New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-07
TENNYSON'S DEPICTS.
\ CRITIC WHO IS NOT PLEASED VIII
THE "IDYII.S or THE KING
THE ARrurR1AN EpIc 4 comrarallys. study


THE ARTrRAN EPic o Go%r %5sp. ng
versions OF tho story. and T"nnysonS iIY',,S
Of the King. BY :. humphreys Gnrt''n; " ,TN..
H. T. Graduate ~ IN" University oi '"'-
bridge Pr. VII. q. T. Putnams sons
So much has been written about Tennyson "f
late that the theme. Considered merely as
critical topic. l. becoming somewhat WtdrlSoih'.
Mr. Gurtcen gives variety 20 IN" discussion by
! attacking the "Idylls ~ the King, particularly
on those points where the poet diverg"d from the
purpos. Of the ancient legends. lie l. severe i'r
example on Tennysons portrayal of N.Ni"n' VINO
was a praiscWorthy person In trcn'h romance
I'm, whom the poet converted into an ovii-mindei
creature lie complains. also, that Tenn}s'n
failed 10 interpret the meaning 81 the legend II
the. HOLY Grail as 1t was understood 10y th" de-
won't people - old times and that his desrrip-
| lions II the lighting ~ knights lack the vivid
rcsa = the medieval narratives. This last
| ccnsurc is precisely similar 20 the point made by
most commentators against Virgil as compared
! with Homer The defect II IL can really b"
| called "A defect Is one ~ the times rather thah
the man. Compared with Froissart. even Scott
| descriptions 81 mail-clad warriors In battle De-
! tray "A lack ~ ycrlsmil.tude. The difference Is
! trst one between the narrative u an eyewitness
and that Of a writer who seeks Il reproduce 10y
| means - borrowed det-Us scene when ne
never bcheid This is also tho condition Of aha1rs
az between Tennyson and Geoiirey Of Mon
! mouth. Waiter Mapes. the DE Borrons and all
! the rest q the twelfth and thirteenth century
ronancers The most insignificant medieval
! story-t could consult his own experience or
| observation on point. 10. which a modern poet
must turn t. mus,y pages and museum shelves.
Bu, there is a compensation FOR this. The mod
| p,lo D.. n H.
nance insufrerably duh reading after the novelty
~ tv, or three typical incidents has worn N.
! ANYBODY who IL bold enough e. say that the bat
lie scenes I'm the Had put him out 81 patience,
| wiu find others ready T. second his opinion
| The dulest report on the Battle ~ Water
loo or that Of Gettysburg Is more vivid
TO many readers than anything in Frois-
sart for the simple reason that they have at
| lo,.t seen bodi.s Of holiday soldiers which en-
able them 81 realize battle picture IN their own
minds ON The other hand the peop" who can
picture 10 themselves a battle Ike that 81 CrH'y
must hc rare Like Virgil. Tennyson avoided
what was difficult 20 DO ahd Of no Interest when
done.
The same thing il true though To- = less extent.
In The case ~ the Holy Grail Even 10 dcvou; al
hercnts ~ the Catholic church. the alleRory
which crowns tho cycle ~ Round Tahl" romanres
can hardly be quite the same that it was 10 pious
listeners I'm the thirteenth century. The endless
symbolism Of the Middle Ages. cultivated IN leu
~ the art ~ reading has partly fallen into OBJ
uvion and the mind H. no longer alert b. s,ir-
pestiops Of this sort az in earlier times. To tho
| mass of readers outside ~ the Catholic church
the effort To unravc the ancient allcgory IL foreign
and the result uncertain. For example Mr.. Cur
teen says that the ship In which Sir Galahad aud
| his companion, sail to IA" sacred city Of Sarras
is an emblem Of the Holy Church ON the other
hand Sir O. W Cox whose imaginative capacity
when Il comes 10 giving meaning 10 myth or
mHichen will hardly be- denied, maintains that
It is the same vessel which carries Hello round
| IN, stream ~ ocean during the hours Of dark
| ness" Mr. Gurtccns view ~ the more rational u
the two in the light of origin OF the tale as
| whole. But Tennyson may we'll have dcspaired
Of reproducing the effect OF the original Ills de-
| termination 10 restrict the aegory seems To have
met the almost unanimous approval OF modern
| readers In Tcnnyson's verse they find some hing
| which they understand; in the old legend. soon
| as the mere thread # romance escapes them. they
wander heplessly That this Is go is not wonder
| full for according to Mr.. Gurteen, to understand
the story in "all It's funess and depth of meaning
It Is necessary 10 have read the ap0cryphal gos-
pels: to bc familiar with the Talmud and the fan
c!fu legends Of the Rabbits: To be- well verscd In
ecclesiastical history. the traditions 81 the Church
and Catholic theology" He might have added
the Koran. for the translation Of that work by
Robert de Rctnes and Hermann. the Dalmatian,
completed In ll43. already famous book
when Walter Mapes went To school In Paris
about 1860 Mr.. Gurtcen holds Mapes RESPONSE
bic in a literary sense for nearly the whole Of the
Arthuran cycle. and particularly for the quest
~ the Holy Grail What the miracle PLAYS did
for the unlettered populace. that he supposes
Mapes meant to do for the warrior class by means
of the romance Of chivalry-namely. to give in
struction az to the truths Of religion.
But here. again, 1t must he considered that
Tennyson wrote In the nineteenth century and
that the great obstacle In the way Of religion at
the present day Ia not ignorance, but scept!cism
and diversity OF opinion The hermit who could
find nothing In his books about the Holy Grail
Mapcs's time, bur his counterpart was common
enough I'm the world known To Tennyson. It was
rational In the latter to look upon the Kings n ii
tude toward an adventure which deprived him AT
once OF nearly all his Knights az of angry
scepticsm. The old egcnl represented Arthur az
saddened by the certainty that many good
knights would lose their lives and that the so
cicty of the Round Table would be broken up.
His feeling was that Of the worldly man who
> all his kQDes nieces by this