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TENNYSON'S 
 DEBT TO ENVIRONMENT 
 
TENNYSON'S 
 
 DEBT TO ENVIRONMENT 
 
 ^ Stutig of ^Tmnsson's EnQlanti as 
 an JntrotJuction to i)is ^ocms 
 
 BY . c 
 
 WILLIAM G. WARD 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN SYRACUSE 
 
 UNIVERSITY, AND IN THE EMERSON COLLEGE 
 
 OF ORATORY, BOSTON 
 
 -jUS OF COAfl^^^ 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHER 
 
 1898 
 
 2ncl COPY, 
 1898. 
 

 Copyright, 1S9S, 
 By Roberts Brothers. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 
 C^ I Z- 10^0 
 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pagb 
 
 The Man 7 
 
 The Point of View 15 
 
 '"" The Influences of Nature 19 
 
 The Inspiration of Romance 27 
 
 The Discipline of Sorrow ...... 32 
 
 The Rewards of Success 40 
 
 Contact with World Ideas 48 
 
 The Environment of the Sea 64 
 
 The Company of the Immortals .... 59 
 
 Part 11. 
 
 Study of the Minor Poems 67 
 
 The Study of In Memoriam 70 
 
 The Study of the Idylls of the King . 86 
 
 Short Chronology and Bibliography . . 95 
 
Tennyson's 
 Debt to Environment 
 
 I. 
 
 THE MAN. 
 
 IT is now forty-five years since Alfred 
 Tennyson, the newly appointed Lau- 
 reate, was called upon to write his Ode 
 on the Death of the Duke of Welling- 
 ton. We must remember what the 
 name of Wellington stood for. The 
 man who had conquered successively 
 nearly all Napoleon's marshals finally 
 met the master himself, and added a 
 new word to our vocabulary. 
 
 We can hardly understand what 
 England does for a man whom she 
 would honor, as she honored Welling- 
 ton. Living, there is no triumph too 
 
8 Tennyso7ts Debt to Environment 
 
 great for him. The nation triumphs in 
 him and through him. And now that 
 he was dead, he was to be buried in St. 
 Paul's Cathedral with such a pageant as 
 England seldom had seen. 
 
 The Ode which commemorates the 
 event must shadow forth all the phases 
 of England's feeling ; consequently it has 
 several distinct movements. After the 
 successive introductions and the address 
 to the personality of Wellington, the 
 first strong movement describes the ap- 
 proach to St. Paul's. It throbs and 
 reverberates with the tone of slow and 
 solemn events incident to the progress 
 of the procession. 
 
 On reaching the Cathedral, this 
 movement is interrupted by the spirit 
 of Nelson, w^ho asks the meaning of 
 this tumult breaking on his rest. The 
 answer is a glorification of both Nelson 
 and Wellington, ending in the much 
 stronger and more elevated sentiment 
 of part seven. 
 
The Man 9 
 
 The great man is the highest expres- 
 sion of the life of a people, with this 
 difference, — the man dies while the 
 nation lives. Part seven is a trium- 
 phant strain of rejoicing in the existence 
 of the English people. It is worthy of 
 comparison with the tribute which 
 Shakespeare puts into the mouth of 
 John of Gaunt in " King Richard the 
 Second," or with St. Crispin's day in 
 "King Henry the Fifth." 
 
 With the next movement occurs a 
 transition as remarkable as any in our 
 literature. We are made to feel that 
 we have reached the interior of St. 
 Paul's. All the martial music and the 
 stately progress of the procession dis- 
 appears. Nothing more is heard of the 
 rejoicing in the majesty of the English 
 people. We are made aware that the 
 hushed and sacred stillness of the great 
 temple has silenced all the jarring 
 sounds of earth. We no longer think 
 of the great man as an inhabitant of 
 
10 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 our planet. It is the soul of the man 
 and the world of the unseen which now 
 claim our thought. The uplifting power 
 of sacred music, and the d3rQamic forces 
 which shaped the universe, are called up 
 to remind us that, after all, we know of 
 nothing greater than the soul. 
 
