Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-03-01
ALFRED TENNYS SON.


Poetry is a part of life and most
important part. We are all in some
degree poetic. There is no man who
does not possess every gift that another
man has, only in one some special gift
may be more highly developed than in
others. We must not suppose that the
poet has something in him which we
have not, for if We had not the capacity
OF enjoying poetry, which pre-supposes
the poetic instinct, then all the poets
would have to sing alone.
The ministry Of poetry is the ministry
of suggestion. The poet interprets his
times and very often he is the leader of
his age. His words may not be on the
lips Of the multitude but often higher
destiny is theirs; they become the
inspiration Of the thinker A great
poet has a wonderful influence upon
the best minds of his generation, so
much SO. that it has come to be recog-
nized that the highest prose genius of a
particular period often takes its color
from the highest poetry of the same
period. Poetry has been described as
the treason Of the heart" So much
for the poet and poetry in general. Let
us now approach the subject of the
evening whose noble thoughts and
beautiful melodies have been an inspi-
ration to so many and still "enrich the
blood of the world"
Alfred TennYson was born at
Somersby, in Lincolnshire, England,
Aug. 9th 1909 His father, Rev. Geo.
Clayton TennYson, was notable man
IN many ways, a great linguist,
musician, painter and poet, high souled
and high tempered His mother was a
sweet, gentle and most imaginative
woman; tender hearted and fervently
religious. The eight sons and four
daughters of the Rector of Somersby
were not ordinary children nor was
| their education conducted in such a
way as to crush their individuality.
| We are not surprised, therefore, as we
read the history Of this family, to learn
that the boys were all great readers of
poetry, both ancient and modern. AS
we look into their home we see that
| they were encouraged to imagine as
well as to think aud around the dinner
| table they often entertained each other
with romances of their own creation.
The air Of the house was full of poetry.
One Sunday morning when Alfred was
! to be lett at home alone, his brother
! Charles gave him q slate and told him
| to write some verses about the flowers
in the garden. When the family
returned from church the little boy
came with his slate all written over with
blank verse to ask for his brothers.
approval. Charles read them over
| carefully, and then said Eyes, you can
write" No doubt he richly enjoyed
the words of praise. The two bows
grew up together and were kindred
spirits as well as kindred bodies They
helped and cheered each other in their
studies and writings. Jointly they
published Poems by Two Brothers,
while yet school boys between Is and
is years of age, for which a bookseller,
near their native town gave them e10
| ESQ., During Alfred's early life he was
greatly Influenced by Byron's style.
He tells how the news Of Byron's
death affected him (Tennyson was
then Is years old.) "Byron was dead
| [ thought the whole world was at an
end. remember, I walked out alone
and carved Byron is dead into the
sandstone.h The spell of this love was
soon broken but the lingering effects of
1t are traceable IN the measures of
| Maud and Locksley hall. In the course
Of time he attended Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he became the
| friend and associate of the most
brilliant men of his time, but, like
ThackeTay, he did not take a degree.
When y years Of age he published
Poems, chiefly Eyrical' which was
very severely criticized, and in spite of
much adverse criticism and Indifference
followed that with another in 1882. He
| learned something from his critics and
now for ten years he labors hard in
silence when he puts forth two volumes
Some Of his former poems are here.
rewritten, those parts which were SO
severely criticized are either omitted or
so carefully corrected as to be beyond
criticism. He would not abandon his
art at the voice of censure. From this
time 1912 his genius was recognized and
lis reputation established so that for
more than 80 years he enjoyed the love
and favor Of the world
| We study the poets for the sake of
seeing what they have seen, feeling
what they have felt, and knowing what
they have thought. Tennyson was
man who saw more than other men.
You can scarcely pass over a page
without noticing how very observant he
was Of nature in all her moods, showing
how familiar he was with the world
around him. He also saw that one
thing meant many things. An illustra-
ton Of this is The Deserted House."
He has been telling Us about deserted
house. But did the poet mean us to
see only the deserted house? Not at
all. It was the Deserted human house.
I'm.