New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-20

the hpautllul. we DdNt IOSt " e-4N''N '-e
must be confessed that we have not gained great
sage ,..;, no
The contents of this volume then. Interesting as
+hov must he will add nothing to his laurels. Al
Lat two Of the pieces are drawn from his Ola
no,tfo,ios. "Tiresias" is one of them. III mas lle
Instruction and dignity of the best OF Ills oi"hN
verse and hero are passages which betray the well
known 1uostertouch-as this in which the seer 'eii'
how he was stricken with biindnesS'
There IN a secret oliye-glade saw
Pallas thene climbing from the pain
I'm anger; yet one gllttcrlng 1907 uIs'urou
irbe lucid well one snowy knee was pres,
AGAINST tic margin flowers a dreadIuI llEm'
came from her golden barr, her golden hel'H
Aud All her golden armour on the grass,
End from Ter virgin breast, ana Vlrsn Syrs
Remaring izt on mine, till mine grew uaFA
Forever and heard a voice that shu -. ,o,
.Urnceforth be blind for thou mast seen 700 n,ch
,nS Sorak the truth that man may believe
SIM I'm the hidden world OF slEh' tnat IiNes
i3e o,c an work Of those who carve the stone
i$c2yond all dreams of Godike wonanhood'
in1T lie beauty, ont of whom, AT Il giance
And rs 1t wcrc pcrforce, upon me nash
The power o. prOphesying-bn 20 me , -, .bo crrsa
No noOrr-so chained ahd coupled W IN tue curse
~ ~ tiGnJness and their unbclief, who heard
Aud heard not. when spake OF famine pltEue'
Sbrue.Shatt earth quake lire, nOO' thuhueIooI'
And angeIs OF the Gods Tor EVIL done
; nnu or ninc own for when the crowd would roar
T"r blood for wir, whose issue was their DOOM
10 cas-, wise words among tae i{5'i h,I
NJ rivil outbreak. when knew the twain ,,
cf stronger states, was mine me voice 10 curo
The ma ness Of cur cities AMI their kings.
Ooo douhts however, whether It's chief valne Is
not rs a relic. or perhaps IN the fcehng lines 10
Eitzoerall (the translator OF Omar khayyamJ WIN
-, - = presented. the Wreck" passionate
narrative in the FIRST person, has tragic intensity
l 1ra,,ti life which we rarely find IN the later
CO without considerable philosophical alloy,
,ho CO. ne oraise, only in lower degree, may be
.r r. the parallel poem, The Flight" in spite oil
a. ,ct tlat i ends inefectiveiy going out as II
80 rather than reaching dramatic conclusion.
7, bid.ors but certainly vivid picture OF mental
a,T,:sh entitled "Despair" We see the poet IN the
go, n the speculative vice, ringing the changes
., tbf,logical doubt and the puzzles OF the
ruircrse. while he leaves his own answers obscure
a,opoh ~ hafle the ordinary hasty reader. But III
Cot his only aim was realistic study OF diseased
mind. m Iii,
aTte ,rc;ent Sage" is composition IN when
Tenrvson gives expression to great deaI OF
serious t,gt upon the eternal relations OF thihRs
He adorts a rather striking literary form; lor the
SAGE rraas aloud an essay in lifting rhyme by one
of his toliowers, aud comments upon IL IN DI''hN
verse W.T. frequent Interruptions. Here "oulu
soar, 20 have been on interesting cccasion for
contrasting the poets old style with his new. Lev
~ GOO what he makes of it. The scroll in the hands
nj the Sc6r'S 1OllONci D'5iIi9 ''''' w.
oie hoth the theme of the dsluisItOn and the dis
.i,rislin, note of all the rhymed and lighter
poi tons Of the poem
GLOW Tar tnro' all the bloom ana BRAKE
That nightingale IL heard!
WHAT mower but the birds cOu!d mako
This music IN the bird 49,
How summer bright are yonder SKIES
And earth rs fair I'D hue
And vet what sign OF dught thaI hss
Behind the green aud Que
But man today is fancy Us 1901
As man hath ever Dcel,
Tie nameless Power or Powers, that rule
We're never scari or seen.
Tho Tcnnvson of twenty-five years ago could not
have written lines which have so much OF the ring
f moral verse with so little of the suggestlrcneSs OF
,oetrv so much of rhythm with so little OF The soul
&c ,,nsic The decline here is undeniahle. And
,bot have we instead of the ola spirit OF beauty
VII we have far too much OF metaphysical
didacticism in the following vein;
r,o, canst not prove the Namei s.. my son,
Nor caust thou prove the world thou moVest IN
; t0p canstnot prove that thou art body alone.
Mr. conSt thou prove that thou art spirit alone
!T,on c'Wst lot prove th0n art immortal no
Nor vet that thou art mOrta-nsr my son
Thou canst not prove that l. VINO speak Win thee'
An not thy self in converse with thyseh,
For nothing worthy proving can be proven
Cleaye ever the SUMMER side OF dodDt,
And cng to Faith beyond the forms OF Faith!
This may be truth, but it IS not expressed in the
,.nuuare of poetry The conclusion. in which the
wise man teaches that to lead good life is the way
of knowledge is in much purer strain, the poet
rising with the dignity of his Thought but after
oil - The Ancient Seer" must lie regarded as a
donnie example of TcnnysOn's decay, the fading Of
the old sensuous charm of song and the proneness
IN mistake the sober reflections of age for the
whispers Of the Aeetlng muse.
In the extract from the dialect poem Of The
Spinster's Sweet-Arts" already printed in THE
TRIBUNE our readers had a glimpse OF quality
which Tennyson has not often exhibited we mean
a fu ll.havored humOr approaching the bOldness Of
farce The idea is that of spnster who has
named her cats after her discarded lovers, and in
her soliloquy she sometimes confounds tho old
flame with his namcsake i'll an lrTesistibly comical
manner
Naay-let ma stroak tina down till l makes tha as
Butif led married tha Robby. thoud not "a been worth
thy MIX, 49,, -. 49,. ., !, o.. . ~, ,
Thoud nver "a eotehd ony mice but LETT me the vorh
And "a tam to the bottle beside. all that ears
But ioovs tha to make thysen appy, an soa pnrr
Thou ed weilnigh purr'd ma AWAY fra my Dan two
'oonderd ayear
In STo-morrow" the humOr OF Irish dialect and,
still more. the Irish turn Of thought is married to
the pathos of a simple and natural story story so
finely conceived ana beautifully told that we
can hardly help resentiDg the low comedy tag with
which 1t is brought TO close. What pity the
poet did not stop at the end of the fourteenth
stanza! BALM and Baan." which Is called in a
foot-note an introduction to Merlin and Vivien ,"
has the romantic and sumptnOus air of the ldyls
from which it seems to have been omitted, and is
not unworthy of that fascinating series yet few
will quarrel with the severe judgment which laid
it apart from them, however glad may be to
read once more legend of chvalry by of the
most poetical Of all storytcllers. OF The Charge
of the Heavy Brigade it is slight praise to say
that it will serve as pendant TO the greater
@Charge of tho Light Brigade" If it lacks the
impetuoSity and splendid rush of the earlier poenl