Chapter II

The current of Tennyson's genius is like a rivulet placidly flowing through meadows and groves, occasionally rippling and swirling over stones, then pursuing its even course--gradually widening and deepening; not like a mighty river proudly sweeping in a resistless flood through a wilderness, or tumbling down rocky chasms. All that he has given the world during sixty years of literary activity is contained in less than a dozen volumes of verse. Only a rapid survey of his poetical career is attempted here.

Passing by without comment _Poems by two Brothers_ (1826), "The Lover's Tale" (composed about 1828), and "Timbuctoo" (1829), we come to Tennyson's first bid for fame in _Poems, chiefly Lyrical_ (1830). This slender volume included (along with much rubbish) a few pieces which are perennial favorites with lovers of Tennyson, viz.: "Mariana," "Recollections of the Arabian Nights," "The Dying Swan," "A Dirge," "Love and Death," and "Circumstance." Among the poems suppressed in later editions is one in an unusual vein--"Nero to Leander"--which Emerson inserted in his _Parnassus_.

His second book of _Poems_ (1833) was a more ambitious venture. Its contents, though marred by faults of crude taste, possessed in a marked degree, the characteristic qualities of the Laureate's poetry. Nearly all of the lyrics in it have been found worthy of a permanent place in the collected editions of his poems, but most of them underwent countless changes before they were republished in 1842--being corrected and polished till they were well-nigh perfect from a critical standpoint.

The two volumes of _Poems_ (1842) revealed Tennyson at his best--a mature singer whose dignified, harmonious verse compares favorably with the most splendid contributions to British poetry. "The Princess" (1847), "In Memoriam" (1850), and "Maud" (1855) made his position secure as the greatest of living poets.

Not satisfied to rest content as a lyrist, Tennyson essayed extended narrative in _Idyls of the King_ (1859) and "Enoch Arden" (1864). Gaining courage from the enthusiastic reception of the four Arthurian idyls, he undertook to carry out a long cherished design--which Milton and Dryden had conceived--of writing a national epic on King Arthur. He had already made several attempts at versifying incidents from the _Mabinogion_ and Malory's old romance _Morte d' Arthur_, but they were isolated fragments. From time to time he added others, making the series of tales called the Round Table a complete cycle as follows:

The Coming of Arthur, 1869; Gareth and Lynette, 1872; Geraint and Enid, 1859; Balin and Balan, 1885; Merlin and Vivien, 1859; Lancelot and Elaine, 1859; The Holy Grail, 1869; Pelleas and Ettarre, 1869; The Last Tournament, 1871; Guinevere, 1859; The Passing of Arthur, 1842, 1869.

Then boldly entering the dangerous field of historical drama, Tennyson became a rival of Shakspeare himself in "Queen Mary"[14] (1875), "Harold" (1876), and "Becket" (1884). Besides these, he brought forth three shorter plays or dramatic sketches--"The Cup"[15] (1884), "The Falcon"[16] (1884), "The Promise of May"[17] (1886), and a lengthy idyllic drama called "The Foresters"[18] (1892).

As if to prove that his fertility was not exhausted in the province of the lyric, he made fresh incursions into fields of song long familiar to him. These winnowings of the last two decades are gathered into the following volumes:

_Ballads, and Other Poems_ (1880); _Tiresias, and Other Poems_ (1885); _Locksley Hall Sixty Years After, etc._ (1886); _Demeter, and Other Poems_ (1889).

Enough books have been named to give at least half a dozen minstrels a firm footing on Parnassus. The number of Tennyson's meritorious performances is simply astonishing. But few poets have wrought with such unwearying patience. Not many can present as imposing a catalogue of works that are confessedly of such a high order of excellence. Browning has written more, but Browning has not taken the trouble to perfect himself in form--in short, he is not a finished artist. In literary workmanship, Tennyson stands supreme. It is universally admitted that none of his contemporaries ranks so high as man of letters. He is the brightest ornament of the Victorian reign.

Without doubt the Laureate deserves his hard-won glory. In his hale old age, he has disarmed the critics of years ago who sneered at his empty lays and feminine ways. The question--_Cui bono?_ could be asked as to many of Tennyson's earlier efforts, such as "Oriana," "The Lady of Shalott," "Audley Court," "Edwin Morris," "Amphion," "Lady Clare," "The Lord of Burleigh," "The Beggar Maid" and others. These lyrics and idyls are made up of ornate commonplaces which show the artistic instinct rather than the poetic. They abound with the ephemeral conceits of drawing-room poetry. They contain nothing that resembles vivacity or sublimity. They have not the interest which is general and universal as distinguished from the private or the unusual. They are not representative of human nature, but of individual peculiarities. They are ideal pictures, not transcripts from experience.

