The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-19
Il Day With
TennysOn in India.

r,s Uav of 1t was this: 1 had been for a
~eek in Agra. feeding upon the massive
,eauties of the fort, the Mohammedan
..tbedral. queerly called by my dragoman
.Tba Friday Mosque" the picturesque ba-
.ars and the tall Hindoo houses. with
.heir carvings and bright colors, ard the
dov before had visited the great Minaret-
r. stupendous proportions of which re-
r,inded me Of the Eiffel tower in Paris or
~ coliseum at Rome. while its exquisite
cbiselings were like to the flmy lsces upon
-. white bosoms of great queens; and. to
crown all, had one into the seventh
hssven over the marble bubbles and lace
work Of the Tai Mahal; then, one even
,rg 4. the Preside of the Rev. Mr.. Thomas.
The local Methodist missionary, it was
,roposed TO make. the next day. an expedi-
,ion TO the greatest of Akbars monuments
IN the Gauges valley. a score of miles to
,be north-its name Futehpur-Sikri- For
the benefit Of those upon whom the red
ravs of Baedecker's India have never shone
LEI me say that this is the barbarous In
dian name of the greatest of the great
Mogul Akbar's buildings. When in the
height Of his power. wearied of his capt.
,al at Agra, he spent a score OF years in
erecting THIS nuSe pdldCcs OT, TdIucT, Gus
Ter of palaces, with tombs, mosques, tri-
umphal gates and military Notifications
added. He hoped to make them the per-
manent home of himself, his wives. his
court and kingdom. The record is almost
Incredible, and it would be of no use to
name the millions of treasures and the
tens of thousands of lives which he squan-
dered in this vain dream. The enterprise
proved an absolute failure.
From my boyhood 1 had been familiar
with Tennyson's Palace of Art" written
IN the early 'SOs. but was wholly UMPIRE
pared for the indescribably magnificent
reality which that afternoon disclosed.
Here is an exact description by our great
poet of the location Of this. one of the
wonders of the world and one of the archi-
%tectural triumphs of the gorgeous East
huge crag-pIatform smooth as FURNISHED brass
I chose. The ranged ramparts bright
From level meadow-bases OF deep grass
Suddenly scaled the light
ThereonsI built it firm. OF ledge or shelf
The rock rose clear, or winding stair.
NY soul would live alone unto herself
In her high palace there
AS the Acropolis at Athens is a limestone
rock in the center of the great city and
naturally drew to itself the Parthenon and
the glorious plexus of temples and statues
WHICH y JU years LuduC II lit eye VI
Greece and Of the whole world. so this
"crag-platform, smooth as FURNISHED
brass" which rose from level meadow
bases of deep grass" attracted Akbar's
attention and became the foundation Of
this. his new city built for kings and
queens.
Four courts I made-east. west and south and
In each a squared lawn, wherefrom
The golden gorge OF DRAGONS spouted forth
OF eloisters. branch'd like mighty woods.
EchOing all night TO that sonorous flow
OF spouted fountain-hoods.
And round the roofs a gilded gallery
That lent broad verge to distant lands,
Far as the wild swan wings. to where the sky
Dipt down to sea and sands
This last stanza is an exact description
of the outlook. east, west. north and south.
from the heights of Futehpur-Sikri. 'far
as the wild swan wings. to where the sky
drops down to sea and sand" When we
come to the interior of these mighty build
ings we find them answering to this de-
scription:
Full Of long-sounding corridors it was,
That Over-vaulted grateful gloom.
Thro' which the Iivelong day my soul did pass.
Well pleased, from room to room.
Full of great rooms and small the palace stood
~
From living Nature. At for every mood
And change OF my still soul
Likewise the deep-set windows, stand and
Would seem sl~ow-naming crimson fires
From shadow'd grots OF arches interlaced,
And tipt with frost-like spires
This is an exact description, as near per
feet as words can make it, of the vast and
almost innumerable rooms and lesser pal
aces of this great wilderness of palace:
built with a curious yet exquisite blend o.
Hindoo and Saracenic art.
Another passage is curious. This palac,
has an observatory built for Astronomical
purposes and still in perfect preservation
In the original palace of Art" published
IN 1893, Tennyson inserted these lines:
Hither when all the deep unsounded skies
Were shuddering with silent stars-she clomb
And. as with optic glass, her keen eyes
Regions OF lucid matter taking form,
Branches OF fire, hazy CLEANS,
Clusters and buds OF worlds and bee-like swarm
OF suns and starry streams.
A perfect description of an Indian sky a
night and of the old Mohammedan habi
of studying it. 1t is a curious fact tina
the two stanZas last quoted are omitte'
from all editions of our poets works pub
lshed subsequent to 1853. AS an illustra
ton of Tennyson's habit of pruning hi
verses, it is worth mention that this poer
as first published contained eighty-thre
stanzas. of which only ffty-two are left
Thirty-one have been entirely omitte
and of those which still remain almos
every one has been altered and retoucheC
Tennyson was the most merciless critic o
his own verses that England has eve
known.
There IS not the slightest evidence tina
our poet ever visited India, but when
young man writing this Palace Of Art
he must have had in mind the undoubte
description OF travellers and pictures Of art
lists of this great Indian wonder
II.
Let us now pass over a period Of sixt
years Of Tennyson's life and come dow
TO eighteen months before his death, i
1892, and when he wrote "Akbar's Dream.
In fact, this, with other poems, was pub
hshed just after his burial in Westminste
Abbey.
Akbar assembled the Indian throne /
a. ID. 1860 and died in 1906. His tolerance c
other religions and his abstinence fror
persecution brought upon him the bite
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