Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-03-23
A Paper on Tennyson,

a faper on Iennyson,
Read nj The First Woman's Club of Els
WORTH" January. 1898.
There is no poet OF whom we may say
we know SO little. and so much, as we do
| OF Tennyson. He has ever remained 1.-The
poet hidden in the light OF thought" yet
this light of thought is so ilumnatve aud
suggestive, that il becomes the best Of
all commentaries, and reveals all we need
know of the man. In this aloofness there
Is something that satisfies our ideal OF a
great career, a silent demonstration of a
life consecrated to art
There has been no thrill Of passion In
his voice. 1t has not risen from the high
ways. among the throng, it has come
from seclusion, from q distance. with
that harmony Of tone which seems remote
from its very perfection; as musical as
musical as the sound of wind through pine
trees, as deep as the voice Of the ocean.
Tennyson gave himself to the truth as
it is revealed In beauty The exqulsitely
faithful transcripts OF nature in his poems
not only give us the outward features
Of the scene, but have power TO arouse a
corresponding sentiment In the heart.
| poet who eau do this, Is an artist. Teuny-
son had passion for perfection. He
lived in, and for, art. 1t was his atmos-
phere and he died in its faith.
There Is something In every great
artist which appeals, and there is some
thing in those who listen which responds. q"
| Sometimes the response comes quickly
sometimes slowly. silently. 1t is thus with
| the influence of Tennyson. Our beloved
! Whittier was so close 10 the pressing need
and longing of his time, that when he
| spoke 1t seemed as II he were giving
voice to a universal passion. A writer
| ike Tennyson, on the other hand. dwelling
as be did, for the most on themes related
to the age in which he lived, operates so
! quietly on the public mind, that the meas
/ ure of his influence is not SO easily
gagged.
Tennyson was not SO much leader as a
representative of his time. In his works
| he deals with all the questions of humanity.
1t is the poets message of course not q
moralists lesson, not preachers sermon,
| but has In II the shame of wrong and the
eternal glory Of right, lifting humanity
| out of the darkness of chance into the
very light of God" He betrays an inti-
mate knowledge of the spiritual and intel
lectusl mood of the times, and expressed
the ideals Of the English people better
than any other poet of this century.
In spite Of the noble Interpretation OF
many that his widest and most enduring
influence will grow out of his art, for
here he is supreme. He had a perfect
mastery Of all the recourses Of the Eng
structure. Even if one should read his
poems with flaw seeking eyes," no fault
can be found in rhythm, metre. accent,
melody. For this reason one must go a
|
hnd another poet whose art has SO ap.
pealed to. aud Influenced. his contempora-
ries. or impressed itself so widely on
verse writing.
Tennyson was true poet, in that he
scared above meanness and commonplace
into q serene and eternal atmosphere
His poems are stainlessly pure, and
through them all he has scarcely written
one malignant word, although he has
given us almost every human mood-the
maddened vail of disappointment, the cry
of revenge, the heart-sOb Of the mother
the garrulous retrospect Of the grand
mother, the fair girls delight in the May
morning, the gloomy doubter the rollick
ing carouser, the tender hospital nurse
the passionate loneliness Of the forsakeI
wife, the spectre Of lust haunting heart
"worn out and gray with dying fires" the
stainless chastity of Arthur, the marrec
chivalry of Sir Launcelot, the mslignity Of
Vivien; he suffers the dignity of life, a.
we'll as It's pathos, to shine through then
all. Whether his hero is taken from my
thology, like TIthonus, or from CLASSIC
paganism, like Ulysses, or from medieva
legend, like Godiva, or from modern life
like the gardeners daughter, or the poo
fisherman, Enoch Arden. or the city clerk
In Sea Dreams" or from modern heroism
like Sir Richard Granville, or the siege o
Lucknow, or the "Charge OF the Ligh
Brigade" in all and every mood. he i
always the poet soaring 10 high reason.
? He never forgot that "God made man i
His own image, after His own likeness"
, The evolution Of q perfect womanhoot
which. forms the glory Of the princess,
leaves no doubt of the poets attitude u
ward woman. Equal or unequal. b
knows 1t not. Woman's cause Is man
cause as well. They rise or sink Il
gether, bond or free"
Tennyson has . clear message for rs
the relation Of man to humanity. "H
does not teach the gospel Of hate. whic
is nihilism, nor the gospel Of envy, whic
is communism, nor the gospel Of despair
which is pessimism. He teaches the ol
gospel Of personal love and help, which
Christianity" To ring out the false,
ring 10 the true" is his theology.
Tennyson WAS in the highest semi