Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-10-07

TENNYSON.
Soon after the poets death the sky,
which had been clear, became clouded
and the light Of the moon was obscured.
Shortly afterward rain fell heavily, and
the scene contrasted strongly with that
which had illumined the parting hours
Of the great poet
Sir Andrew Clarke, who had not left
his patients bedside for twenty-four
hours previous, returned to London i'm
mediately after Tennyson's death.
The last words spoken by Lord Ten
nyson were few affectionate utterances
addressed to his wife about an hour be-
fore his DEATH
Lord Tennyson's illness dated from
Sept. ~, when he became chilled while
driving A severe cold resulted which
developed into influenza, which resulted
fatally.
Throughout his illness Lord Tennyson
showed grateful appreciation of every
kindness and attention extended to him.
Until he became too feeble to speak he
frequently thanked the doctor and
nurses, as well as the members Of the
household who ministered to his wants.
When the queens kilograms of in
quiry as to the sick mans condition
were received, Hallam Tennyson read
them to his father, who listened with
evident pleasure.
About 1890 the dying man swallowed
with apparent difficulty some brandy
and milk given to him by the physicians.
This was the last nourishment he was
able to receive. Thereafter he gradually
grew weaker until the heart ceased to
beat
Tennyson was eighty-three.
biography.
"There is place called Somerby in
Lincolnshire where an old white rectory
stands on the slope of hill, and the
winding lanes are Swallowed by tall ash
and elm trees, and where two brooks
meet at the bottom of the glebe field.
= The wind that goes blowing
where 1t listeth, once in the early begin
ming Of this century came sweeping
Though the garden of this old Lincoln
sAfts tec*ssy snd az the wind blew, q
stNAdy child Of five years old with shin
ing locks stood opening his arms upon
the blast and letting himself be blown
along, and as he travelled on he made his
first line of poetry. and said, Il hear
voice that's speaking in the wind, and
he tossed his arms, and the gust whirled
on, sweeping into the great abyss of
winds"
In such poetic fashion does Anne
Richie, in an article written half O
dozen years ago in Harper's Magazine,
refer TO the childhood of the poet laure-
ate, Alfred Tennyson, the germ OF fancy
flashing from within him at this tender
age, II was at this Somerby, where his
father officiated as clergyman of the
church of England, that Tennyson was
born Aug. 6, 1909. Here in the quiet of
a country place--a and there was then
nothing but the numbering English
coach TO connect it with the outer world
tho child grew up among
The woods that belt the gray hillside,
The seven elms, the poplars four
That stand beside my fathers door,
And chiefly from the brook that loves
To purl DER matted cress and ribbed sand
Or dimple in the dark of ashy toves
II was quite natural that the dainty
bits of English scenery should have been
indelibly impressed upon Tennyson's
mind and that throughout long life
devoted to the poetic art he should have
painted them in SO many charming word
pictures.
Tennyson's first written poem was, it
Is said, on the flowers in the garden, and
the first money he ever received for a
poem was for an elegy ON his grand
mother. The price for his production
was ten shillings, given him by his
grandfather. Thomson was then a fav-
orite poet and the boy modelled his first
verses upon THE Seasons" but Byron
was the great rising luminary, and the
youngster, who had not yet gone so far
as to write in a style of his own, left off
copying Thomson and began to copy
Byron. When Byron died Tennyson
was yet only fifteen years old, and 1t is
not apparent that the younger bard ever
admired any other poet so much as to
initiate him; besides, he was growing
into his own individuality.
AT twenty he gained prize at Cam,
bridge for a poem called "Timbuctoo."
With some trihing exceptions he pub
lished nothing until he came of age, in
1880, when he got out q volume OF
Poems. Chiefly Lyrical They did moi
cause his countrymeu TO regard him asa
great poet. Tennyson was thirty-thres
years old and had written considerable
before he came TO be regarded poet Of
marked ability. In 1912 he published q
volume of poems, many of which had
been published before, but several were
added. and among them the since ia
NOUS 'Locksley Hall" This, taken with
such pieces as Mort dArthur," the
MAY Queen" and 1.-The Two Voices
stamped Tennyson as a great poet, and
from that time forward his fame steadi-
ly increased.
Tennyson has been what might be
called working poet If there is one
field in which inspiration would seem to
be especially requisite, it is poetry; but
Tennyson never relied upon ''tits OF
frenzy" He was accustomed to 60 over
and over his verses-changing. shaping,
TIL be got them as near perfection. as