New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-11
VAUGHS TENN lSON.
, VALUABLE STUDY OF TIE LATE LAO-
REATE.

,,rprn LORD rEYNYsoN. 4 STUDY OF his
LIFE AND WORK Iy arthur a,, ro %s" Co.. " ~
7. r,icbt no thought that this was one OF thosc
hooks which are flung together hastily In oruer u
..'oo, . suddon demand caused by the death oil
I;stirruishcd parsonage seeing that 1t appears 10
.o, ar,or tho Iaureatcs dcccase. The fact now
cvcr is that the author was ut work upon ~ u"'-
inc sovcral years. and it was finished before len
r,son died Mr. Waugh has therefore merely pec'
called mon TO bring his biographcai recoru "o",
% date and TO add a summarizing chapter WIN"
.,',,,o,os tho work. IL does not pretend to Ne an
official life of the poet. IL IS MUMMY o'"u' "
H.. ,ror, and the biographical side of 1t ia no
fuller than could he gathered from carc'u'
- .ho Information omen TO the public, with mere
,,d ,berc \ SCRAP of special knowledge, or Il H'uc
onocdoto based. presumably, upon social gossip
:. ,, no Gathered from his remarks concerning
ho idiosvncracics OF the average modern pios
ronbcr that Mr.. Waugh considers himself nhipi,eo
eor, - nrosocntion Of those mnut" rcse'rch's
,rbicb . morbidlv curious set Of readers uc'h'h"'
and ,vbich Tcnnyson haod and shrank from -
rotorionslv Consequently we find here no nlorc
than such biographical thread as may serve u
connect The various phases OF the poets eVol''io''
and scarcely ANYTHING in the way OF purely per
sonal anecdotc or reminisccncc
Nevertheless the method employed ny Mt "a"e"
has resulted in very interesting ana very "o''-
written book. The study OF Iennysoh P''"'
nrocecds "cari passu" with tho slender narra'.N'
Of his cxtcS al lifc and the reader is thus eio'c''
70 follow all the changes in his moods, ana 10 pr
coivo their origin and their significance. As Il
critic Mr.. Waugh has many qualifications -,
knows his author thoroughly, and he has s'u"i''
him with a care which il evident on every Page
His point of view is sympathetic adilIfihs' "''
,rbollv sobcr More than once his judgments 20
counter 10 the general opinion. perhaps ouV Nv
never fails 70 give good reasons for MS concl"'l,'
Above all, he appreciates fully the noonlS Oh i''
n,.so,,s ethics: a nobility which is and ever must
be one OF his chief titles TO the auiiir''''" VI
,oor And This apprcciaton is absolutely necessary
-. ar,, inst and catholic criticism of lis poetry,
for tho lack Of IT inevitably dcbasc- th" express
aiors ~ ,bc critic. and belttles tho work under
examination almost ~ mnch ~ '"ous" ~ WV
calumny and not criticism
7, i borc that the biographical element helps a."
;,ouircr for while Tcnnyson Stunned society dur
ING the greater part Of his life, and required Tor
the prosecution Of his work, n be TAR from INC
ma1dnr crowd" there was nothing OF the ancho-
rite about him: a healthier nature never existed
and n more innocent, stainless life has seldom
boo, lived than his. In following the virtually
cven,less years Of his long carecr-ycars Harhc''
indeed by some keen sorrows ana some deep JOYS
enc pcrccivcs AZ once the robustness, III" snipIIcN
a,1 ,bo econo Of this great mind His nearest
,;ords bovo sometimes confessed that they felt
owe, .hadowcd by the superiority OF his intellect,
,hougb he was always entirely free from any ms
nosition 70 obtrudc his personality or 10 magnify
lis own reputation. But great genius cannot
cloak itS,f even il il would, and IT must TO great
extent dwell apart and commune with itHel1. MI
Waugh has made good use OF the letters OF EDWARD
Fitzgerald, Trench, Lord lloughton ana oth'r
contemporaries Of rcnnyson, and BY their aid mas
been enabled 10 cast many suggestive si1ehgh'H
unon the poets character and these seem 10 Illus
tratc the biographical portion Of the book APPLY.
From the time when, n young man consorting
with his brother, Tcnnyson made his first entry
into London society," and put forth his first poetic
venture. wc sec him, tall and stately in figure,
dark Of countcnancc, strongly featured, shy and
reserved and selfcOntancd, moving as In " n world
not realized full Of dreams, and yet eager In
action His shyncss wore off, but his reserve was
an integral part Of himself, and that remained.
His love Of truth mado him o very plain speaker,
and people who did not understand him sometimes
thought him rude in later life. But plain speak
Ing was the rule with him, and this even in his
noctrv. "a rarts OF Maud" illustrate, where lie
attacks the abuses Of the time with unsparng
severity. All through his life there was foun-
tain Of righteous Indignation beneath his camcr
mood. and even 10 the last il would flame forth
upon occasion in truly energetic, not 10 say vol
canic. way While his mind was ever open,
ccptivc and plastic for he never stincncd and
crystallizcd), lis habits were in some respects
very conservative, and Of this Mr.. Waugh
gives abundant proof.
Do we not all know the athletic roughly and
loosely clad figure seen through 80 many years
strding about the downs of Farringford or nursing
under the trees OF Aldworth? Do not know
the poets fondncss for old port and good tobacco?
His insistarcc upon certain hour for his dinner;
IN" simplicity of his tastes in general his addc-
ton t, tho reading Of his own poems aloud; his
disregard, perhaps contempt, for many cOnvcn-
tionaIitcs: the vrilc grasp Of his hand and the
hcartincSs and robustness OF his whole action and
presence? These are among the traits and rec
elections we love 20 cherish and these Mr. Waugh
has not omitted 70 chronicle But il is, after all,
the careful study Of Tcnnysons work which pos
s,sscs the highest value in the volume and Of all
this study think the most important 70 be that
Of Tcnnyson's plays Mr.. Waugh pcrcciycs clearly
and frankly admits the Laureates defects "A IL
dramatSi. 1t almost seemed at times though
hc could not adapt his work to the stage. This
was the stranger since there is in many Of his
poems so strong q dramatic element. He, however,
clearly did not possess what was II second nature
20 Shakespeare. Ills plays abound with psychic
logical studies, but his characters lack the physical
life and fitness which the stage requires
As closet plays on the other hand. they are in
several Instances highly Impressive full of power
and beauty and Mr.. Waugh in his analyses OF
them, bring, ont their good points very clearly.
Another interesting feature OF his work is the de-
Tense of "Ma1d' against the earlier critics
Opinion has, indeed undergone marked change
as regards the merits OF that poem, the apparent
irregularities of which at first startled and even
shocked a generation which had grown up with
an almost slavish respect for rules and regular
could hat hal