The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-08-06

- ~ 80
tlrally grseted by many ns promising
the rise of a new poetical star. The
critics were at first unwilling tot az:
|ltnnwleds sc iiis claim5to great ness. but
when The Princes ppeared his
talent was acknowledg ed. IN 1850 his
great poem. In Aiemoriam wri item
III commemorate his most intimate
friend. Arthur Henry Hallam.4 mad !
|n.s fame secure. He sticceesed
Wordsworth as poet laureate OF Eng
land. y, q y. ::j =.
siTennysnn chose Throughout his life
to keep distinct his personally from
his work. and 1t Is only recently that
the public has been made acquainted
w.tt. his personal life. ~ He has mo
circle of recognized admirers aud
headed mo- literary clique. He kept
apart from clubs. pilblic affairs aad
xccial events. His closest frlen'ls
seem to have been Arthur Hallam, TO-.
the: few years that they were together,
ard Carlyle, the latter OF whom des.
cr:bel MIN as "a man solitary and
sui. dwelling In an element OF gloom.
carrying a bit of cnaos about him
" llich ne is manufacturing into cos
mos Edmund Clarence stednnn
.a..l of ennyson that "as an artist IL
verse he Ii the greatest OF" modern
poets. He.has the unerrinE first touch
which in a single line proves the ar
list. He Is born observer of physical
nature. and whenever he applies an
adjective or passinglys alludes to some
phenomenon is almost infallibly cor
r.u!.." The same critic voices tac
verdict OF the world in lamenting the
failure; of Tennyson to achieve his
ambition OF writing a great poctical
drama.
The first Influence That helped to
form his poetry was that of Byron
When Byron died the youthful Tc:Liy-
SOC said: II thought everything was
over and finished for every one-that
nothing clsa mattered. n remember
walked out alone md carved Byron,
is dead into the sandstone"
A little known episode of his career
Is the journey he made with Hallam
In the interest of certain Spanish pa
triots. The two young EnEllshmen
were tho bearers Of money and CT
mysterious 7despatche sin invIsible iAl:
to tho conspirators. who were then
In hiding In the mountains.
although in 1889, when the secun.i
collection, of Tennyson's poems NJ
reared. some Of those a. which have
s:rcc become the greatest favor:ses
were included. yet ten years passei
before the second edition was called
for. Only here and there did the poet
win an admirer who was convinced
of his future grentness.; Among tnuse
who best knew Tennyson, besides
those already mentioned. were Water
Savage. Lander. Sterling. the actor Ma
creatly, Forster. afterward tho b'cs-
raEher OF Dickens. and John Stuart
Mill. t.5s js ! ~ ,5it.s
His marriage was peculiarly happy,
his wife being a. niece of Sir Joan
Il. anklin;. the explorer. whose fate II
the; Arctic regions was so Ions n
mystery. -s sf G.{} 80
There Is no better proof in 'Tonny-
sons rank than the width OF his nnnu
lar!ty and the hearty praise OF t1nse
celebrities OF his time who were Best
flied ito Judge him. Wordsworth put
him sgt among living poets; BROWN
in: declared him ain poetry Luxurious
snd consumnlatc. in friendship noble
and sincere" Mrs. Browning declared
Mss" a divine poct:": Rossetti's phrase
WIS "the greatest poet Of the period
lTrnckeray, taking an even broader
view. said. "the wisest man know.
He died on October G. 1882. at the
age OF eighty-three. and was the Sec
orl OF the men Of 1909 to be bur'c
| In Westminster Abbey. Isl ~