The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-03
Some Verses by the Laureate and
His Brothers
A Version of Inland" Which Has Never
Appeared In Any Collection Of His
Works The Writings of
Poetic Family.
iCoPYRIGRT, 1891

was not merely great poet; he was
one over whom tho poetic call had alb
solute control No editor or magazine
! could compel or hasten his inspiration,
and he only yielded TO the periodicals
when had something that he would
have printed in due time without them.
His method of working enabled him to
dispense with the literary vehicles most
authors prize. It Is even doubtful If
any editor ever addressed him the IA
miliar legend: Returned with
thanks" Not longer ago than last
year he commented on this special habit
of keeping aloof from the magazines.
He felt that the magazines function
was not IN accordance with his methods
and genius.
Charles and Alfred were the authors
of the Poems by Two Brothers. in
1927 The publishers of this volume
were Messrs. jackson, printers and
booksellers, at No. Louth, Lincoln
shire, and they showed some discern
1 ment and courage in giving the young
authors ten pounds for this book
! Charles was nineteen and Alfred eigh-
teen when it appeared), but it proved
the forerunner of the greatest poetio
year IN England since Elizabethan
: times. Among book hunters this vol
urne has a priceless value now, and is
nearly as rare as poe's ''Tamerlane,"
published at the same time, think, by
an obscure printer in Boston.
The Poems by Two Brothers" had,
along with its promise, a distinct stamp
of youthful authorship, The motto on
the title page, however, is unassuming
enough. 1t was the following line from
/ Martial: "Haec nos Dovimus esse nihil."
Frederick Tennyson, like Alfred and
Charles, was "a student of Trinity col
lege, Cambridge, going there before
! them. He received prize in 1923 for a
Greek poem on Egypt" 1t was just
year later that Alfred got the prize
there for his poem entitled ''Timbuc-
too" Frederick's first collection of
verse came out in 1864, and was called:
days and Hours" copy of this book
now would be marked very rare. It is
known that Alfred's competitor for the
Trinity college prize was his friend
Arthur Henry Hallam, but not so well
known that it was proposed when they
were about TO publish books that they
initiate the union Coleridge and Wads-
worth exemplifed in their Lyrical
Ballads" 1t was Hallan's father who
broke up this arrangement. Three lines
of Tennyson's '"Timbuctoo" he en-
bodied in his lode to Memory" pub
ished in 1880. The ''Timbuctoo" caused
the Atheneum to say, July %, 1929, that
it was the work of a really frst-olass
poetical genius" and would have done
honor to any man that ever WROTE
The Poems Chiefly Lyrical" was
Alfred Tennyson's first book written
free from partnership: and the West
minister's criticism and prophecy con-
corning it were really acute. The
Westminster writer said of the poems
among other things that their very
originality will prevent their being
generally appreciated for a time"
whichwas true enough. And scarcely
less felicitous was the following pas
sage: "If our estimate of Mr.. Tenny-
son be correct, he too, is poet; and
many years hence may he read his
juvenile description of that character
has become the description and history
of his own work"
Charles Tennyson, too, began to print
Independently in 1850. He brought out
that year a volume entitled 'Sonpets
and Fugitive Pieces" The dedication
of it wes in sonnet form to his sister
Mary. Leigh Hunt spoke well of this
book, and was also an early admirer of
Alfred Tennyson's poetry. Five years
later Charles Tennyson became vicar
in GraSby, Lincolnshire, and about the (
same date. in order to inherit certain !
property, he assumed the name of /
Charles Tennyson Turner. AS late as
1884 he wrote new volume of sonnets, !
and dedicated this book TO the Poet /
Laureate"
A little incident may be worth men /
tioning at this point, concerning q /
young lady friend of Alfred Tennyson /
and himself years ago. Her name was /
Bradshaw, and the two were what may
be called the acquaintance of a sum |
mer merely. Before finally parting /
TennvSou sent the girl some verses /
which will not be found in any of his /
volumes, and therefore copy below a |
stanza from them:
Because she bore the iron name
o; him who doomed his king 70 die,
deemed her one Of harsher frame,
And looks that awe the passerby;
But found a maiden tender, shy,
With fair blue eyes and passing sweet
And lonzed to kiss her hands and lie
thousand summers ct her feet
All the Tennvson brothers, except the /
first three, who have absorbed this com /
ment. seem not to have appealed long to 4
the public, and to the larger public not /
at all.
But the piece Of most distinction and !
interest, of course, is the poem by Al (
fred Tennyson. which he simply titled .
"stanzas" It became afterward. if not /
the most melodious, one of the most /
memorable lyrics. in Maud" but not /
until it had received a revision. which, /
among other things, reduced it in F..
length. 1t shows the serious labor and .
sincerity in Tennyson's work TO note 4
how hong he kept in mind and with 4
what cautious touches and restraint he .
treated what he had once carefully .
written. Not all his changes pleased /.
his admirers and critics nor were they .
all for the better. The changes he .
made in The Charge Of the Light
Brigade at BalsAlava" were, as it seems
70 me, for the worse. His couplet in (
Form, RiAemen, Form was hardly an 4
Improvement In the original version