With a few exceptions, the minor poems published in 1855 and 1864 are of similar character; and it may be said that "The Princess," "Maud," "Enoch Arden," and most of the Arthurian stories are in much the same vein. None of these works, when viewed as an organic whole, can be called great. In all of them, manliness is at a discount, and there is withal a dearth of ideas. Sentiment and ornament are overdone, and there is not enough of life. They can be described as a chaos of pretty fancies and idle reveries. Such are not the strains that shape a nation's destiny and are treasured in its heart. In the centuries agone, such a songster would have been a first-class troubadour, much sought and praised in princely circles.

But former estimates of Tennyson must be revised. The slurs at the euphonious jingler and effeminate Alfred are in place no more. He has abandoned the domain of the legendary and the fantastic. Romance has given way to history, and dreams to reality. Sensuous effects are now subordinate. His verse no longer cloys with sweetness. It is simple, natural, impassioned.

"Queen Mary" and "Becket" certainly rank foremost among the few powerful plays that have appeared since Shelley wrote "The Cenci." There are some Bulwer-Lyttonish passages in "Becket," but they are more than redeemed by the imperial magnificence of other passages in the same tragedy. The ballads and other lyrics published within the last dozen years display a rugged virility that was quite foreign to the labored "Idyls of the King." "Rizpah" and "The Revenge" have the ring of genuine metal. There is no hollow sound in the manly tributes to E. Fitzgerald and to his ancient Mantuan master. The introspective poet of "The Two Voices" has grown to fuller intellectual stature in "The Ancient Sage." The music and majesty of "Tiresias" and "Demeter" are unsurpassed in "Ulysses" and "Tithonus." "Romney's Remorse" excels "Sea Dreams" in portraying the better instincts of humanity on the domestic side, and its tender lullaby--"Beat upon mine, little heart!"--almost equals the incomparable "Sweet and low." While "Vastness" and "Crossing the Bar" repeat the lyrical triumphs of his palmiest days.

Time has dealt gently with the venerable harper, whose hands sweep the strings with surer touch and greater compass than before. Age has brought more forceful speech and clearer vision. Some of his senile efforts betray less of conscious effort, as though long practice in using metrical language as a vehicle of thought and imagery had made it a pure mirror of the poet's mind. His worn-out mannerisms appear occasionally, also his subtleties of expression and feeling. There is the same imaginative sorcery as of old, and the same consummate style, but the studied elegance and artful devices of earlier productions are less noticeable. There is less of minute finish in form and more of epic grandeur in tone and spirit. A healthier inspiration has visited him in the evening of life. His genius has gradually ripened. The full cup of advanced years was needed to bring out what was best in him, to effect his complete development.

Since the hysterical explosion of "Locksley Hall Sixty Years After," the Laureate seems to have attained the calmness of soul which belongs to the true poetical spirit. He is no longer the fretful author of "The New Timon," "The Spiteful Letter," and "Literary Squabbles," who lacked the restraint of entire self-possession. A more serious tone pervades the personal poems--"To Ulysses," "To Mary Boyle" and others in his 1889 volume. A wiser man wrote the stately measures of "Happy" and "By an Evolutionist," one who looked down upon past follies from spiritual heights never before reached. There is a touch of Miltonic loftiness in his "Parnassus," and the philosophic resignation of Goethe in "The Progress of Spring." His is the tranquil, fruitful old age that crowns a well ordered career.

MISTAKES CONCERNING TENNYSON.

A STUDY IN CONTEMPORANEOUS BIOGRAPHY.

"Alfred Tennyson was born August 5, 1809, at Somersby, a hamlet in Lincolnshire, England, of which, and of a neighboring parish, his father, Dr. George Clayton Tennyson, was rector. The poet's mother was Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Stephen Fytche, vicar of Louth. Alfred was the third of seven sons--Frederick, Charles, Alfred, Edward, Horatio, Arthur, and Septimus. A daughter, Cecilia, became the wife of Edmund Law Lushington, long professor of Greek in Glasgow University. Whether there were other daughters, the biographies of the poet do not mention."

This is the opening paragraph of the Introduction to a school edition of "The Two Voices" and "A Dream of Fair Women," by Dr. Hiram Corson. Here are several inaccuracies as to the Tennyson family and the poet's birthday, and the same mistakes and others are found in nearly all the sketches of the Laureate in periodicals and works of reference.

It is generally supposed that cyclopedia articles are prepared by specialists who know what they are writing about. This is the popular conception, but this is evidently not the case in regard to Tennyson, who has fared sadly at the hands of his biographers. The brief accounts of his life given in Appleton's, the Americanized Britannica, and other cyclopedias fairly bristle with blunders and objectionable features. As they stand, most of these articles are utterly untrustworthy. Their assertions are often misleading, or so vague as to be practically valueless. As a result, most people are more or less at sea in regard to Tennyson chronology.

DR. TENNYSON AND FAMILY.

