The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-07

eared 10 Emily Tennyson- The author OF this
meniofr tolls us: "My aunt Emily bad eyes
with depths on depths and a pronle like that
on a COIN, Tesla Romano, as an Old italian
said OF her. All the Tennysons, sons and dauEh-
ters except Frederick, hai the coloring of
rho so.tb NJ Italy or Of France, with
dark ewes and hair. This foreign color
ing may. possibly. have been derived from .
| Hueuenot ancestor. a relation OF Mme. dc
Mninteuon. On The Continent my father was
never taken for an EnGlishman. and ev'n In
ireland In 1s4s, when he was Mt Valentta, an
| Irishmnn rose up from among the fern and
heather and said, From France. your Honorr
thinking. as he confessed, that Tennyson was
a Frenchman, come TO head n revoln-
ton" While Hailam was at Somersby,
after tho mornings work. the Tenuysons
and he would generally go for long walka.
II ia interesting to learn that Alfred Ten
nyson was fond not only Of walking. but also
OF 'uutting the stone and other athletic
fcats. Mrs. LLOYD OF Louth writes: I'm proof
OF his strong muscular power. he one day sur
prised us when showing us n little pet pony on
che lawn at Somersby by taking IL up and carly.
ing It," Brookfeld on one occasion remarked:
1T Is not fair, Alfred, that you should DO Hor
culcs as we'll as Apollo" Fitzgerald notes:
ALFRED could hurl the crowbar further than
any OF the neiRhboring clowns. whose humors m
well as those OF heir betters he took quiet motto
Of, like Chnucer himself" In the evening he
lived much In his den in tho attic. but now and
then came down and listened to the singing
and playing Of his sisters. who were ali very
musical. He had a love for Mozart and for the
English national airs ana ballads. and played
himself a little or the flute, but only cared for
complicated music, as suggesting echoes of
winds and waves" According to Fitzgerald,
"a. T. was not thought to have an ear for
music. Carlyle. however. once said OF him,
The man must have music dormant In him. re-
vealing itscl, in verse Carlyle. who was apt to
look on poetry as q waste of talent. which ought
TO be employed In moro heroic work. took at
once to A. T., among other signs Of the man,
remarking his voice, like the sound OF a pine
wood he said"
Arthur Hallam died at Vienna on Sept. IS,
1888. When his father returned from his daily
walk he saw his son asleep. as he supposed, on
the couch. A blood vessel near the brain had
suddenly burst: 1t was not sleep. out death. In
consequence of her sudden ard terrible grief,
Emily Tennyson was Ill for several months,
and very slowly recovered. The Two Voices;
or, Thoughts OF q Suicide" was begun under
the cloud OF this overwhelming sorrow. which,
for a while. blotted out all Joy from Tennyson's
life and made him long for death. in spite OF
his feeling that he was. in some measure. o
help and comfort to his sister.
Before following further tho trend Of his sub
jects life, the author Of this memoir sets down
certain notes on the 1882 volumes. We
learn that the idea OF Mariana in the South
came to the poet AS he was travelling between
and Pcrpisnan: foreign critics have
appreciated the representation OF southern
France. From the volume OF 1882 he omitted
several stanzas Of THE Palace OF Art" because
he thought that the poem was too full. Con.
corning this fact he wrote in 1890 tho following
note: When I first conceived the plan Of the
poem I intended to have introduced both sculp-
lures and paintings into 1t, but I only finished
two sculptures:
One was the Tishbite whom the raven fed.
As when he stood on Carmel steeps
With one arm stretched out bare, aud mockd and
said,
Come, cry aloud. he s,eeps."
Tall. eager. lean. and strong. his cloak wind.borns
Behind. his forehead heavenly bright
Prom the clear marble pouring glorious scorn,
LIZ as with inner light.
One was oiympias: the floating snake
Roll'd round her ankles. round her waist
and folded once about h.r neck,
Her perfect lips to taste.
Down from the shoulder moved: she, seeming biisns
Declined her head: On every side
Inc CraSon curves melted. and mingled with
The woman's youthful pride
OF rounded limbs
After perusing the marvellously compressed
worc-pictures of this poem. THE Palace of
Fitzgerald appends personal note to the
phrase " sat smiling babe in arm Part Of the
note runs as follows: After visiting Italy some
twenty years after this poem was written. he
CTennyson) told me he had been prepared for
Radaelle, but not for Michael Angelo; the lat
ter's picture at Florence of a Madonna dragging
a ton OF n child over one shoulder almost re-
volted him at first. but drew him toward itself
and would not out of memory. I
forget il he saw the Dresden Rafaelle, but he
would speak OF the Child in it as perhaps
finer than the whole composition. in so far
as ones eyes are more concentrated on the
subject. The child seems to me the furthest
reach OF human art. His attitude is a mans; his
countenance a Jupiters-perhaps too much So
But, when A. I. had a babe Of his own, he saw
1t was not too much So L am afraid of him;
babies have an expression of grandeur which
children lose, n look OF awe and wonder. fused
to think the old painters overGid the expression
and dignity OF their infant Christs. but I see
they didn't" THE Dream OF Fair Women"
began in the first edition OF 1882 with some
stanzas about a man sailing in a balloon. But
the author did not like the balloon stanzas, so
they were cut out. Edward Fitzgerald, how.
ever. thought that they made a perfect poem BY
themselves without affecting the Dream" and
they are. accordingly. printed in this volume.
A when Q man that sails in a balloon.
Down-looking sees the solid shining ground
Stream from beneath him in the broad blue moon,
Tith. hamlet. mead. and mound;
Ana takes hts nags and waves them to the mob,
That shout below. all faces turu'd to whore
CLOVIS ruby'ltke the farup crimson globe,
FiIl'd with a inner air:
30. lifted high, the poet at his win
Lets the great world dit from him, seeing ali.
Higher thro' secret splendours mounting stil,
Self poised, nor fears to fall.
Hearing apart the echoes OF his fame.
While I spoke thus, tho 50 ,dsman. Memory,
sow'd my dsepfurrowed thought witn many . mama
Whose glory will not die.
When tho ls42 volumes we're published. tho
literary world in London accepted them at once,
and Milnpa and S,y-lip1 lad thu chnr,. - . sra.