New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-08

POEMS BY TWO BROTHERS, a Fae, 81 kas Of
the Edition OF 1921 Octave. PIP. MN -'i' Ne"-
| York and London: Macmillan IL co.
THE POEMS OF ARTHUR HENRY HALLAM.
Together with His Essay the Lyrical Poems
OF Alfred Tennyson. Edited. with an introdic-
ton. by Richard lie Caffeine. Octave, PIP.
Lane. New-York: Macmillan Co.
Somewhere Mrs Browning has described Keats
The man who never stepped
In gradual progress like another man.
But turning grandly on his central self,
Ensphered himself in twenty perfect years
A ford generalization Of this sort it Is the
privilege Of each generation to apply tacitly TO
its favorite poet and to the generation whose
ear has been attuned to the sonorous music OF
Lord Tennysons maturity ii is a natural Dehel
that his verse sprang impeccable from ms ge-
MUS like Pallas from the brow of Zeus. IL IS III
teresting to turn back to the Lauleates JuVe-
nil,a not alone 10 find therein antlclpatlOns Oh
his later magic but in order to see. as matter
of intellectual curiosity, just what KIND oil verse
the greatest Laureate Of England, after Dryden
| Gor Wordsworth was never really court poeV'
wrote in his teens. In the first place IL Is verse
informed by culture and distinguished Dy d gen
uine poetic accent. The atmosphere Oh ie''eis
produced by Tennyson's frequent puota'ionS
from Virgil, Martial, Horace and Juvenai means
something more than an academic Impulse a'ons
sneciGc lines of bookishness Granting that he
was bitten by an erudite passion and had an
amazing fondness for learned footnotes his tone
I'm the Poems by Two Brothers" Is nevertheless
that of a fertile mind gravitating naturally TO a
plane of large ideas. 1t proves the genuine ma
ture of Tennyson's inspiration that MS Intel
lectual temper did not at any time stem the
spontaneous tide Of his song. During the long
years to which his greater triumphs belong that
tide knew no ebb He was a thinker always. a
mere schoolman never. He makes classical
allusion curiously his own, not leaving it to
shine like an isolated gem within the compass
of his line The reader Of his poetry is borne
along first and last. upon an ever-swelling
stream Of thought. The Poems by Two Broth
ers' was not "A tentative fountain, dried up be-
fore its successors gushed forth. II foreshad-
owed everything that followed in logical Sc
ouence. and 1t is still suggestive Of Tennyson's
quality 1t foreshadowcd his life work. II must
be repeated, not so much in special relations,
in questions Of rhythm. Of imagery. of tech
meal constructive gifts. in its reflective ten
dcncy and it's individuality, and this in spite
OF obvious limitations.
The most distinct implication Of their authors
adolescence lies in the gloom of many of Tenny-
sons early poems. He writes the inevitable
stanzas on mortality. and offers. quite rs nev-
itabv the assurance Of deaths gift Of happi-
ness 10 man. He talks Of life and death and
suffering in short. with a certain hnalty. 1t is
very significant however that this character
istic Of immaturity does not make him com
monplace in style. His verses are In strong
contrast to those Of Oh lrlcs Tcnnyson. his com
panion in this early adventure. The latter is
equally fond Of addressing his muse in mel
anchoy moralizing vein. bat he has not the
faculty Of clothing his conclusions poetically.
But stay, my SOUL he sings
But stay. my soul, thy plant forbear.
And be thy murrnring song forgiven
Tread but the path Of Virtue here.
And thou shalt meet with her IN heaven
In the charms Of Venice he detects fear
somely. the cankcr Of Vice. and he remarks
sententOusly. that
All without Virtues relish fail to please
,rhos, extracts illustrate not unfairly Charles
,rennvson's Youthful calibre He wrought ear
nestlv I'm metrical form. but he had no music
and no overmastcrlng poetic impetus behind
him Such an impetus f. subtly. but unmistak-
ably proclaimed in Alfred Tenuys"n's v"rs" IN
this little volume Nowhere is the lyricism really
limpid fluent and strong. not even In the poem
which begins auspiciousy on the lin" Memory.
dear cnchantcr"' nor In The old sword.
spirited fragment IN ballad key. but hardly
anywhere either. IS there absent the native
enforced poetic touch. the inevitable outline
of the poetic mould. II is noticeable mat
even when an echo Of Byron's note is heard In
his verse in the Gods pcnunciatiOns Against
Pharaoh" or the "Mithridatcs Presenting Der
enicc with the cup Of Poison" Tenny son still
preserves. in his moment 81 imitativcncss. the
measured rcticent refinement Of style which Is
his own Tho adje~tiycs Of pomp he handle
with the same posc. the same s"lf-c"miHanh.
Neither in the Invocation to Persia. which
would have been impassioncd had he then had
more than the first sparks OF the divine FIRE at
his command nor i'm the elevated poems on
THE Druids Prophecies "Submity Thine
and THE Thunderstorm" does be fail in tact
and the sclcctivc intuition which was In his
prime one of the most marked characteristics
Of his genius There may not bc the last touch
Of poetic felicity In lines like
The fiery progeny Of clashing clouds.
Enormous Chimborazo's naked pride.
but there is still more than rhetorical effective
ness in them. Indeed. Tennyson appears To
have escaped the pitfalls Of the rhetorcian from
the very beginning. escaped them perhaps most
triumphanty upon the most pcrilous occasion
Of ALL the occasion for which he wrote Tim
| buctoo." This production. which won the Chan
cellor's prize at Cambridge in 1929. Is included
! in the present volume. 1t IS very ambitious. it
Is formlcss and it Is a clear attempt at splendor
/ Of imagery. 1t is not artificial. mediocre or jc-
jeune and that it has the touch Of inspiration
/ which was given charity but surely to Tennyson
! In his youth the following excerpt will show:
J saw
| The moons white cities and the opal width
OF her small glowing lakes. her silver heights
InVisitcd with dew Of Vagrant cloud.
And the unsoundcd, undescendod depth
OF her black hollows.
! 1t is not difficult for an impartial student Of
! Tennyson to comprehend the true value of his
share i'm the Poems by Two BROTHERS." II is
manfestly youthful effort. youthful in its fire.
/ quent recurrence to the manner and sentiment