New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-09
THE BIRDS OF TENNYSON.
A sPRINGTIME STUDY OF THE POETS
THEMES OF SPRING.
Edgar Valdes in Temple Bar.


The most striking feature of Tennyson re shetr
nature Is not only their accuracy ou' small
completeness Nothing indeed seems bo eSe article
might almost be written on ms ,Iea .h blue Nv
on the pane which moved the sneers Of LORD
Iyt.!on. ..,.. ,.,,o, haas. arc Of course public
else could we find the chrysalis cobwebs,, the ne
Gias OK SUMNER the .'hgh-elbowed grigs that leap
in summer grasses" the cockchafcr "a "5uzzara-
trbuton for poetry and touched with new grace !:
Bodest of all perhaps rs tne reaHers Of Ten
nyson will believe in the existence OF III !hu
eyes have convinced them. In the 'idy,,s s,. we we
the worm which draws in the withered ieaf ana
makes it earth" and the insect in its caddls-s,ate
GarinnPv simnle how sure of himself is the poet
who can say that Lanceot dn "Guineyere piucR R's
picks from the coiewort green MIA cateTPlS has
made this this family Of nocturnal jewellers favorite
one with poets. Coleridge somewhere claims tne
Sssoa Of s! 's% %sas
upon ii in TIL second OF ms h,,le SohsS " '"e
OWL" the last stanza OF which runs
II would mock thy chaunt anew;
Not a whit OF thy tuwhoo.
Thee to woo to thy t tlw,hit
With a lengthen'd ,oud haoo,
Tuwhoo tu.!hit. tuwhit, tuwhoo-o-o
for Shakespeare had preceded him. and Tennyson S
that at the end of Loves Labors Lost where
:'Hems. winter" is maintained by the OWL:
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-whO.
Tu-wht, tu-who merry note"
Next comes the bird which with the lark we may
fancy divides our poets especial love; 1t is mem
toned all oyer his work who can forget the ex-
20 Swallow, Swallow flying, flying South.
Fly to her ana d d h upon heT sided I'd s sSS
o Swallow, Swallow If could follow, and light
Upon her lattice. would pipe ana ,,i,, trll ,
Oh. tell her. Swallow that thy brood is flown;
But in the North long since my nest Is made.
Q Swallow. flying from the golden woods.
Fly to her and pipe and WOO her. and make her
And tell her. tell her. that follow thee"
one great feature of Tennysons references to birds
is his full and felictous vocabulary. seen. for in
stance to great advantage In the swallow song OF
of the man who sat up all night searching for the
adjective and was annoyed and pleased at the
that Tennyson had used it before HIM. Bryant, a
poet OF by no means G9ntempttip ,s taste ana eN
1.-The robin and the wren flown. and from the
shrub the jay. , =,
And from the woodtop calls the crow through all
the gloomy day"
Tennyson would never have gathered up two such
different notes as those Of the Jay and the crow In In
reading for R5yanS s
let us forget. do not cav" but laugh.
most os I pro Tih i and omnoSs The Arab says
have seen the raven Of separation" The fatal
Standard Cicero was Of his death BY
sack % is
to their solemn black plumage. -.
The crow raven and rock are al very alike In
Macbeth" III, q does not care to DISTINGUISH Is
them e. g.. the many ,wintered crow leads the
arises here Was the epithet many wintered'',,
suggested by shakespeare's Phoenix and Turtle =
n @ it, by
so often drawn upon by the poet that We cannot
For the omnous use of the bird. CT. "For ra-
G,Oa nS at sd keep and
"A blot in heaven. the Raven. flying high,
Croak'd and she thought. He spies a field of
DEATH"
elm trees in ''The Princess" and "The May Queen
has 1.-THE building rook'll cav from the windy. tall
| elm tree" We may content ourselves with two
more references. There Is;
Autumn with a noise Of rocks
That gather In the waning woods"
and a passage In Maud,
Birds In the high IIall.garden
Maud Maud Maud Maud. Maud. Maud,
They were crying and calling
Concerning which Mrs. Richie has told a pleasant
story. The Maud Maud. Maud" represents cav.
he read his poem to realize this with as fine an ear
for sound his own.
on the subject OF the skylark perhaps Shelley has
said the most notable things; but exquisite as his
poem is. one feels that he writes not OF the bird it.
sef as seen everywhere but OF an ideal lark. beau
tIfl abstraction too phllosophlc and vaguely atmos-
pherlc 10 recall reality Tennyson's lark the con-
trary Is no dream vision. but the living pleasure
and delight OF English country life IL Is pleas
society OF our English farmers-the British Produce
supply Association refused to trade in larks:
The many references which Tennyson makes TO the
lark also illustrate two notable points In his style.
one is the use OF compound adjectives, which ap.
and lavish ca 'oi OF clear throaed larks" lie has
also a great fondness for negative words sight,
1canto isl quoted above and in the silent Isle OF
.The VOYAGE OF the Maedune' that was "a song
loss lark Faith hears the lark within the songless
egg In '"The Ancient Sage.
The rapid nigh, Of the bird Is well rendered In
"The Princess:
Morn by morn the lark .