A multitude of errors have been perpetrated about Dr. Tennyson and family. We are told that Bayons Manor was his native place,[19] and that he was "rector of Somersby and vicar of Bennington and Grimsby."[20] One writer uncritically imagines him a doctor of divinity.[21] According to some questionable authorities, he died "about 1830;"[22] "in 1830;"[23] "about 1831;"[24] "on the 18th of March, 1831;"[25] and in 1832.[26] Mrs. Tennyson is said to have died "in her eighty-first year;"[27] also "in her eighty-fourth year."[28]

The number of sons and daughters in the Tennyson household is rarely given correctly. Alfred is called, in a hit-or-miss fashion, one of three, four, six, seven and eight brothers. His sisters are variously reckoned as one, three, four and five.

The Rev. George Clayton Tennyson was born at Market Rasen, December 10, 1778. He graduated at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1801; he received the degree of M. A. in 1805, and of LL.D. in 1813. He married (August 6, 1805) Miss Elizabeth Fytche of Louth. He moved to Somersby in 1808, where he was rector till his death. If the inscription on his tomb is to be trusted, Dr. Tennyson was rector of two neighboring parishes--Benniworth and Bag Enderby--and was vicar of Great Grimsby;[29] and died March 16, 1831. The poet's mother died February 21, 1865, in her eighty-fifth year.

Alfred Tennyson was the fourth of eight sons--George (who died in infancy), Frederick, Charles, Alfred, Edward, Arthur, Septimus, and Horatio. The sisters were Mary, Emily, Matilda, and Cecilia. Excepting George and Frederick, all of the children were born at Somersby.

ALFRED'S BIRTHDAY.

The discussion as to the poet's birthday is now practically at rest--his lordship himself having authoritatively settled the matter. Would that he would enlighten us on some other perplexing points in his history! Mrs. Tennyson kept August 6 as Alfred's birthday. Tourists who have hastily examined the parish registers of Somersby have mistaken the figure 6 for a 5, owing to the fading of the ink "at the back, or left, of the loop."[30] But careless hackwriters, depending upon the compilations published decades ago, continue to assert that the Laureate was born August 5;[31] April 9,[32] or April 6.[33]

YEAR OF TENNYSON'S BIRTH.

In Welsh's _English Literature_ is a "biography" of Tennyson which says, amid various other slips, that he was born in 1810. Allibone's _Dictionary of Authors_ (p. 2371) is a year out of the way. When this ponderous work was first published, not much was definitely known of the poet, but Alden's _Cyclopedia of Literature_ (1890), and other unreliable authorities put 1810 or 1811 as the year of his birth.

In the parish registers of Somersby, Dr. Tennyson's handwriting records Alfred's birth and baptism among the entries of 1809. Here is an instance where one can put to flight a host--for the names of those who assign 1810 as the year of the poet's birth are legion.[34]

TENNYSON'S SCHOOLDAYS.

There is a want of precision in many of the statements that have been made by Tennyson's biographers concerning his school days. In the _Encyclopedia Americana_ (1889), vol. iv., p. 660, Dr. C. E. Washburn says Alfred "attended for a time Cadney's village school, and for a brief period the grammar-school at Louth,"--which is partly true, but curiously misrepresents the matter. He was a pupil in Louth Grammar School four years (1816-20)--not a very "brief period." Howitt and others make the length of time "two or three years," and some have the mistaken impression that he passed some time in Cadney's school before he went to Louth. Cadney came to Somersby about 1820, and, in the autumn of the next year, he instructed the Tennyson boys in arithmetic at the rectory. Cook erroneously supposes that Charles and Alfred were at Louth in 1827.[35]

There has been considerable guessing as to the time when Tennyson went to Cambridge. He is said to have entered Trinity College in 1826;[36] in 1827;[37] about 1827;[38] in 1829;[39] and "early in 1829."[40] There is no occasion for such indefiniteness. To be exact, Alfred became a student of Trinity in October, 1828.[41] He left college without graduating, at the time of his father's death. His brothers, Frederick and Charles, finished the course in 1832.

COINCIDENCES.

The cyclopedias also present numerous examples of coincidences as well as variations--some of the incorrect details being repeated almost verbatim, as though successive compilers had copied over and over the mistakes of their superficial predecessors. This ought not to go on forever.

The sketches of Tennyson in Lippincott's _Biographical Dictionary_ (1885) and in the _Americanized Britannica_ (1890) may be taken as samples. In the following sentence from Lippincott's the writer manages to make five or six misstatements:

"In 1851 he succeeded Wordsworth as poet-laureate, and about the same time he married, and retired to Faringford, in the Isle of Wight, where he resided until 1869, when he removed to Petersfield, Hampshire."

In the biographical supplement of the _Americanized Britannica_, this becomes two or three sentences, viz.:

"He was made poet-laureate in 1851. It was about this time, too, that Tennyson married, returning to Faringford, in the Isle of Wight, where he lived until 1869.... It was in this year the poet moved from the Isle of Wight and took up his residence in Petersfield, Hampshire."

