New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1909-03-17
standards of wealth, his riches havin.
been of the internal and real variety.

standards Of wealth, his riches havin.
been of the internal and real variety
He was nothing of the dilettante.s but
very robust man. breezy, given te
much walking. some humor, a vast
amount of smoking and other things
that go to make up a whole man. His
was composite nature, containing
good, strong veins both of optimism
and pessfmism.
He was free soul, but respected
the conventions: he faced to the fu
ture, but revered the past: he was con
structive, too broad for party or sect
too tall Of soul to be fretted by petit
ness in others; best of all, he was
never ignoble, his songs ever ringinr
true to the highest in our natures
Withal he was kingly soul who
would have been marked in any age
or cline. He was combination OF
the genius and good man, a thing that
the world regards as rare only be
cause it does not understand genius.
Tennyson was much of prophet. rs
are all poets who are worthy of thai
high name, In a large way he fore,
told the airship, The Hague peace con.
Hgress and even the new woman
Vaguely he forecast the theosophie
movement. his poems containing more
than one hint Of belief in reincarna
ton. He was charged with being an
artist, but mere artist would never
have seen SO deeply nor so far. Ar
with him was only an accompaniment
He had the form, but also the sub
stance He was a master of words
but his words said something. His
vessels of speech were highly polished
but were we'll filled. His lines Jingle
and sing, but a man cannot read hin,
without doing some robust thinking.
Tennyson's verse is not so jerky as
Browning's, not so materialistic anl
immoral as Omar's-Or are they FitZ
gerald's ?-and not so didactic as Long
fellows. He wanted the cosmic spirit
and democratic outlook of Whitman
had little sympathy with republican in
situations and became somewhat Of &
reactionary in his old age. Yet his
very lacks We're an essential part OF
his character and rang true to his
philosophy. We forgive them for thai
reason. He was not obscure. What
he said was uttered with clearness
and force with melody and light. He
did not fail to point moral because
ho S,,o1 oh fV.,,1 h<
view He was an aristocrat, but his
was the aristocracy of noble minds.
What I love most about Tennyson is
his Dante-esque spirituality. He saw
the other side of things, saw it as ne
other poet has seen it. cannot re
fraih here from quoting Edgar Altar
Poe's estimate of him. Some one has
remarked it takes poet to read 6
poet. Poe was not only a poet, bu
the keenest critic perhaps that has ap
peared in America OF Tennyson he
said:
In perfect sincerity I regard him as thu
nObleSt poet that ever lived. I call hin
and think him the noblest of poets no
because the impressions he produces arr
cause the poetical excitement which h,
induces is at all times the most intense
but because it is at all times the mos
ethereal-in other words, the most elevat
ing and the most pure. No poet Is 81
little of the earth earthly
In this connection let me quote ont
Of Tennyson's poems that seems little
known. To me it makes a powerful
1c i,
insight into things little known in the
western world. 1t shows the far ad
vancement of his soul as do few Other
gems from his pen. 1t is entitled "Tht
Mystic l give but a few lines from
the beginning and the end:
Angels have talked with him and showed
him thrones. t
Ye knew him not; he was not one of We.
Ye scorned him with an undiscernin.
scOrn.
Ye could not read the marvel in his eye
The still serene abstraction. He hath fel
The vanities Of after and before.
Albeit his spirit and his secret heart
The stern experiences Of converse lives,
The linked woes of many a fiery change
Had purified and chastened and made
free.
How could We know him? Ye We're ye
within
The narrower circle. He had well 'nigl
reached
The last, which with region of white
fame,
Pure without heat, into larger air
Upburning and an ether of black blue
Investeth and engirds all other lives
This element in the English laureate
has puzzled his critics, but for the
most part they have evaded it by call
ing it poetic fancy. How could the,
know him? They We're yet within The
narrower circle
!: !: I: ): ): !: !: !.
May he not have l - NIT La
seen things of r. H1 Fa
which they did N1qk~dEnITk1l-Ll
not dream? IlAlI ZSsDY
w hat do we ElM1 IT
know Of life. aft VI g.
or oI1 that yyp u ~, - Y kESAsaSrfs