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

among the very greatest of us, IL he had lived.
There is something of the innermost soul Of
poetry in almost everything no wrote" To
offer proofs OF his opinion, he gave tho un-
finished Eve Of st. Mark " and certain lines
from tho "odo TO u Nightingale" III the bo-
ginning Of Hyperion as now published. were
shorter" no said, 1t would be n deal finer; that
Is, IL from Mott 30 much to teathorcd prass'
wero omitted" Tcnnyson felt, we are told. what
Cowper calls the musical incssc +" Of pope. and
admired single lines and ~couplets very much;
but he found tho regular da da, da da" of Pope'a
heroic metro monotonous. He quoted " What
dire offence from amorous causes spring." and
said "'Amrus causiE springs Horriblcl would
| sooner die than write such a linei Archbishop
Trench mot then archbishop was the only critic |
who said of my first volume What a singular |
absence of the 81 Pope, here ana there" con.
tinued Tennyson, has q real insight into ma.
| turo; for example, about the spider, which Feels |
at each thread and lives along the line His
lancet touches are very fine.
Now. night descending. the proud sceno was DER.
But lived in Settles numbers one day more.
What q difference" he would add, between
Pope's little poisonous barbs and Dryden's
strong invcctive! And how much moro real
poetic forco there is in Dryden Look, for in
stance" he said, sat Pope:
HI said, observant of tho blue-eyed maid.
Then in the sheath returned the shining blade.
Then at Dryden:
"He said; with surly faith observed her word.
And In the sheath reluctant plunged the sword"
Tho "Elegy on tho Unfortunate Lady" was
pronounced good by Tennyson, but he did not
find much human feeling in Pope. except, per.
haps. in "Eloisa to Abclard." Ono OF Tenny.
sons favorites was Crabbe, for the reason that
] there wna prrat force In that poct'a homc1v
tragic stories: He has a world OF his
own. There is a tramp. tramp, tramp
a mercilcss, sledge-hammer thud about his
lines which suits his subjects" In speaking of
him Tennyson would cite Byron's ouloglstic
line on Crabbc, Natures sternest painter, yet
the best" In early boyhood, as we have already
seen. Tennyson had cen possessed by Byron's
poetry, but he could not read it in later life. ex-
cept perhaps THE Vision of Judgment" and
parts OF "Childe Harold and of "Don JUAN
He would say: Byron Is not an artist or a
thinker or n creator in tho higher sense. but a
strong personality he is cndlessly clever, and 10
now unduly deprecated. One must distinguish
he would add, Keats, Shelley and Byron from
the great sage poets of all. who are both great
thinkers and great artists, like Hschylus.
Shakespeare. Dante and Goethe. Goethe lacked
the divine intensity of Dante, but he was
among the wiscst Of mankind, as we'll as q great
artist. He could not quite overcome the harsh
nesses Of the German language. 'Kennst du dns
Landf Is a perfect poem, but 'Beschutzer
ziehn' Is a hideous sound in the middle.
Goethe" added Tennyson, was supposed to be
cold. can only say that. when told of his sons
death, he seemed quite calm, but shortly aftcr-
ward, from repressod emotion, he broke q
blood vessel" On another occasion the English
poet said: Goethe thought 1t n sign of weak
ness to lose faith in Immortality, and said, I
hope that l shall never be 80 weak.minde as to
let my belief in a futrve life be torn from me.
'Edel sci der Mensch' is one of the noblest of all
poeme. For Wordsworth, as we have par.
TALLY disclosed. Tennyson had a hearty admira.
ton; he highly reverenced the purity and no.
bility Of the elder poets teachings. "Ho seems
to NO." he said In later life, "at his best
on the whole. the greatest English poet
since Milton. He is often too diffuse
and didactic for me. For instance, In
'Tintern Abbey the repetition of 'tha,
blessed mood, that serene and blessed mood be
} comes ridiculous. The line, Whose dwelling IL
the light of setting suns, is almost the grandcst
in the English language, giving the sense of the
abiding in tho transient" OF Gray he said
Gray. in his limited sphere, is great, and has a
wonderful car The following Tennyson held
to BIO among tho most liquid lines in any Ian,
guage:
Though he inherit
Nor the pride nor ample pinion
That the Theban eagle bear.
Sailing with supreme dominion
Through the azure deep Of air.
Also:
And drowsy tinkl!ngs lull tho distant folds.
He liked Collins's and Campbcll's odes. IT ad
mire the Ode to Evening" he said, "but
what q bad, Kissing line is that in the
poem on the death of Thomson, The years
best sweets shall dutcous RISE" Campbellt
unquantitative line, The sentinel stars sci
their watch in the sky" is pronounced by Ten
nyson Us bad as the following limo is good, 1.-The
weary to sleep and the wounded to de-
OF Shakespeare's sonnets Tennyson would
say: Henry Hallam made a great mistake
about them. They are noble. Look how beauti
full arc such lines as these:
"The summer flower is to the summer sweet.
Though to itself 1t only live and die.
And
"And Peace proclaims olives of endless age"
OF Shakespeare's blank verse he said: Almost
any prose can be cut up into blank verse, but
blank verse becomes the finest vehicle o.
!, thought in the language of Shakespeare and O.
Milton. AS far as l nm aware. no one has no
: ticed what great HCschylean lines there are II
Shakespeare. particularly in King john Fol
5 instance, The burning crest or the old, feeble
! and day-wearied Sum- Or. again, The sopul
chre Hath oped his ponderous and marbl,
jaws He would say, There are three repair
tees in Shakespeare, which always bring tear
to my eyes from their simplicity. One is II
king Lear" when Lear says TO Cordelia. "St
, young and 30 untender." and Cordelia lovingly
answers. $50 young. my lord. and true" II
, Tho Winters Tale" when Florizel takes Per
dita's hand. to lead her to the dance, and says
| so turtles pair that never moan to part tn,
little Perdita answers. giving her hand to Flori
eel. "Ill swear for EN-" and. in "Cymbeline,
| when Imogen. In tender rebukc, says to her hus
a band:
, Why did you throw your welded lady from you?
Think that you are upon q rock; and now
, Throw me again ~
And Posthumus does not ask forgiveness. blu
answers, kissing her, Hang therclike fruit. M
. soul, Till the tree die After reading Peri
t cles,' act 8. aloud, Tennyson said: THAT il