New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-07
FDNUND C. STEDMAN ON 1ENNiSON'
WHAT HE THINKS OF THE rOET-LAUREATE AMI
HIS POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR.

WHAT HE THINKS OF THE roET-LAUREArE AND
HIS POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR.
rs.,nra r. stedman. who has written so much aoo'.
r,~or savs Of the death Of the poei-aurea'c anu
the choice Of his successor: ,i,, e.,
' .I ,ho death Of Tennyson have lost, bearing III
mind his combination OF the expression Vi o'dU' .
,ho ovn,css,on OF thought the greatest anu mn
national Of English poets since Byron n'io''
-. ho yeas the representative poet oi 'nc ,'n-
,e-,aI Victorian Period-as much so as fopc' "''"
i.r genius was the poetic leader OF 'he le's h'o-
Queen Annes time The victorian rciio'' % '
ira distnctively idyllic art and literature "ic va"
oon.d o,dod we might say. with the thiro quarter
Of our century, though the aged o'ee" '''', .
the throne, having outlived her Own u"ic' 'a, a.
t 40 onlv one of TcnnysOD's compees e'lu''' "
him in Intellectual power seems 10 h'e i".", !,
forer,nner Of a new era than the rep -,
his own For all his striking but pecun"' u'a"'" .
oualr and his lyrical gift 50 fine al us DeS'' W
mink he was a geater pet than IehhS 30" 9,'N. .
became utterly indifferent TO the eApreSHio" VI ~
and bie ,houpht might prove TO DE rcaiy no Pio
,oupdor IN have no more insight than 'he ioo.e
thought of Tennyson-f expressed WIFI ''' ~
machess clearness and simp1ici'y' ,rsh
The unrest artistic excellence Of the recent fsna"
muse took It's note from the exquisite early nr,''
ballads and idys OF Tennyson. Ihey seeheo, o
s,a.s inst AS original as exquisite at their ua'c "a
production: and before all poets OF the n"e'i'D
speaking world had caught their me'hou "No ~
forget bnv their charm and novelty tnflHeu uS "i'"
they slowly made their way to the American Puoii'
NJ fortv vears ago? No one who did not beelh WIN
T.nnvson hefore the date Of Maud ana tleh i''-
low him along can fully understand his inhuchce-oi
do i,s,ice 10 the force and richness OF MS sons'
His n,instre sy blended the truth 10 ha'ure N
bgl, elevated thought, OF Wordsworth. WIN the "''
ryalled STYLE derived from Milton and Keats
Yes. II art In English poetry was reborn WIN
Kea.s 1, uas confirmed and matured BY Tennysoh.
The la,tor,s bIank-verse-and that greatest VI al
measures Is the test Of English master-ls ]us' d.
Individual Just characteristic. as the Didhh- -
Shakespeare of Milton, OF Wordsworth ana bryant
In fact them he added fourth order OF DiaHh-'e''
TO our rhythmlcal architecture ,,
"His shortcomings were just as maniiest as "i'
greatness but not out OF keeping with the spri' VI
his age In ina ginauon he certainly fell shoro VI
Wordsworth's most elevated mood Tie fmed, over
and over again. In dramatic efforts and the generais
undramatic tenor OF his work was confirmed BY MS
lifelong seclusion-his intimacy with nature rather
than with man. In sweep and fervor. and superb
Intensity he was less than Byron-and show me any
poet Of our time who is not! But In the syntheno
and even combination OF poetic equivalents VI "s"
order and In artistic perfection united as say WIN
Il certain intellectual breadth and WISDOM ne eAceied
either OF tho two predecessors. ana thihh' "'
more dramatic comDcer. A..
His art had one quality rarely absent iron '"0
greatest art. lie appealed to both the seect le"
and the multitude on one side the other IL mas
been unnecessary at all events to establish schools
and classes in his lifetime. for its interpretation
In Memonam' alone wsuld place him above aAi