, 1872-10-23
''TENNYSON."

NIr. .JnEses r. Fields Lecture mt the
Union Park congregational Cnl1rch
Last Evening"
Dir. Fields began by saying no eminent man
of our tim ehas been 80 miB-imagiued as Tenny-
son. He has been written about by those who
knew nothing Of him personally, until Tery en-
roneous impression Of the man and the poet has
got abroad. The lecturer claimed for the poet
the highest honors, naming him as D peer in
that department. OF English literature which has
been i1lumined by genius since the fourteenth
century. a man SO great IS Tennyson, is, to
some extent, the property Of the civilized world.
His name is sweet and grateful on the lips OF all
who love the Language Of poetic thought. It
Was said Of Voltaire that he was rather great
intellect than great manhood, but a pre-emin-
ence was claimed for Tennyson in both. Mr..
Fields described tbs poets personal appearance
as commanding and grand. Applying to him
his own words,
He might hive gat for Hercules,
So muscular he spread. so broad Of heart.
A royal integrity, q spirit compact of vigor and
honest purpose are visible in every look and
tone of the man. \ At the age Of a.,
when he printed his first volume, he had Cole
ridge and Wadsworth and Leigh Hunt to hail
his advent. sainte Beuye said that in three
fourths Of all the men who live q certain rerery
of youth, the flower of sentiment, the poet with
in dies young, while the man survives. This
reYery has never died out in Tennyson. When
he came singing into the century, new era OF
aside from the pathway that had been trodden
By Chaucer and the other grent ones. He has
never sighted his possession, but he has con-
tinued to enrich it by profound and earnest de-
one Of the best Grecinns of modern times, and
he keeps fully abreast of all the scientific dis
coyeries in Europe and America. TYndan and
huxley are not more alert in their search after
truth than the Poet Laureate of England.
D1r. Fields described TennyBon's manner Of
reading poetry, and his own poems in particular,
as most impressive. He gives the full swell Of
the ode or the lyric in way no one who has
ever heard him can forget Alr. Fields heard
him read in private from Milton md Homer, and
On various occasions listened with delight to his
rendering Of ' Maud y the ''Idylls." and other
well known poems OF his own. The effect which
tho poet gave in the reading Of his own writings
was most startling, and quite unlike that pro
duced by any public or private reader mr.
Fields had ever heard.
Tennysons great learning was commented on,
and his intimate acquaintance with botany
and geology were specially mentioned. His love
of nature Is an ardent passion which he is con-
stantly feeding with new acquisitions.
One should see Tennyson in his own home,
walk with him about the Isle Of Wight, explore
with him the chalky cliffs and the downs Of
Freshwater Bay, and sit with him in his study
tower after midnight, to know much about the
man and the poet. His reticence is proverbial,
but those who are admitted to his friendship
reverence and love him. Mr.. Fields quoted Soy
eral verses and lines with which Tennyson has
enriched our native literature, and observed
that he has added moro to the common stock Of
quotations that are now in daily use than any
other poet Of his era. No modern bard has
been habitually in such subtle sympathy with the
sea, and described the ocean IN ali it's moods
with powor akin to Tennyson's. lIr. Fields
closed his romarks with quotations illustrating
this statement, and ended as he begun, by plac.
ing the Laureate high in the rolls Of fame.