There are similar passages in Appleton's and Johnson's cyclopedias. It is perfectly plain that there was not much independent investigation in these unscholarly performances.

MISTAKES.

Mistake No. 1: Tennyson received the Laureateship in 1850, the year of Wordsworth's death. Mistake No. 2: he was married June 13, 1850. Mistake No. 3: Farringford is misspelled. Mistake No. 4: Tennyson lived at Twickenham three years after his marriage. Mistake No. 5: in 1853, he first took possession of Farringford, which is still his winter residence. Mistake No. 6: in 1867, the poet built a house near Haslemere in Surrey--not at Petersfield, Hampshire--where he spends the summer months. According to Prof. Church, the Laureate bought the Aldworth estate in 1872. The latter date is manifestly wrong.[42]

The story of Tennyson's Petersfield establishment may be classed as a myth, though supported by several monuments of research called cyclopedias.[43]

Nothing is said of a Hampshire home in Jennings' _Life of Tennyson_, in Church's _Laureate's Country_, or in Van Dyke's admirable book on the _Poetry of Tennyson_; no reference to it is found in the essays on Tennyson by Mr. Edmund Gosse and Mrs. Anne Thackeray Ritchie. Nor is Lord Tennyson's name found in the list of land owners of Hampshire, in Walford's _County Families of the United Kingdom_. One is puzzled to understand how such a report started.

TENNYSON'S ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE.

It is rather surprising to read in the _People's Cyclopedia_, Johnson's, Lippincott's and elsewhere, that Tennyson was raised to the peerage in 1883 as "Baron d'Eyncourt," etc. This he cannot properly be called, though a descendant from the ancient house of D'Eyncourt--which long ago ceased to be a barony. The pedigree of Alfred's grandfather, who belonged to the Lincolnshire gentry, is traced through ten generations to Edmund, Duke of Somerset, and two centuries further back to Edward III.'s fourth son, John of Gaunt. Dr. Tennyson died in the lifetime of his father, and the D'Eyncourt seat and dignity passed to his younger brother Charles. The poet's cousin Louis Charles is the present possessor of the family estate at Bayons. England's noble Laureate (according to Burke's _Peerage_, ed. of 1888, p. 1361) was created a peer of the realm Jan. 24, 1884, with the new title--Baron of Aldworth, Surrey, and of Farringford, Isle of Wight. He took his seat in the House of Lords, Mar. 11, 1884.[44]

LAPSES IN ENGLISH GEOGRAPHY.

A common mistake is that of locating Aldworth in Sussex. Mr. Frederick Dolman, in the _Ladies' Home Journal_ (August, 1891), carelessly speaks of "the poet's residences in the fair Isle and sunny Sussex." According to Murray's _Handbook for Surrey_ (ed. of 1888, p. 182), and other excellent authorities,[45] Aldworth is in the county of Surrey--not far from the northern borders of Sussex. In Walford's _County Families of the United Kingdom_, p. 1203, Lord Tennyson's name occurs among the land owners of Surrey--not with those of Sussex.

Somersby and Somerby have been mixed by many people who are not familiar with English geography. The latter village is in the western part of Lincolnshire, near Grantham--a considerable distance from Alfred Tennyson's birthplace. Duyckinck, in his _Eminent Men and Women_, recklessly says he was born at "Somerby, a small parish in Leicestershire."[46]

If Europeans are guilty of crass ignorance of the United States, Americans too are open to criticism for their hazy notions of foreign places. An inexcusable blunder is that in Phillips' _Popular Manual of English Literature_, vol. II., p. 497, where Blackdown is loosely referred to as "a hill in the vicinity of Petersfield, Hampshire." Another writer is remiss in accepting statements implicitly and without question. A footnote in Kellogg's school edition of "In Memoriam," p. 23, says "Hallam was buried in Cleveland Church on the Severn, which empties into British Channel." If he had looked up the town for himself on the map of England, he would have discovered that Clevedon, the birthplace of Hallam, is situated on the bank of the Severn near its entrance to the Bristol Channel.

VARIOUS ERRORS.

It is not my purpose to enumerate all the errors that I have come across in my reading relating to Tennyson and his works. For the sake of brevity, I merely correct a few of them without giving full particulars in every case. Tennyson first visited the Pyrenees in 1830--not in 1831; the second visit was in 1862. He received the degree of D. C. L. in 1855--not in 1859. His son Hallam was born at Twickenham, Aug. 11, 1852; Lionel, at Freshwater, Mar. 16, 1854.

Tennyson did not write "Break, break, break" at Clevedon or Freshwater. The intercalary lyrics of "The Princess" were first published in the third edition--not in the second. The plot of "The Cup" is taken from Plutarch's treatise _De Mulierum Virtutibus_; this work has been confused by Archer and Jennings with Boccaccio's _De Claris Mulieribus_.

