Putnam patriot., 1909-08-13

YOU OR I, MADAM.
 and Gods people. They may seem in the gloom. but they are working to- ward the light Be patient. o poet and dreamer, for the years are long and the tides are slow. but God moves upon the face of the human waters.
 So 1 love '.The Princess" because it sounds the cry of Forward. Espe cially does it peal the call to woman. who has heard and, thank God. is moving. moving all over the world. moving away from the false unto the true in society and in thought. moving from tie narrower view to the larger life The dream of -then reign the worlds great bridals. chaste and calm" is not so far away as it was when Tennyson wrote, nor that other vision of the day when woman shall "set herself to man like perfect music unto noble words"
 This article is not a catalogue or ta- ble of contents of Tennyson's poems. Neither does it pretend to be crit icism. 1 am only giving my own i'm pressions in a random way. To be honest l must tell the things I like. not those that somebody else likes. 1 must confess that one of my favorites is Maud" which raised such a storm among the critics when 1t appeared. Gladstone was one of those who found fault with it. Then he heard Tenny- son read 1t and frankly said that he had misinterpreted the poem. This published retraction was so generous and manly that the Grand Old Man in turn won a tribute from Tennyson. Maud, like "The Princess" has some If the sweetest lyrics in the English language. People have thought 1t glo- rified war. Ii does not. It is only true to its theme and to the character of the one speaking. A lot of people have tried to read the poets own views and life history in his writings. Frequently they have erred. This is especially true of "Locksley Hall" Tennyson never had a Cousin Amy or any other cousin with whom he was in love. We can read a mans spirit in his writings, but there Is danger In being too literal. This Is as deadly il the interpretation of literature as the Master said it was Tn spiritual things. No one can see Alfred Tennyson who ioes not look behind the letter.
 The description of madness in Maud" has never been eqnaled un- less it were in Shakespeare. just as no poet since Shakespeare has been able 10 portray women as did Tennyson. Physicians have borne witness to the accuracy of the picture of the hero raving in lis "eeli of madness" My life has crept so long on broken wing" he cried when he had emerged into sanity again. How graphic and how pathetic,
 For portrayal of the war between the baser 1nd better selves where Is there another poem equal to ''The Two yolcesf" What man of heart and sensibilities has not had to fight the same battlef Some one has said that one striking feature of this poem Is that Tennyson does not attempt to be- little the voice of the sense self or to give 1t the worst of the argument The beauty of the piece is that if rings true. The lower nature has the evi- dence of the senses on It's side. The angel within us must depend on those finer and more elusive things, the fn- timarions that come we know not how, the faith and trust that spring from r,erennial fountains within By such seemingly weak yet truly mighty forces does the God in man win the battle with our sense illusions and our unfaith.
 Ii is almost idle to extend the list .Fnoeh Arden.- with its picture Of bopely self sacrifice the world knows bv heart. as it does the many songs of humble life, of patriotism. of love and war Throughout is a moral infu- enec. a call to the heroic in men. gIisnFaSe ef fhe hearen that is ss near to aiI our lives. if we would but see. The thought that
 fgowessr f he. is seerss ta ne
 ITS only nohis 10 te good
 fs ever present. Goodness k the per xaslinx rhea8e of tfis poet. as il is of T.snzfalissr. as fl is Of all the truiy great waetber singers. teachers CT rul- CTS of men
 Rsne in rfse Christ that is 10 be.
 sang this poet-prophet. who saw with such a true vision what the Saxarens really taught aad saw likewise how far the world ss from reaiiztns that perfect ideal
 1.,,-.-x.,san vrssh a ladv ona