The Newtown bee., 1892-06-03
Tennyson.

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 Like most famous Englishmen, LOT, Tennyson is an entirely self made man He is one of l2 children of poor coun try clergyman, Rev George Clayton Tennyson, rector of Somersby in Lincoln shire; and though he is descended b, blood from the Plantagenet princes through the ancient Norman family O D'Eyncourt, he owes nothing to his aris tocratic connections. His wealthy ant influential relatives, indeed, barely ant grudgingly gave him that cold encour agement which great families in England seldom deny to any poor relation wh, shows signs of genius. He was born or the 9th day of August, 1909, and wa educated at little country grammar school close to his birthplace. Some O. his biographers will have it that he wa! taught by his father, as if he had never had any regular schooling at all; but meagre as are the records of his early life it is quite certain that he was excellently educated at the Grammar school of Louth in Lincolnshire, with his brother Charles The two boys appeared together among the scholars, decorated with blue and white ribbons, in the procession to cele- brate the coronation of George W, in 1920. It was in Louth, in fact, that Ten nyson laid the foundation of those stud ies which made him one of the finest classical scholars of the age, and fur. nished not only the subjects but the man. ner of some of his noblest works. No man could possibly have written "En- one'' or the "Lotos Eaters" who had not been steeped in Greek poetry from child hood. He began writing verses on the classical model at very early age, but his efforts were not appreciated even by his own family, with the exception of his elder brother Charles. He is fond of tell ing ludicrous anecdote of how his grandfather commissioned him to write a poem on the death of his grandmother The grandfather read it attentively and then, giving the boy 10 shillings, said "There, that is the first money you have ever earned by your poetry, and take my word for it, it will be the last" A more unfortunate prediction could hardly have been made, and Lord Tennyson may wei chuckle when he recalls it in his old age He has earned more money by his poetry than any other poet who ever lived; ano he has the satisfaction of knowing that it is all his own poetry, not borrowed ol stolen from anybody else. In his boy hood, he fell greatly under Lord Byron's influence, and among the very few con his early years is this, with reference tc the effect Byron's death had upon him "Byron was dead! l thought the whole world was at an end! l thought every thing was over and finished for everyone that nothing else mattered. l remember I walked out alone and carved Byron is dead 7 in the sandstone.' At that time every other young man of the educated class in England was trying to write verses in imitation of Byron. Yet Ten, nyson, notwithstanding his intense ad. miration for him, never initiated him From the beginning, his thoughts were his own, while the mould he cast them in was that of poets of antiquity, exquis itely adapted to the peculiarties of the English language. In 1927, Charles and Alfred Tennyson, the latter being only IS, published little volume called "Po- ems by Two Brothers" and had the good luck to sell the copyright to Louth bookseller for El0. In 1928, the young poet went to Trinity college, Cambridge, where his genius was fully recognized by the most intellectual young men in the university. In the succeeding year, he won the chancellor's gold medal by po- em on the subject of "Timbuctoo, ,''-the only composition in blank verse that ev- CT gained that high distinction. Tenny- son was then only 20, and his style was not yet fully formed. But competent judges, nevertheless, saw in "Timbuc- too" the promises of great things, and a critic in the Athen8um declared that 1t contained passages not unworthy of Mil ton. A year later appeared "Poems chiefly Lyrical" which, with subsequent additions, ,are what are commonly known as Tenny sons miscellaneous poems. It is not easy to realize that these familiar pieces were published more than 60 years ago, in quite a different state of so- ciety from ours, before the age of rail- ways or telegraph. No other proof of their genuine merit is needed than that they aIe more popular now than ever and are sold in increasing numbers year by year in every part of the world where English is read.
 Yet when they first appeared, in 1880, these same poems brought upon their author, who was only just of age,a storm of rdicule and abuse, not only from blockheads who knew no better, but from reviewers of the first rank. Prof Wilson. the far famed ssChristopher North," as- sailed them in Blackwood with coarse violence. He was not ashamed to call Tennyson an owl and to say "all he wants is to be shot, stuffed and stuck in glass case. to be made immortal in q museum.'' In another part of the same article, nevertheless, he poured some very unmeaning fiattery upon him. This inconsistency drew from Tennyson q re tort which was immediately afterward suppressed, but which may be read witt interest here:
 You did late review my lays.
 Crusty Christopher;
 Ton did mingle blame amp praise,
 Rusty Christopher;
 When learned from whom it came
 I forgave you all the blame.
 Musty Christopher;
 Icouid not forgive the praise,
 Fusty Christopher.
 In 1883, new edition, with many new poems, met with snch savage treatmen