Many unpardonable mistakes have been made in dating Tennyson's published writings, also in wording and punctuating their titles. It has been said that "The Princess" first appeared in print in 1846 and 1849; "In Memoriam," in 1849 and 1851; "Idyls of the King," in 1855, 1858, and 1861; "Enoch Arden," in 1865; "The Holy Grail, and Other Poems," in 1867 and 1870; "Harold," in 1877; "Becket," in 1879 and 1885; "Tiresias, and Other Poems," in 1886; and "Demeter, and Other Poems," in 1890. In Hart's _Manual of English Literature_, one of Tennyson's poems is named "The Vision of Art," and a recent German cyclopedia makes him the author of "Tristam and Iseult." A newspaper account of the sale of Tennysoniana in London contains the queer bit of misinformation that _Poems by Two Brothers_ "was published by Louth in 1826." These slips could have been easily avoided. The mystery hanging about the Laureate's life does not involve his works.

It is believed that the following list, which has been carefully verified, is correct both as to the titles and the dates of first publication of all of Tennyson's books, viz:

Poems by Two Brothers 1826 (dated 1827)
Poems, chiefly Lyrical 1830
Poems 1832 (dated 1833)
Poems, 2 vols. 1842
The Princess 1847
In Memoriam 1850
Maud, and Other Poems 1855
Idyls of the King 1859
Enoch Arden, etc. 1864
The Holy Grail, and Other Poems 1869
Gareth and Lynette, etc. 1872
Queen Mary 1875
Harold 1876
The Lover's Tale 1879
Ballads, and Other Poems 1880
The Cup and The Falcon 1884
Becket 1884
Tiresias, and Other Poems 1885
Locksley Hall Sixty Years After, etc. 1886
Demeter, and Other Poems 1889
The Foresters 1892

TRANSLATIONS OF TENNYSON'S WORKS.

GERMAN.

_Gedichte_: ueb. von W. Hertzberg. Dessau, 1853. Dresden, 1868.

_Ausgewaehlte Dichtungen_: ueb. von A. Strodtmann (Bibliothek Klassiker in deutscher Uebertragung. Leipzig, 1865-70).

_Ausgewaehlte Dichtungen_: ueb. von H. A. Feldmann. Hamburg, 1870. (Bib. ausl. Klassiker).

_Ausgewaehlte Gedichte_: ueb. von M. Rugard. Elbing, 1872.

_In Memoriam_: Aus dem Engl. nach der 5. Aufl. Braunschweig, 1854.

_Freundes-Klage._ Nach "In Memoriam," frei uebertragen von R. Waldmueller-Duboc. Hamburg, 1870.

_In Memoriam_: ueb. von Agnes von Bohlen. Berlin, 1874.

_Maud_: ueb. von F. W. Weber. Paderborn, 1891.

_Koenigsidyllen_: ueb. von W. Scholz. Berlin, 1867.

_Koenigsidyllen_: ueb. von H. A. Feldmann. Hamburg, 1872.

_Koenigsidyllen_: ueb. von C. Weiser (vols. 1817, 1818 Universal-Bibliothek, Leipzig, 1883-6).

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von R. Schellwien. Quedlinburg, 1867.

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von R. Waldmueller-Duboc. Hamburg, 1868-70.

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von F. W. Weber. Leipzig, 1869.

_Enoch Arden_ und _Godiva_: ueb. von H. A. Feldmann. Hamburg, 1870.

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von C. Hessel. Leipzig, 1874. (490 in Universal-Bibliothek).

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von A. Strodtmann. Berlin, 1876.

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von C. Eichholz. Hamburg, 1881.

_Enoch Arden_: ueb. von H. Griebenow. Halle, 1889. (Bib. der Gesammt-Litteratur).

_Enoch Arden_: frei bearbeitet fuer die Jugend. Leipzig, 1888.

_Aylmers Feld_: ueb. von F. W. Weber. Leipzig, 1869.

_Aylmers Feld_: ueb. von H. A. Feldmann. Ebend, 1870.

_Harald_: ueb. von Albr. Graf Wickenburg. Hamburg, 1879.

_Locksley Hall_: ueb. von F. Freiligrath--_Locksley Hall sechzig Jahre spaeter_: ueb. von J. Feis. Hamburg, 1888.

_Locksley Hall sechzig Jahre spaeter_: ueb von K. B. Esmarch. Gotha, 1888.

DUTCH.

_The Miller's Daughter._ Freely tr. by A. J. de Bull. Utrecht, 1859.

_Vier Idyllen van Konig Arthur._ Amsterdam, 1883.

_Enoch Arden._ Tr. by S. J. van den Bergh. Rotterdam, 1869.

