Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-05
TENNYSON'S PLAY.
TIE Uproori0ss Way im Which 1t Has Re
ceiced by a London audience.

the very programme was novel and arts
tic; money and taste was freely expended
| and the melancholy. result was ridicule
The public focked to the theater with Gag
| er anticipations and sat through the frs
scene with minds predisposed to reverent a
enjoyment; they left it with jeers ant
laughter. AS for the ''gods'' they merci
lessly ''guyed' the piece from the moment
| that failure was apparent, and it becam,
apparent very early IN the first act.
1t was great disappointment. The
name of the play was poetic 1.-THE Prom
Use of May;" and, as though to increase the
interest, the following pretty lines by the
author were printed on the programme:
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 Dough
o 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 fox from the glen ran away with the h'n,
And the stock dove Good till kite dropped
down,
And a 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-
asperatedV NE orthodox portion of the au-
dience, and their unsuitability to the stage
moved those who recognized tho dramatic
intention of the author to inextinguishable
laughter. Poor Mr.. Vein had to repre-
sent the gentleman-villian who comes to
the happy farm in Lincolnshire presuma-
bly,, but the rustic dialect was a little
mixed 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 marriages: Marriage says
he, s'that feeble institution. Child, it
will pass away with priestcraft from
tho 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
AAAS uWO uOSS GOSCtlOI ny Ou0 CO1ldrs Gucy
snarl and bite each other because there is
no hope of parting" Then he leaves her,
saying he will write. Another of this gen.
tleman's sentiments runs as follows: CHAR
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 affinities 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-wen the state will bring
up the children
FITS OF SCORNFUL HILARITY.
These soliloquies, clearly delivered by
Mr.. Vein (who unfortunately did net
look young and attractive), we're met with
derision, and in the next act (six years hav-
ing elapsed in the story when he quietly
marches on to the same spot again he was
received with 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 Dora, the sister of his victim,
on the ''bridge by the hay feld' and makes
love to her. When she has gone off in a
iutter 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 in
her eyes, Eya's eyes through Dora's. They
worked a charm upon me and feel, or
could feel, as much of what they call love
for this Dora as for any woman I 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 CT least resistance when
the stronger motive rules?''
It was all up with the play after that.