The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-14
sorr xER BOOKS

skcoSp NOTICE.

..HIH@M NNAHf ~ AfAAS -
sEcoSp NOTICE.
ID q notice OF the first volume OF the memoir
Of Alfred, Lord Tonnyson, by his son Macmil'
lansl. we carried tho reader to the publication
Of 4hc "Idylls OF tho King" wo shall con-
tinne tho plan OF permitting tho poet to speak
for himself, either In hitherto unpublished verse
or in comments upon his own composition or
those OF other versemakcrs. For what othors
thought and said OF Tcnnyson we nnust refer tho
reader to tho work Itself, which allots by far the
larger part q. its space to such material.
"Tho vision OF Arthur as I have drawn him."
Tennyson said. not long before his doath, had
come upon iue when. little moro than a boy,
first lighted upon Sir Thomas Mallory" In
1889, when Tennyson was % years old, up
peared tho first OF tho Arthurian poems. in
tho form OF n Uric. Tho Lady OF Shalott y
(nnother version OF tho story OF "Lancelot
and; Elaino ~ and this was followed in lsl"
BY tho other lyrics, Sir Lancet t and
Queen Guincvorc" and "Sir Galahad." Tho
1S42 volume also contained tho "Morto
d'Arthur' which now forms part Of tho
'Passing OF Arthur" From his earliest years
the poet had written in prose various histories
ofArthur. Ono of these, apparently pcnned about
1888, was found by his son among Tcnnyson's
DnpOf0. In0 pTCihtOEJ phS hotV u hio-
torical Arthur Ia: lilo lived about 500 Il and
defeated his enemies In q pitched battle in tho
welsh kingdom Of strathclydc; and the earliest
nllusions to him arc to DO found in the Welsh
bards OF the seventh century. In the twelfth
century Godfrey Monmouth collected the leg
ends about him as q European conqueror In
his History Of tho Britons, and translated them
from Celtic into Latin. The Morto d'Arthur.
by Sir Thomas Mallory, was printed by Caxton
In 1886" 1t was on Mallory and. later on. Lady
Charlotte Guests translation Of the Mabinobion
and on his own imagination that tho poet, as he
told. his son. chiefly founded the epic; ho, while
making tho old legends his own, has re-
stored the original idealism and infused into
them the spirit OF modern thought and an
ethical Significance, setting, moreover. his
characters in q rich and varied landscape. This
he did from the belief that otherwise these
archaic stories would not have appealed to the
modern world at large. We are told that ono
OF tho poets friends wished to call tho "Idylls
Of tho King "Epylls of the King" because.
according to him, the poems we're not idylls, but
little epics woven into an epical unity. Tenny-
son, however, dislikod the sound of the word
'%epylls," and one can readily sec why. 1t is
also evident that, II epic unity is looked for in
tho "Idylls,' we shall find it not in the wrath
OF an Achilles nor in the wanderings of
O Ulysses, but in tho amending war Of human
nature in all ages-the worldwide war
of sense and soul typihod in individ-
uals, with the subtle interaction of character
upon character, the central dominant figure be-
inR the pure, generous. tcndor. brave. human
hearted Arthur, so that tho links with here and
there accessories) which bind the 'Idylls" into
an artistic prose are perhaps somewhat intricate.
Throughout the "Idylls' runs the authors
belief In one strong argument for hope. namely.
"a r1-- -~--~ "a >-A-A
ance in all men. however great their sins: "As
children learn. be thou wiser for falling" The
lost one found was greeted az in heaven:
Have ye looked
At Edyrnp Have ye seen the noble changer
This work OF his 10 great and wonderful.
His very face with change OF hoart 10 changed.
So OF Guinevere's repentance and the Kings
forgiveness; SO. too. OF tho repentance Of Lance.
lot, whose innocent worship of beauty had
turned into the guilty love and Of whom we
arc told that he died q holy man." But re-
pentance could not avert the doom Of the Round
Table. The lines describing the last dim,
weird battle" Tennyson was wont to quote as
some Of his best work. and would allow that it
was a "presentment of human DEATH as well
rs of tho overthrow OF the "old order:
And even on Arthur fell
Confusion since he saw not whom he fought.
For friend and foe were shadows in the mist.
And friend slew friend. not knowing whom he slew.
u,,.s .o.5 j. ,.s. ,,.. :, "r,.
80 1A.. ~ 80 IL. - =.
comforted Guinovero in his passing from the
great deep TO the great deep'-for the individual
W. 30 -" - A' "'' A'
rna na 80.
And God fulnls Himself in many ways;
and TINT nassor. ,yherein he for,toi,. n China.
u.,n. III .ho u,o,. -.,,.,. ~. ,.
welcome will come TO him who has proved him.
self moro than conqueror":
As from beyond tho limit of the worlds.
Like tho Last echo born of a great cry.
Sounds, as II some fair city were on" voice
Around a king returning from his wars.
On another phase OF the unity OF the ldylls,
Tennyson made this further manuscript note:
The coming oil Arthur IS on tho Night OF the
49, AHH ~ 'IH@ ~-II l.