_Enoch Arden._ Tr. by J. L. Wertheim. Amsterdam, 1882.

DANISH AND NORWEGIAN.

_The May Queen._ Tr. by L. Falck. Christiania, 1855.

_Anna og Locksley Slot._ Oversat af A. Hansen. 1872.

_Idyller om Kong Arthur._ Ov. af A. Munch. 1876.

_Enoch Arden._ Tr. by A. Munch. Copenhagen, 1866.

_Sea Dreams_ and _Aylmer's Field_. Tr. by F. L. Mynster. 1877.

SWEDISH.

_Konung Arthur och hans riddare._ Romantish diktcykel. Upsala, 1876.

_Elaine._ Endikt. Tr. by A. Hjelmstjerna. 1877.

FRENCH.

_Les Idylles du Roi._ Enide, Viviane, Elaine, Genievre. Trad. par F. Michel. 1869.

_Enoch Arden._ Trad. par M. de La Rive. 1870.

_Enoch Arden._ Trad. par X. Marmier. 1887.

_Enoch Arden._ Trad. par M. l'abbe R. Courtois. 2e edition. 1890.

_Enoch Arden._ Trad. par E. Duglin. 1890.

_Idylles et Poemes_: _Enoch Arden_: _Locksley Hall_. Traduits en vers francais par A. Buisson du Berger. 1888.

SPANISH.

_Enid_ and _Elaine_. Tr. by L. Gisbert. 1875.

_Poemes de Alfredo Tennyson_--_Enoch Arden_, _Gareth y Lynette_, _Merlin y Bibiana_, etc. Tr. by D. Vicente de Arana. Barcelona, 1883.

ITALIAN.

_Idilli, Liriche, Mite e Leggende, Enoc Arden._ Tr. by C. Faccioli. Verona, 1876.

_Tommaso Crammero e Maria e Filippo._[47] Tr. by C. Faccioli. Verona, 1878.

_Il Primo Diverbio._[48] Tr. by E. Castelnuovo. Venice, 1886.

_La Prima Lite._[48] Tr. by P. T. Pavolini. Bologna, 1888.

LATIN.

_In Memoriam._ Tr. into Elegiac verse by O. A. Smith. 1866.

_Enoch Arden_: Poema Tennysonianum Latine Redditum W. Selwyn. London, 1867.

_Horae Tennysonianae_: sive Eclogae e Tennysono Latine Redditae A. J. Church. London and Cambridge, 1870.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Three volumes of verse by Frederick Tennyson have appeared, viz.: _Days and Hours_ (1854); _Isles of Greece; Sappho and Alcaeus_ (1890); _Daphne, and Other Poems_ (1801). The published works of Charles Turner are as follows: _Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces_ (1830); _Sonnets_ (1864); _Small Tableaux_ (1868); _Sonnets, Lyrics and Translations_ (1873); _Collected Sonnets, Old and New_ (1880). Edward Tennyson (1813-1890) achieved something of a reputation as a versifier; he contributed a sonnet to the _Yorkshire Annual_ for 1832.

[2] Edward Fitzgerald, in a letter written in 1835, says: "I will say no more of Tennyson than that the more I have seen of him, the more cause I have to think him great. His little humours and grumpinesses were so droll, that I was always laughing.... I felt what Charles Lamb describes, a sense of depression at times from the overshadowing of a so much more lofty intellect than my own."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i.

[3] "Tennyson has been in town for some time: he has been making fresh poems, which are finer, they say, than any he has done. But I believe he is chiefly meditating on the purging and subliming of what he has already done: and repents that he has published at all yet. It is fine to see how in each succeeding poem the smaller ornaments and fancies drop away, and leave the grand ideas single."--_Letters of Edward Fitzgerald_, vol. i., p. 21.

Extract from a letter dated October 23, 1833.

[4] "Alfred Tennyson dined with us. I am always a little disappointed with the exterior of our poet when I look at him, in spite of his eyes, which are very fine; but his head and face, striking and dignified as they are, are almost too ponderous and massive for beauty in so young a man; and every now and then there is a slightly sarcastic expression about his mouth that almost frightens me, in spite of his shy manner and habitual silence."--Fanny Kemble's _Records of a Girlhood_, pp. 519-20.

This entry in Fanny Kemble's journal is dated June 16, 1832.

[5] Fitzgerald, in a letter written in London (April, 1838) says: "We have had Alfred Tennyson here; very droll, and very wayward: and much sitting up of nights till two and three in the morning with pipes in our mouths: at which good hour we would get Alfred to give us some of his magic music, which he does between growling and smoking."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., pp. 42, 43.

[6] Milnes, in a letter dated July 20, 1856, gives this glimpse of the Laureate's domestic life: "He is himself much happier than he used to be, and devoted to his children, who are beautiful."--_Reid's Life of Lord Houghton_, Vol. I.