 It is different, however, with the 
 body. The rising tide of music, setting 
 toward eternity, suddenly changes to 
 the wail of the dead march, as the black 
 earth yawns and the mortal disappears. 
 Until now he has given us no sugges- 
 tion of a sepulchre, though he does not 
 mean to pass that by. The man is 
 human, and there is something inex- 
 pressibly sacred to us, even in the 
 resting place of his dust. But he does 
 not mean to leave us with the dust. 
 
 Infinitely more than stone and mortar 
 is embodied in a national Walhalia like 
 St. Paul's. The stately pile is glorified 
 by the ideas which gather round it, — 
 the strength, the confidence, the repose, 
 
The Man 11 
 
 the light and hope suggested by the 
 airy expanse of vault and dome. All 
 this and more was grasped by the Laure- 
 ate when he closed his grand poem with 
 those wonderful lines, — 
 
 " And in the vast cathedral leave him. 
 God accept him, Christ receive him." 
 
 No idle praise, but a perfect recognition 
 of the greatness of the man and the 
 worthiness of the sepulchre ; suggesting, 
 moreover, that it is unnecessary to have 
 a great tomb unless you have a great 
 man to inter. Better the man without 
 the cathedral, than the cathedral with- 
 out the man ; though England has many 
 of both. 
 
 We have many great men, and, as 
 Americans, we can better understand 
 what is meant, by asking ourselves the 
 question, What would we not have 
 given for a suitable place in which to 
 bury Lincoln ? Not that any monu- 
 ment could equal the breadth of his 
 
12 Tennyson s Debt to Eitvironment 
 
 sympathy, the nobility of his character ; 
 but that we love to possess an earthly 
 resting place of suitable relative value. 
 
 Just how much we love this idea and 
 how grateful we are for it can be better 
 understood when we take, for example, 
 a man of our own day, — one whom we 
 personally love. Let forty years pass 
 by after the death of the Duke of 
 Wellington, and all of them Victorian 
 years at that, — years full of great men 
 and of great events. When forty years 
 had flown, Tennyson himself was dead, 
 and all the world knew where he was 
 to be buried. 
 
 For England has a vaster, if not a 
 grander, cathedral than St. Paul's, — one 
 which no earthly fame can enhance and 
 no human reputation can much further 
 ennoble. It is the roof tree of all our 
 race, — Westminster. Henceforth it will 
 seem a little nearer to us if it shall add 
 to its trust not only a Tennyson, but an 
 Arthur and a Round Table. 
 
The Man 13 
 
 When the day arrived for his inter- 
 ment, the people were not wanting. 
 Long before the time for the services, the 
 multitudes began to assemble. Vast 
 crowds were now massed on all sides of 
 the cathedral, but only the few could 
 enter. The doors of the Abbey opened 
 only to those who held tickets, for the 
 audience was to represent the distin- 
 guished men of every country where 
 the English language is spoken. 
 
 Many carried floral oferings. The 
 cathedral already contained a mass of 
 beautiful flowers. In the Jerusalem 
 Chamber, adjoining the entrance, were 
 hundreds of chaplets and crosses. The 
 Queen had sent a wreath of laurel leaves, 
 and also an indestructible metallic wreath 
 of laurel. The trustees of Shakespeare's 
 birthplace had sent a laurel wreath from 
 Shakespeare's grave, to be placed on the 
 coffin. 
 
 Among the rest was a wreath which 
 possessed more interest for an American 
 
14 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 than any other. It was made by Mrs. 
 Gladstone, from sweet-smelling leaves 
 in the Gladstone gardens at Hawarden. 
 The card attached to it bore the simple 
 inscription, — 
 
 " And in the vast cathedral leave him. 
 God accept him, Christ receive him. " 
 
 It is evident that the Gladstones, 
 guided by a lifelong affection, had seized 
 upon the right idea. All that the poet 
 had said so skilfully, in his early poem, 
 could be said with equal truthfulness of 
 himself. The spiritual ideas for which 
 the cathedral stands, as the proper rest- 
 ing place for the great man, find instant 
 recognition in all hearts when the name 
 of Tennyson is mentioned. The lofty 
 dignity and repose, the strength, the sin- 
 cerity, the purity of heart and mind, and 
 the light of hope in the future, — all are 
 there, in harmony, in peace. 
 
