Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-05
TENNYSON'S PLAY.

the very programme was novel and arts
tic; money and taste was freely expended
and the melancholy result was ridicule
The public flocked to the theater with Gag.
er anticipations and sat through the first
scene with minds predisposed to reverent q
enjoyment; they left it with jeers and
laughter. AS for the ''gods' they merci
lessly 'guyed" the piece from the moment
that failure was apparent, and it became
apparent very early IN the first act.
1t was great disappointment. The
name of the play was poetic-''The Prom
Use of Mays" and. as though to increase the
interest, the following pretty lines by the
author were printed on the programmes:
The town lay still in the low sunlight,
The hen cluct late by the white farm gate,
The maid to her dairy came in from the COW,
The stock dove Good at the fall of night,
The blossom had opcn'd on every bough-
Joy for the promise of May, of May,
o JOY for the promise of May!
But red fire woke in the heart of the town,
And a fox from the glen ran away with the h'n,
And cat to the cream, and rat to the cheese,
And the stock dove Good till kite dropped
down,
And salt wind burnt the blossoming trees
O grief for the promise of May, Of May.
o grief for the promise Of May!
THE SUFFERING ACTORS.
Next to Mrs. Bernard Beere, the greatest
sufferer was Mr.. Hermann vein, who had
to bear the brunt of the displeasure and
''chaff' of the gallery. The abominable
sentiments which he has to utter fairly e1-
asperated the orthodox portion of the au-
dience, and their unsuitability to the stage
moved those who recognized the dramatic
intention of the author to inextinguishable
laughter. Poor Mr.. Vein had to repre-
sent the gentleman william who comes to
the happy farm in Lincolnshire presuma-
bly,, but the rustic dialect was a little
mixed-and, in spite of the strong objec-
tions to him entertained by all the clod-
hoppers, Farmer Dobson at their head, Sc
duces Eva, one of the two daughters of
Farmer Steer. And then, when she
urges marriage: Marriage" says
he, shat feeble institution. Child, it
will pass away with priestcraft from
the pulpit into the crypt, into the
abyss; for does not nature teach us that
marriage is against nature? For look at
the birds-they pair for the season and
part, but how merrily they sing; while
marrying, as some one says, is like chain
Ing WV OOSo COSCUAOA Ny tlO CO1A1IS luSJ
snarl and bite each other because there is
saying he will write. Another of this gen.
tleman's sentiments runs as follows: ''Mar-
riage in itself. Well, when the great dem
ocratic deluge which is slowly coming upon
us and all Europe shall have washed away
thrones and churches, ranks, conditions
and customs marriage, one of the most
senseless. among the rest-why then the
man and the woman being free to follow
their elective afinities will each bid the
old bond farewell, not with tears but with
smiles, not with mutual recrimina-
ton but with mutual good
wishes, with no dread of the worlds
gossip and no necessity for concealment;
and the children-well the state will bring
up the children"
FITS OF sCoRNFUL HILARITY.
These soliloquies, clearly delivered by
Mr.. Vein (who unfortunately did not
look young and attractive), were met with
derision, and in the next act (si1 years hay
ing elapsed in the story when he quietly
marches on to the same spot again he was
received with a burst of laughter. Why
the heartless seducer should come back to
the scene of his villainy is hard to under
stand. but he is supposed to be repentant
and consumed with desire to make amends
for his cruelty. His method of making
amends is peculiar and goads the audi
ence into another fit of scornful hilarity.
He meets DVta, the sister of his victim,
on the ''bridge by the hay field" and makes
love to her. When she has gone off in a
futter of delight he delivers another as
founding soliloquy: Surely, surely, l
must have loved Eva far more than knew,
for the past looked through the present i'll
her eyes, Eva's eyes through Dora's. They
worked charm upon me and I feel, or I
could feel, as much of what they call love
for this Dora as for any woman ever met.
Here there was a roar from the audience.
More, perhaps, if 1 except Eva, poor Eva,
poor, dear, dead Eva, drowned through me.
To make amends will wed this Dora, if
possible. Renewed yells from the gal
lery and bursts of laughter from the stalls
and boxes. I will make her at least happy
and the fathers old age comfortable. 1t
seems this is worth my while if I wish to
be at peace myself. Is that absurd?
Rather from the gallery. Some of my
friends would say SO, but how can I help
moving in the line of least resistance when
the stronger motive rulas?"
1t was ali up with the play after that.