[7] The time of Tennyson's removal from Twickenham to Farringford can be fixed with tolerable definiteness. Fitzgerald writes (Oct. 25, 1853): "I am going to see the last of the Tennysons at Twickenham;" and again (in December, 1853): "I hear from Mrs. Alfred they are got to their new abode in the Isle of Wight."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., pp. 225-6.

[8] In 1865, Alfred Tennyson was elected a member of the Royal Society; in 1869, an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and, in 1884, president of the Incorporated Society of Authors. He is also president of the London Library.

[9] "An interesting fact relating to the poet's descent may here be mentioned. His mother's mother (Mrs. Fytche) was a granddaughter of a certain Mons. Fauvelle, a French Huguenot, who was related to Madame de Maintenon."--Church's _Laureate's Country_, p. 10.

[10] Edward Fitzgerald, in a letter written soon after Charles Turner's death (April 25, 1879), says: "Tennyson's elder, not eldest, brother is dead; and I was writing only yesterday to persuade Spedding to insist on Macmillan publishing a complete edition of Charles' Sonnets: graceful, tender, beautiful, and quite original little things."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., p. 437.

[11] Mary Tennyson (1810-1884) married the Hon. Alan Ker, Puisine Judge of the Supreme Court of Jamaica.

[12] Emily Tennyson (1811-1887), who was betrothed to Arthur Hallam about 1830, became the wife of Capt. Richard Jesse, R. N.

[13] The Hon. Lionel Tennyson was attacked by jungle fever during a visit to India, and died on board the Chusan, near Aden, April 20, 1886, aged thirty-two. He was a profound student of dramatic poetry, and would have won a name for himself in literature. For several years he was connected with the India office, and prepared a masterly report on "The Moral and Material Condition of India," for 1881-82. In 1878, he married the accomplished daughter of Frederick Locker. The eldest of their three sons is the "golden-haired Ally" who inspired the well-known verses of his grandfather.

[14] "Queen Mary" was produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in April, 1876--Miss Bateman as Mary and Irving as Philip.

[15] "The Cup" was played at the Lyceum in January, 1881--Irving taking the part of Synorix and Miss Terry that of Camma.

[16] "The Falcon" was presented at St. James' Theatre, London, in December, 1879--Mr. Kendal playing the role of Count Federigo and Mrs. Kendal that of Lady Giovanna.

[17] "The Promise of May" was performed at the Globe Theatre, London, (Nov. 11-Dec. 16, 1882), with Mrs. Bernard-Beere as Dora, Miss Emmeline Ormsby as Eva, Mr. Hermann Vezin as Edgar and Mr. Charles Kelly as Dobson.

[18] "The Foresters" was produced at Daly's Theatre, New York, (Mar. 17-April 22, 1892),--Mr. John Drew in the role of Robin Hood and Miss Ada Rehan as Maid Marian.

[19] Walter's _In Tennyson Land_, p. 62.

[20] Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, vol. xv., p. 651.

[21] Johnson's _Cyclopedia_, vol. vii., p. 755.

[22] _Ibid._

[23] J. H. Ward, in _Atlantic Monthly_, Sept., 1879.

[24] _Encyclopedia Americana_, vol. iv., p. 660.

[25] J. A. Graham, in _Art Journal_, Feb., 1891.

[26] Lodge's _Peerage_ (1888), p. 597.

[27] _Art Journal_, Feb., 1891.

[28] _Atlantic Monthly_, Sept., 1879.

[29] A full transcript of the inscription on the rector's tomb is given in Church's _Laureate's Country_ (p. 27), a work that is simply invaluable to students of Tennyson.

"Somersby and Bag Enderby are hamlets about one quarter of a mile apart," says Gatty, "and are held by one Rector, who now resides at the latter place."--_Key to "In Memoriam."_ Preface.

"Not far from the south-eastern extremity of this Wold country is the little village of Somersby. The nearest town to it is Horncastle, which is six miles to the south-east.... Somersby is something less than fifteen miles from the sea."--Church's _Laureate's Country_.

[30] C. J. Caswell, in _Notes and Queries_, March 14, 1891. Van Dyke's _Poetry of Tennyson_, p. 323.

[31] Dawson's _Makers of Modern English_, p. 169.

[32] _The Graphic_, (Chicago), Nov. 14, 1891.

[33] _The Tribune_, (Chicago), March 26, 1892, p. 14.

[34] Jenkins' _Handbook of British and American Literature_, p. 400. Emerson's _Parnassus_, p. xxxiii. Friswell's _Modern Men of Letters_, p. 152. Collier's _History of English Literature_, p. 472. Angus' _Handbook of English Literature_, p. 274. Fogh's _Nordish Con.-Lex._, vol. v., p. 665. Hoefer's _Nouvelle Biog. Gen._, vol. 44. Lorenz _Cat. Lib. Fran._, vol. vi., p. 607. Bleibtreu's _Geschichte Eng. Lit._, p. 364. Fischer's _Ausgewaehlte Gedichte v. A Tennyson_, p. 1. Waldmueller Duboc's _Freundes-Klage_, p. 6. Faccioli's _A. Tennyson--Idilli Liriche_, etc., p. ix.

