Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-11-10
TExNYsON,s NEW PoEm.

From the Hartford Times.l
Fennyson has produced another poem,
1t Is like all his later productions, one
Ofthe ever lengthening series Of "Idyls
ofthe King,n and its title is "Gareth and
Lynette.n Osgood d Co., of Boston, will
publish il soon. In the order OF
the series it is to stand next after 'fThe
Coming of Arthur" Gsreth, a youth,
is the hero. He is the youngest son OF
LOtand Bellicent; too young TO be one
Of Arthur's knights, yet his ambition
burns in that direction. His mother
urges his too youthful years. He re-
monstrates in the well known stately
T~ennysonian blank verse of the Idyls,
none Of which in the quality Of stately
measure and mel0dious perfection sur
passes that earliest of the series, the ex
quisite "Morte d'Arthur, " and finally
gets his mothers permission togo; only,
however, on this condition:
prince, thou shalt go disguised to Arthur's
hall,
And hire myself to serve for meats and drinks
Among the seulliUns aud kitchen knayes,
And those that hand the dish across the bar.
Nor shalt thou tell thy name 70 any one,
And thou shalt serve a twelvemonth and a
day"
Gareth's reply is that "the thrall in
person may be free in soul - accepts the
condition, is admitted as a seullion in
King Arthur's kitchen, and performs
low service with a noble mind. At the
end of the month his mother releases
him from his promises. Arthur makes
him a Knight, and sends him forth to
war against four powerful but bandit
warriors, who beleaguer the Lady LyO-
ness in her castle. Her younger sister,
the Lynette of the story, is her ambassa-
dor Of the King. Shei is
"Adamsel OF high lineage, and a brow
May-blOssom and a cheek of apple-blossom
Hawk-eyes; and lightly was her tender nose
Tlp-ttlted like the petal Of a flower"
"a nose inclined to be red and tender
at the end. That isn't the poetieal way
of stating it, but that is the IDEAL
She demands that Sir Lancelot shall
be sent to kill the enemies of her sister.
The King give, the commission to Ga
reth, whom only he and Sir Lancelot
know to be a prince in disguise.
"But on the damseI's forehead shame, pride,
wrath,
Slew the May-white; she lifted either arm.
File on the King; / asked for thy chief knight
And thou hast given me but q kitchen-knaVe.'
Then ere a man in hall could stay her, turn'd,
He'd down the lane OF access TO the King,
Took horse,descendedthe slope street and past
The weird white gate, and paused without,
beside
The held Of tourney, murmuring, kitchen
knave.'"
Gareth follows, performs some deeds
of undoubted proves on the way, sub
mits to her naughty taunts, but notuntil
he has Overthrown two of the doughtiest
enemies of her sister does the naughty
maiden cease to call him a Kitchen
knave." He shows throughout the
,,s,LN e IL. -, =. ,,,l IN ]
imOus might of meekness.n The first
knight he vanquishes calls himself the
Morning Star, and here is the descrip-
ton of his feminine squires:
Then at his call, so daughters of the dawn.
And servants Of the Morning Star, approach: /
Arm me, from out silkeu curtain folds.
BarefoOted and bareheaded three fair girls:
In gilt and rosy raiment came; their feet
IN dewy grasses gltstened, and the hair
over glanced with dewdrOp or with gem
Liz sparkles in the stone Avanturine.
These armd him in blue arms, and gave a
Blue also, and thereon the morning star,
And Gareth silent gazed upon the knight,
stood a moment ere his horse was
GloryinE; and in the stream beneath him.
shOne,
Immingled with Heaven's azure. waveringIy,
gay pavilion and the naked feet,
His arms, the rosy raiment. and the STAR
In the end, Gareth is triumphant over
ali enemies.
OF the poem as a whole, the Boston
Globe has this criticism:
The poem has that air of nobleness
which envelopes, as with a precious ideal
atmosphere, all the "Idyls of the King,u
and which magnifies both manhood and
y~omanhood. Like the others, it gives
he impression that the events occur in
he mind of the poet and not in the
world without. Tennyson cannot, like
Shakespeare and Scott, give effectively
. his creations. The umbilical cord is
lever cut. As we read, we are contin-
tally prone TO say, not that these noble
'ersons are real, but-hOw delicious
must be the inner experience of Tenny- {
on! Even the music of the versei is felt
a all its fullness only by the internal {
ar. The lines cannot be read aloud
Without a palpable sacrifice of the ex-
uisite melody which appeals to the in c
xpressible ans of melody within US. v
{ is S
Music that softlier on the spirit lies, s
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes" {
What eloeutionist or singer, for instance, a
'ould dare to read aloud the "Bugle g
with the confidence that its in
liable harmonies could be conveyed by b
ne mere voice? d
We have not space to give our readers 81
n adequate ideal of the beauties of q
Gareth and Lynette." We cannot II
clip, however, extracting these verses, {,
/ which the hero celebrates the gradual Il
1nGuest of the heart of his naughty c
distress: u
} morning star that smiles in the blue, U
star, my morning dream with proven true, b
nlie sWeetly, thou! my love hath smiled p,
on me. ~
} Sun, that Weakened all to bliss or pain, o.
moon, that layest all to sleep again, >
line sWeetly! twice my love hath smiled U
on me. "
dewy flowers that open to the sun, ,
fiowers that close when day is done, II
ow sweetly; twice my love hath smiled n
on me. 1
trefoil, sparkling on the rainy plain, =,
rainbow with three colors after rain, 4,
line sweetly; thrice my love hath smiled L
on me-" n