Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-04
TENNYsON's QUEEN MARY
English Views CT the Latest Effort of the
Poet Laureate.

English Views CT the Latest Effort of the
Poet laureate.
The London Times Of June l9.h. hiss
the following review of Mr.. Tennysnu's
Queen Mary: The appearance If Mr..
1ennyson in the field Of drama is an
event Of interest, it says, both for En-
glish poetry and the English stage. To
say that the experiment was regarded
with some anxiety by those who most
appreciate the subtlety of his artistic
pOwtr is only to say that a fine poem in
the dramatic form is not necessarily a
fine drama; but, unless we are deceived,
it will be generally allowed that queen
MdTy is not only fine poem, but n fine
drama, and that though each o. the
several powers which go to make it so
has already been proved by the author,
the mastery harmony in which they
work together here entities Queen Mary
to be considered something more than
merely a success in q new kind. The
dramatic glow and impetus which are
proper TO a poem of action may lie
inflated, but cannot be replaced by epic
splendor or lyIical passion. 10 our
own days we have seen these, or feebler
substitutes, esssying to do duty for it;
but it is long since the genuine insp'ri
ton, at least Of tragedy, has been
among Us. The ingenuity Of the apollo
gies which have been suggested for the
fact is characteristic Of the age which
required them, but the fact is generally
allowed. II we welcome Mr.. Tenny-
sons drama for one reason more than
another, it is for this-beeause here we
seem to recognize the presence of that
rare and precious virtue which has so
long seemed dead even in those works
OF + Iglish poetry which are most dis
tinctly products of genius-drsmstic
fire; and il we had to say when last this
great quality found a cOmparab.y vivid
embodiment in the treatment of al
English historical subject, we should not
know where to stay our sealch until it
had ca RED us back to the YER when
the series OF Shakespeare English MIS-
tories was completed and crowned with
Henry Y. The action of the drama
covers the five years from "MaIy's1
accession, in 1858, to her death,
in 1858. AS a study Of the time,
at once truthful in its broad as
poets aud accurate in detail, we believe
that it would bear the scrutiny of Mr..
FrOude and Mr.. Speeding. AS q vivid
picture OF the whole reign-Of the feel
ing in England toward the Spanish mar
rage, Of "Mary's" effort to cancel not
merely the Protestant reform alton, but
the more moderate reforms " the new
learning, of the temper in which the
new parliament and the nation, after
the Submission to the papscy, refused to
accept the purely Catholic policy Of
Spain, and, lastly, OF that profound
tragedy which centers in the blasted
hopes and blighted love of the queen
the drama, merely as a matter of Ea-
Rlish history, can be appreciated by all.
Some extracts follow, and then the re-
viewer continues: The paramount merit
of the poem as work Of art consists in
the skill with which the drsmatist has
held the balance between the horror ex-
cited by "Mary'i the prosecutor and IL e
compassion felt for "MaTy" the SUFFER-.
Howard tells "Paget" how he has
seen heTetics Of the poorer sort, in dsiiy
expectation of tbe rack, lying chained
IN sitting dungeons over steaming sew
ers, fed with bread that crawled upon
the tongue, drinking water Of which ev.
cry drop was worm, until they died Of
rotted limbs. Among those voices Of
the night which pass the palace in
which MARY is dying, there is one of
citizen who had seen q WOmsn burned
in Guernsey:
a. and in her agony
The mother came upon her-a child was
born
And, sir, they hurled it back into the fire,
That, being but baptized in fire, the babe
Might be in fire fOIe ver."
The impression made by the entire
drama deepens that red brand which
rests on the memory Of ''Mary;s" reign.
Yet, while the awful crueIties of more
than Spanish big TRY are thus made to
live before the imagination, we are at
the same time irresistibly drawn to SYM
pathiZe with whatever is womanly,
whatever is heroic, whatever is Of tragic
intensity in the miserable story of Ma
ry'sn personal life. When, some months
after her marriage, MARY for me-
ment anticipates the realization of
great hope, her joy finds utteranCe 10
what is, perhaps, the grandest, as it is
certainly the most pathetic passage Of
the whole poem:
He hath awaked he hath awaked.
He Stirs within the darkneSsl
Oh, Philip, husband! now thine love to mine
ners thaw,
That make me ashamed and tongue.tied in
my love
The second Prince of Peace
The great unborn defender of the Faith,
Who will avenge me of mine enemies
He comes, and my star lies.
The stormy Wyat.S and NOTthum berIandS,
The proud ambitions OF EiiZabsth,
And all her dercest partlsans are pale
Before my start
The light OF this new learning wanes and
dies;
The ghosIs of Luther and ZumgliuS fade
Into the deathless hell, which is tneiT doom,
Before my star!
HIS sceptre shall go forth from Ind to Ind.
His sword shall hew the hereto peoples
down.
His faith shall cIothe the world that will be
Like universal air and sunshine, Open,
1e everlasting gates! The King is here!-
My star, my SOM"
And when the end is near, and
"Mary," on her death-bed, mas passed
into deliTium, the anguish brought by
the failure Of that hope is interpreted in
a scene of wonderful power, from which
we quote only few lines:
Mary This Philip shall not
stare in upon me in my haggardne 5
Old, miserable, diseased
Incapable OF children. Come thou
down Cuts out the picture
and throws II down.
Lie there. [Waitsl o God, have
killed my Philip.
Madam, you have but cut the canvas
out,
We can replace it.
Mary All is well then; rest
will TO rest he said 1 must have
rest.
The narrative passages Of the drama
especially the descriptions OF "Isdv