TJie Point of View 15 
 
 II. 
 THE POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 IT may be seen from the foregoing 
 chapter that these pages are not to 
 be an effort to belittle Tennyson's genius, 
 or to account for it. Genius is the gift 
 of God. If ever such a gift was bestowed 
 upon mortal, it was given to Alfred 
 Tennyson. His spirit is not to be 
 measured by ready made standards, or 
 to be judged by precedent ; least of all 
 is it to be accounted for by any theory 
 of soil or climate. 
 
 Yet he was subject to the influence 
 of his surroundings. The ordinary man 
 may take but little note of his inherit^ 
 ance in earth and air and sky, or in the 
 world of institutions or of men. But to 
 a sensitive soul like Tennyson environ- 
 
16 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 ment means more than to any one else. 
 He responds to many delicate influences 
 which a poet alone can appreciate. 
 
 Indeed, this responsiveness may be 
 called the mission of the poet. He is a 
 seer who beholds the affairs of men with 
 superior insight. He reflects the thought 
 and passion of his day as future genera- 
 tions will see them. As Mrs. Browning 
 says, " The poet is the only truth-teller 
 left to God," the only one who records 
 human events as God sees them. 
 
 If this may be true of any great poet, 
 why then emphasize it in the case of 
 Tennyson ? For many reasons, and first 
 of all, because he never changed his sub- 
 ject. He spent his life in describing his 
 own immediate surroundings. This was 
 more true of him than of any other 
 modern poet. It therefore becomes the 
 best point of view for observing his 
 writings. 
 
 Another reason is because his environ- 
 ment was England. While Ruskin and 
 
The Point of View 17 
 
 Browning were revealing to us Italy, 
 Tennyson found his mission at home. 
 He never forgot that he was an English- 
 man. How deeply he loved his land, 
 we all know who are interested in his 
 writings; one cannot read them and 
 fail of being interested in the England 
 which he loved, — the England which 
 we love. 
 
 He did not love her faults. No one 
 has been more bitter than he against 
 that in England which was unworthy to 
 be loved. His denunciation of her short- 
 comings is unparalleled in literature, 
 except by Dante's scorn for the weak- 
 nesses of Italy. He was jealous for the 
 honor of his land. As Laureate he had 
 marked opportunities for knowing his 
 subject. It is doubtful if any other 
 Laureate ever stood so close to the best 
 thought of his day. He knew England 
 as it was, also as it wished to be. He 
 never hesitated to add what it ought 
 to be. 
 
18 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 During his last forty years he was the 
 most conspicuous man of his generation. 
 In spite of all his natural love of retire- 
 ment^ he was compelled to stand in the 
 glare of " that fierce light which beats 
 upon a throne." All his actions were 
 projected against the background of the 
 great church and state of England. 
 A smaller man would have been rendered 
 ridiculous. Tennyson was great enough 
 to sustain his part without an effort. 
 
The Influences of Nature 19 
 
 IIL 
 
 THE INFLUENCES OF NATURE. 
 
 AMONGr the poets Tennyson is one 
 of our greatest realists. He 
 seems informed with the scientific spirit. 
 The accuracy and truthfulness of his de- 
 scriptions have been remarked by all 
 the critics who have examined his sub- 
 ject matter. His pictures of nature are 
 drawn with few and simple lines, often 
 suggesting more than they portray. 
 
 This method with nature is very 
 agreeable to the modern man. The long 
 descriptions of natural objects and of 
 scenery, which were so common in his 
 day, seem to us now a distortion. It is 
 remarkable that with his wonderful ap- 
 preciation of nature he succeeded so well 
 in avoiding this mistake. 
 
20 Tennyso7ts Debt to Environment 
 
 It is probable that he owed the fidel- 
 ity of his nature poetry to Lincolnshire. 
 Had he lived in a country with more 
 rugged features he might not have ac- 
 quired his minute realism. It was the 
 very lack of variety which gave him his 
 habits of close observation. Lincoln- 
 shire is not very interesting when con- 
 sidered as scenery; nor is it really as 
 dull as some seem to think. The fen- 
 country, which includes much of the 
 eastern part, is dull enough, being abso- 
 lutely level ; but between this and Som- 
 ersby is the Wold, which is a long ridge 
 of chalky hills several miles in width. 
 
