New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-07
ALFRED TENNYSON.

full life fulfilled. That mission was I'D ueNeioP
in himself great character and soul, and ny
means of their perfect expression IN the finest
and the most victorious form of art, TO aid
humanity in the achievement Of spiritual prog
ress Most of the poets have persisted prema-
turely. TO Tcnnyson was allotted ample time
for the accomplishment OF all that IL was III
him TO accomplish. lie attained, under the
happiest conditions. ID full development ana
maturity. lie has not left unsad anything that
it was within his power TO express. sorrow
for his death is natural and ii will be universal.
lie was deeply loved, and he will be long and
tendery mouined But sorrow for bereaye-
ment 50 obviously inevitable will be chastened
by the remembrance that in a mortal condition
CT being there was nothing left for him To 40
and that his reease-worn rs he was and bur
dened with years-must have come to him rs
a kindness and blessing To the home that
is darkened thousands OF hearts, all over the
world will send their silent tribute Of sym
rathy: but. outside Of the poets immediate
circle of friends-consclOus now only OF their
personal a1ction-the supreme feeling OF the
hour is that of grateful pride in the majesty
and purity Of his character, in the splendid
atlIuence of his genius, and in the pefmanence
Of his fame.
The worth and the rank Of other poets in
This generation. are disputed and discussed but
the worth and rank Of Tennyson are not ques-
TONED. Such fact is not without its special
significance The word of poet is precious
precisely in SO far as il expresses. not his heart
alone but the heart that is universal-the
passion. the emotion, the essential life OF hui
mainly at its best. a word that is said for
the hour disappears with the hour for which
il il said but when the soul of nature has
spoken. IFS message becomes an essential part
of human experience and dwellS in the memory
forever. Tennyson is the poet Of love and OF
sorrow. Of passion and Of affection. Of pageantIy
and of pathos, of sublimity and of faith and
especially he is. the poet Of destiny and OF VIII.
The range of his vision is very broad. Ills
glance is penetrating and deep. His voice Is
not the echo of the age in which he lived
however he may have been disturbed by the
conflicts of that age-but it is voice proceed
ing out OF the elemental source Of things and
uttering absolute truth in words that are beauti-
full, and final, and perfect. The reader Of
Tennyson finds that his own spirt-his essen
tial experience, his discomfort his aspiration,
inc lUlUO>t IDIc VI HIS btiH- NNP'N'"'N 49,
him. with fulness passionate sincerity, and
an artistic beauty that he could never hope to
reach and that satisfy him fully. and lead, ana
guide. and strengthen him. The human mind
glad and thankful in the presence OF much
good but not blind to the existence OF much
ev-has never yet succeeded in proving that
everything will finish well, nor has it ever Yet
succeeded in Illuminating the way in which
that cOnsummatlon is to be obtained. Never
theless, il believes in the ultimate triumph OF
good This conviction is adamantinc in the
poetry Of TennysOn. His distinctive note, I'M
doubtedly, is the pathetic note. - shall never
see thee more in the long gray fields, at night"
The evancscence of man and of all his works
is steadily present. and even when the trum-
nets are at their lOudest the low sob OF the
organ is heard in its solemn underone Of warn
ing and of lament Yet this is a poet who
rests calmly on the strength of human will and
looks without fear into the eyes Of death. Such
a poet is a leader and comforter OF the race,
and it is right and natural that he should have
its love and homage.
The thoroughness and the wise ar-sighteI
patience with which Tennyson developed his
mind and ascertained and exercised his poetic
| faculties Offer lesson Of supreme value in the
| conduct of intellectual life No one of the
poets has manifested more-few authors,
whether poets or not have manifested so much
of the grand stability that consists in sane
confluence and poise With Tcnnyson genius
was not dell;um. His works give no sign of
that feverish strainng after effect, that strenu-
Gus reaching upward for an object or an idea,
that furry of wild endeavor and painful and
| abortve fuss, which are characteristic OF
petty mind. lie was born great, but he so
nurtured and trained and disciplined his powers
that he steadily increased in greatness. lie
made his intellect broad and he kept it holy, in
order that the revelations Of nature and OF
the spiritual world might flow through it as
through their rightful channel. lie was not
warped from his true course by the influence
of other men or by any consideration of pop
ular applause and the idle fancies and fleeing
caprice Of mankind. lie was not that senti-
mental and mushy demagogue, the poet of the
people; he was something far higher and bet
ter than that-he was the poet of man. Like
Wordsworth-his illustlious predecessor, with
whom, in the attribute Of stately individuality
and the circumstance of temperamcntal isola-
ton, he was kindred-he took his own path.
There was once time when Tenny son received
nothing but ridicule and neglect and then
presently came time when he received an
homage amounting to idolatry; but during
neither of those periods was his serenity
disturbed. The ideal of lofty, infiexible char
acter and pure and perfect manliness that his
poetry continually presents was the unconscious
reflex of himself. His magnificent ode upon
the death of the Duke of Wellington, one of the
best poems in the language, thrills and trembles
with profound and passionate exutation in the
reality of virtuous strength and moral grandeur
Such as King Arthur is, in his immortal pages,
so was the poet in life; and the shining words
of Shakespeare might always have been used
to denote him:
alike great sea-mark, standing every flaw,