New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-06
THE DEATH OF OENONE.
POEMS OF TENNYSON'S OLD AGE.
TIE DEATH OF OENONE, AKBAR'S DREAM AND

OTHER Poems. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Poet
Laureate. PIP. vi. ll3. Macmillan d co.
The hand that is now folded in death had not
lost its cunning when some of the verss in this
volume were written There remain the mastery
of rhythm and Of poetic form even in cases where
the author essayed some eccentric fantasy. What
is missing above everything else is the old delicacy
in the choice OF words. The dicton is not harsh,
Tennyson could not be unmusical but it Is hard,
and often prosac in the expression Of thoughts
which once upon a time would have been wrought
out with all the varied tone. all the eXibility Of
which tie English language s capable II one
wishes TO make sure of this let him compare the
rich luXuriancc Of the early poem on Ocnone, and
the dry treatment Of the sequel in this book IL
may, OF course, be sad that there was less posi-
bilny Of weaving verse with here, because all
nature must share the grief and resentment OF the
deserted daughter of Ida. That is true The
gras, hopper and ccala which were merely silent
at noonti1c when Oenons built I'D all her sorrow
with her song" the shadowy lizard, the purple
flowers dropping in the heat the golden bee hiding
in the lly-all must have vanished. As the hope9
Of Ocnone dead all should be dead about
her. And the poet pictures it, but not with
The picturesque variety Of his earlier time. II
satsiics him TO say that the rich plain Of the
der what he would once have done with 80 suggest
i've n thought. Even this fragment Of line brings
wildly ia mind the city the hill and the TEEN
ing valleys Of the Seaman der and the Simois now
turned into q silent ard barren desert
A comparison Of the lines in the earlier poem
which show the flowers blooming under the feet
81 the goddesscs and fcsfoons Of vine and ivy over
their heads, with the corresponding verses in The
Death OF Oenone, will SHOW not merely that the
poets diction has become hard, bat that lr is
capable in his age of grim cyncism. Surely
not Greek, nor one in whom the checrness Of
Greece fingered. would talk of
the serpent vines
Which, tho touch OF heavenly feet had risen.
AS If the vines and heaven itself had something
Of the serpent's ueachery in them. Is there not
also Il ring OF malice in the brief phrase. The
naked Three" when compared with that pleasant
line" Naked they came to that smooth-swardcl
bower?
The power Of sketching vast picture in u
phrase Tennyson always had on occasion, and it
IS still shown in some of these poems. For ca
ample, try 10 rellze all that could be portrayed
with this one line the theme: Like some old
wreck on some indrawing sea- There is reason
for quarreling with the verse technical grounds
bat IT could only have been written by who
hal studied the in all its moods
The most genial fragment in the book is one
wherein the poet recurs 10 a homely dialect Of
the countryside which he loved. Ii is a friendly
lecture of the old Church-Warden TO the new
Curatc. whom lie knew as witul lad. The
mingling Of humorous Renaissance with admoni-
ton. the narrow worldly wisdom and the anxiety
Of the old warden to have a sermon preached
against the sect which he dslikcs arr delightfully."-
characteristic The reason for his animOsty is
peculiar. lie suspects the Baptists OF having
poisoned his COW, because They weshd their sins
L my pond droll superstition that--bctter
worth II footnotc than the lines OF "Akbar's
Dream which are ornamented with explanations