[35] _Poets and Problems_, p. 73.

I am indebted to Mr. C. J. Caswell for his thorough investigations of Tennyson's boyhood. See _Pall Mall Gazette_, June 19, 1890.

[36] Brockhaus' _Conversations-Lex._, vol. xv., p. 559.

[37] _Lives of English Authors_ (1890), p. 308.

[38] Johnson's _Cyclopedia_, vol. vii., p. 755.

[39] Cook's _Poets and Problems_, p. 73.

[40] Cassell's _Lib. Eng. Lit._, Shorter Poems, p. 465.

[41] Church's _Laureate's Country_, p. 74. Van Dyke's _Poetry of Tennyson_, p. 323.

Frederick Tennyson (a co-heir of the Earls of Scarsdale) was born June 5, 1807. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself by writing Greek verse--winning the prize for a Sapphic ode on "Egypt." He married an Italian lady, Maria Guiliotta, now dead, by whom he had two sons--Julius and Alfred,--and three daughters--Elise, Emily, Matilda. For many years he lived at Tenby in South Wales; at present he resides in Jersey, and devotes himself to his favorite Hellenic studies and to poetry.

Charles Tennyson Turner (born July 4, 1808, died April 25, 1879) attended Louth Grammar School (1815-21), and then was fitted for college at home. At Trinity, he did admirable work in the classics--obtaining a Bell scholarship. In 1836, he became vicar of Grasby, where he passed the greater part of his life, well-known for his good works. In 1838, he acquired property left him by his great-uncle, Rev. S. Turner, and assumed the name of Turner by royal license. He married Louisa Sellwood, youngest sister of Lady Tennyson; he died at Cheltenham.

[42] "In 1872, Mr. Tennyson purchased a small estate on the top of Blackdown."

_Laureate's Country_, ch. XVI. On the other hand, _Every Saturday_, for Jan. 1, 1870, says:

"Mr. Tennyson has recently built himself a second residence, in a picturesque valley in Surrey." "In 1867," says Jennings in his _Lord Tennyson_ (p. 190), "it was announced that Tennyson had purchased the Greenhill estate on the borders of Sussex."

This statement is corroborated by a letter of Milnes, dated July 30, 1867:

"Our expedition to Tennyson's was a moral success, but a physical failure.... The bard was very agreeable, and his wife and son delightful. He has built himself a very handsome and commanding home in a most inaccessible site, with every comfort he can require, and every discomfort to all who approach him. What can be more poetical?"

Reid's _Life of Lord Houghton_, Vol. II, p. 176

Here the circumstances point to only one conclusion--that Tennyson was living at Aldworth in the summer of 1867. It is a satisfaction to get down to a solid substratum of truth.

[43]

Johnson's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. VII., p. 755.
Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. XV., p. 652.
Meyer's _Kon-Lex._, vol. XV., p. 589.
Hart's _Manual of English Literature_, p. 509.
Jenkins' _Handbook of British and American Literature_, p. 401.

[44] _London Times_, March 12, 1884. An item in the _Chicago Herald_, April 5, 1892, refers to Tennyson as "Baron d'Eyncourt." Thus he is called in _Lives of English Authors_ (1890). His title is given as "baron Tennyson d'Eyncourt d'Aldworth," by Larousse (_Dictionnaire Universel_, 2d. Supplement, p. 1914); and as "Baron Tennyson von Altworth," by Brockhaus (_Con-Lex._, vol. xv., p. 559), and by Meyer (_Kon-Lex._, vol. xv., p. 589). The _Illustrirtes Kon-Lex._ says he was offered a Baronetcy in 1875. The _International Cyclopedia_ says he was made a baron in 1883, as does Alden's _Cyc. of Univ. Lit._ and other compilations. From this showing it would appear that French and German erudition is about on a par with English and American.

[45] Mrs. Ritchie on "Alfred Tennyson," in _Harper's Magazine_ (Dec., 1883), and Alice Maude Fenn on "The Borderlands of Surrey," in _The Century_ (Aug., 1882).

[46] Of the numerous works of reference which give Somerby as the poet's birthplace, are the following: Vapereau. _Dictionnaire des Contemporains_; Larousse. _Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe Siecle_, 2e. Supplement; Schem. _Conversations-Lexicon_; Meyer. _Conversations-Lexicon._ Brockhaus, etc.

[47] Selections from Tennyson's "Queen Mary."

[48] "The First Quarrel."

End of Project Gutenberg's Tennyson's Life and Poetry, by Eugene Parsons

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