The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-10

Brontes. Kingsley. Thackeray. Dickens and
Ruskin. all recognized and furnishing.
We look around. and see. as Mr.. Stevenson
says in a letter. that "the SUNS have SET"
while We are scarcely conscious Of new
dawns. Who can explain, by circumstances
Of social evolution and historical event the
rising and the setting of such considerations
OF geniuS2 1t is not enough to speak ofsthe
democratic demand, naturally Indifferent to
style. for never was style the object Of
such anxious research. except in other
ages of euphuism. Encouragement is even
overabundant: masterpieces" are an
nounced every week and forgotten every
year. 1t may be prejudice of hoary cid. but
l must confess that our new literature does
not seem to me to show such promise of
permanence as the literature Of 1S3O-1S60
gave. and. so far. has fulfilled. Has full
filed in spite of our sneers at the early Vic
%torian," which was not socialistic. or evo-
lutionist and Darwin-ridden. and was re
Specialize" and did avert its eyes from all
that most people in real life don't care to
stare at. This 'prudery" was no new thing.
The Greeks, except some late decadents
and in the old comedy. have q 'prudish"
literature. The Latin classics are not in
the taste of NJ. lola. The age, of Chaucer.
the age of Elizabeth, were grossly frank,
that of the Restoration was frankly lewd.
but we have sought out many In
v~entions over which sedley and
xtOCItSttE Woulu Aol hdNC ~ "
linger. Their grossness was gay; ours
is morbidly squalid. Such things are
absent from the work of Hawthorne and
Holmes, Longfellow. Dickens. Thackeray
and the rest. Such things we now treat OF.
greatly daring, and somehow our elders
appear apt to outlaugh and outlive us. as
humorists. novelists and poets. 1t Is strange.
Into the merits of that remarkable early
middle age OF the century we cannot enter In
much detail. Tennyson holds unimperiled
the throne Of the poet of the time. That his
thought is not especially penetrating. wheth-
err he deals with the intricacies Of human
character. or with the problems Of the uni
verse may be readily admitted. But I am
unaware that any poet has yet got the abb
solute into a corner or solved the prob |
lens of the universe. Tennyson. more than
people suppose. was. personally. q mystic.
with his own mystic experiences: and his |
followed the Clean" Neither in the
'.Idylls OF the King" nor in plays. was
dramatic rendering Of character his forte. |
His forte was charm. and music, and the
Interpretation Of nature. In these he Is the
equal Of the Mantuan. Is the Virgil OF the |
modern world. golden branch among the
shadows Moreover. he has infinite va
riety; from Marian" to "Fatima' and
"Rizpah'; from the Lotus Eaters" which
adds q new charm" after the Fairy
Queen to the Northern Farmer" from
Ulysses to be Crossing the Bar" The
early "Morte o'Arthur'' Is of unsurpassed
nobility and magic; the last poem. Gross
ing the Bar" Is no less pre-eminent in these
Tennyson. iii short. had genius;
new, as all genius is new. and no occasional
defects Of taste or temper can impair the
splendor and richness Of his gift to the
world. nor the Immortality of his anne