The times., 1899-01-01
Tcnnyson and His Friends.


of great writer, claiming that in his
books one finds the real mantle soul
and that it does not interest them to know
how he ate and slept walked and talked,
married and reared family. like any other
man II may safely be said. nevertheless,
that the general public finds biography
fascinating. and is only too ready to find
in the friends of a writer the originals OF
various characters in his books. Such in
ferences are generally wrong.
This particular book is well written and
fully illustrated with fine photographers of
places and people. 1t is very largely made
up of extracts from the writings of those
who knew Tennyson and his work, linked
by paragraphs or pages of intelligent and
sympathetic comment. 1t begins with the
year OF his birth, 1909, and continues TO
The year of his death, 1892. And the book
is printed in a way TO rejoice the heart OF
William Morris or any other lover of beau
tlfu volumes. 1t is a delightful Siftbook.
From a literary point nf view the sa-
lient quality CT the work is a certain elu-
siyeness. The author never tells us quite
enough of Tennyson. Here and there she
presupposes knowledge of his works and
their sources which most people do not
possess. II should be understood at once
that the reader. unless familiar with every
word ever written by the laureate. will
need a volume OF Tennyson's complete
works at hand in reading this book Ihe
impression left on ones mind after its
perusai is Of a story half-told, sort OF
fiash-Iight view, just sufficiently definite
to be tantalizing. II is a little odd that
this should be so. for IL Tennyson himself
had literary fault it was over-elabora-
ton He never left anything to the fam
cy; he defined and described every detail.
This quality is one OF the especial charms
of his work. because the description is
done so perfectly; in his imitators it be-
comes merely wearisome. This biogra-
pher is not an imitator of the great poet
She has gone to the other extreme, and
the effect is, on the whole, pleasing and
artistic 1t is good TO close book with
the feeling that there ought to be twice as
much of it.
One Of the points brought out in this
book is the strong attachment Of Tenny-
sons imagination to the scenes and the
people of his own home. There is hint
of this in the opening paragraph, which
is followed by a brief sketch of the poets
birthplace:
Alfred Tenuyson belongs 10 the class Of poets
who strike their roots deep into their native
soil. Not Virgil the banks OF the Mincio,
or Wordsworth among The English lakes, was
more content with the scene at his door; and
the Lincolnshire Wolds interesting to US. as
readers Of Tennyson. less for their curious geo
logic formation and varied history of Roman
and Danish occupation than for the place given
their streams and trees and village gardens
IN the poems now read throughout the English
are the chalk hills that run from spilsby
10 the southern shore Of the Humber,
and on The lower slope of these hills lies the
little village OF Somershy, -an agreeable vii
lace," IS the old guide books describe it, with
b0Wery lanes, mere handful OF inhabitants (ir
1921 there were 62). small sandstone church.
about which grows the wal-rue, and low, white
rcctoTy. Tennyson's father, the Rev.
George Clayton TeBnyson. held the two bene
fees OF Somersby and Bag Enderty. lie is de-
scTiled a OF varied interests something
Of poet, something Of an artist, much Of
~cOiar aud iinguist, and OF powerful physique
The flowers in the rcctOTy garden in
spired Tennyson's first attempt at poetry, anc
Mrs. Ritchie's pretty stery OF the boy Of FIVE
caught by the strong Lincolnshire wind auC
vli!rlea down the garden path calling out:
hear voice that's speaking in the wind ha
gone the rounds with his biogrsphers.
Another pleasant glimpse of the poet i.
az account of his days at Cambridge, and i
is recorded that at the age OF twenty he
in company with Arthur HallaIn, went 4
the aid of some Spanish political exiles il
hiding near the PyTenees. A year or twi
later he published his first volume OF verse
in which appeared The Palace of Art" anC
The Lady Of Snalott," two poems in which
the dominant qualities Of his genius appear
as clearly as in any of his later work /
is curious to note that critic in the West
minister Review declares that one of thu
poets greatest dangers is his facility @
impersonation, by which he entered S,
thoroughly into the most strange an,
Wayward idiosyncrasies OF other men" II
the reader of today il would seem fha
this was the very faculty which TennysoI
most conspicuously lacked. He has non,
Of the strong dramatic quality Of Brown
ing; he is first and foremost the minstrel
IN love with sweet sounds and beautiful
images. His peasant women are Englisl
ladies in disguise; his villains are hardl,
human; he is always Tennyson telling III
story never the impersonator who allow
each character TO tell his own Ii i
thought that the critic who made this re
mark was John Stuart NH. If this be SC
il would seem that Mill knew more abou
philosophy than he did about literature
But again, it may be that this criticism
checked Tenuyson in his tendency towar
'.lmpeTsonatioD, for that he had some @
this power is shown in his dialect poems
The strongest influence in Tennyson,
lie at this time was undoubtedly III
friendship of Arthur Hallam. II laste
but four years, Hallam dying in 1898; an
ii appears that the conception of In he
moriam' was formed soon after hi
event, though il was not given its ins
form till seventeen years later, when Ten
uyson's art had attained its perfection
The poet himself says that his life. excer
for this grief, was singularIy free fror
sorrow, and it may be that the calrnes,
almost the monotony, Of an existence de
voted solely 10 art and untroubled by th
sordid cares of q struggle for money. pro
duced both the cxcellences and the fault
OF the authors work All readers OF Ten
nyson must have noticed certain lack {
grip want OF sympathy with the storm
and passionate clements oT life. He write
Of battles and Of danger in a singularl
impersonaI and ineffective way. Readin
this account of his life. the reason Of tn
lack becomes apparent. How should maj
naturally dreamy and interpretive. dwell
ing in the midst Of 8 peculiarly beautifI
country, without the necessity of lghtin
the world-how sboald such an one ino
Of the fierce sorrows and delights Of h
galley slave? On the other haKd. his wor
is free from the cFudities which mar tn
verse Of men who have been obliged {
earn living while longing % deyot
themselves wholly 10 art
He had all possible opportunities for GU
lure and intercourse with congenial miro
throughout long life. His was he lsi
OF The English country gentleman ScCu
IN the privacy of his own home free OF Il
best society in England when he chose
enter II, happily married. his strueel,