomet as the name of the one true God.

_Akbar’s Dream._

ALLAN.

A farmer, father of William, to whom he wished to wed his niece Dora.

_Dora._

ALLEN (Francis).

_See_ =Francis, Francis Allen=.

ALLEN.

A labourer to farmer Steer.

_Promise of May._

ALLEN (Sally).

_See_ =Sally, Sally Allen=.

ALLENDALE (Earl of).

Allen-a-Dale of Nottingham was to be married to a lady who returned his love, but her parents compelled her to forego him for an old knight of wealth. Allen told his tale to Robin Hood, who, in the disguise of a harper, went to the church where the wedding ceremony was to take place. ‘This is no fit match; the bride shall be married only to the man of her choice,’ exclaimed Robin, and sounding his horn Allen and twenty-four bowmen entered the church. The bishop, however, refused to marry the woman to Allen until the banns had been called three times, whereupon Robin pulled off the bishop’s gown, and placed it upon Little John, who called the banns seven times, and performed the ceremony.

_The Foresters._

ALL-HEAL.

A name applied to various plants, as the mistletoe, the great valerian, etc.

_Vastness._

ALLY.

Alfred Tennyson, grandson of the poet, to whom the poem is inscribed.

Golden-hair’d Ally whose name is one with mine,

_To Alfred Tennyson._

ALMESBURY.

A town in Wiltshire on the river Avon, about eight miles from Salisbury. Elfrida, widow of Edgar, founded here in 980 a Benedictine nunnery in atonement for the murder of her son-in-law, king Edward, but there had been a more ancient British monastery at the same place, called after king Ambrosius who lies buried there. Mary, daughter of king Edward I, took the veil here in 1285, and two years later, Eleanor, queen of Henry III and the mother of Edward I, was admitted. It was at this town that Guinevere (_q.v._) after the death of Arthur, took the nun’s habit.

Queen Guinevere had fled the court and sat
There in the holy house at Almesbury
Weeping, none with her save a little maid,
A novice:

_Guinevere._