 Scattered over the Wold are numer- 
 ous villages, very small in size and 
 often very close together. Their names 
 alone are a study for an American, 
 abounding as they do in thorpe and hy, 
 Tealby, Kuckland, Salmonby, Bag En- 
 derby, Sutterby, Cawthorpe, Sausthorpe, 
 Claythorpe, Driby, Claxby, Kirksby, 
 Oxby, — such are some of the names 
 
The Influences of Nahire 21 
 
 which may be found within a radius of 
 a few miles. 
 
 Somersby was one of these villages, 
 having not more than fifty or sixty in- 
 habitants. It was not only small, but 
 remote. Indeed, the whole region was 
 removed from the ordinary routes of 
 trade, and quite as isolated as any that 
 could be found in England. The near- 
 est market towns were six or eight miles 
 away. Boston, to which the boys some- 
 times walked, was distant nearly twenty 
 miles. 
 
 Here it was that Alfred Tennyson was 
 brought up, and here his family resided 
 until six years after he had left Cam- 
 bridge. If it was remote from towns, it 
 was near to hedgerows, and to winding 
 lanes, or gardens 
 
 '- ' bower'd close, 
 With plaited alleys of the trailing rose, 
 Long alleys falling down to twilight grots 
 Or opening upon level plots 
 Of crowned lilies, standing near 
 Purple spiked lavender : 
 
22 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 Whither in after life, retired 
 
 From brawling storms, 
 
 From weary wind, 
 
 With youthful fancy reinspired. 
 
 We may hold converse with all forms 
 
 Of the many sided mind." 
 
 Next to the gently rolling hills, the 
 most important feature of the landscape 
 is the brook. From its source to Gib- 
 raltar Point, where it empties into the 
 North Sea, it has an air line length of 
 perhaps twenty miles. There are not 
 so many thorpes, nor are there any 
 graylings, but with these exceptions it 
 answers well enough to the description 
 of the famous brook of the poem. 
 Certainly Philip's farm is there, and 
 why should we look for any better 
 identification ? 
 
 The education of the boys was con- 
 ducted by their father, who seems to 
 have had the good sense to leave them 
 without unnecessary restraint. They 
 roamed at will over all parts of the 
 
The Influences of Nature 23 
 
 country, until all its features were ob- 
 served and printed indelibly upon their 
 memories. Their country breeding 
 would seem to have been almost the 
 ideal preparation for the work which 
 was before them. They were stalwart, 
 manly boys, and decidedly athletic; all 
 stories to the contrary being founded on 
 a misapprehension which has mistaken 
 shyness for delicacy. 
 
 When the boys went to Cambridge 
 their companions did not fail to notice 
 a certain modesty and backwardness, 
 which might easily be explained by their 
 previous isolation. Like other students, 
 they had their breakfast in their rooms, 
 and for dinner went to the great hall of 
 the College. More than once they were 
 seen coming to the door of the dining- 
 hall, standing for a while undecided, and 
 then going away hungry, rather than face 
 the embarrassment of walking across the 
 dining-room to their seats at the table. 
 
 They probably did not know how 
 
24 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 iiopeful a characteristic they were ex- 
 hibiting to all who knew the human 
 heart. Modesty, even diffidence, will 
 not be ranked as a fault with a boy in 
 his teens ; even if it exists in so marked 
 a degree as properly to be called shyness. 
 With their timidity regarding social re- 
 quirements, their country breeding had 
 brought them also unnumbered elements 
 of character of which they were totally 
 unconscious, — elements essential to 
 their future development, which no sub- 
 sequent training could have supplied. 
 
 Subsequent training, however, could 
 supply all that was now lacking, and 
 that training was found in Cambridge. 
 Friendships here formed were of the 
 most fortunate kind. They fell into a 
 group of young men, all of whom seem 
 to have possessed unusual talent, and 
 many of them unusual worth and seri- 
 ousness. Chief among them was Arthur 
 Hallam, who became the most intimate 
 friend of Alfred Tennyson. 
 
The Influences of Nature 25 
 
 Hallam seemed to supply everything 
 which Tennyson lacked. He had been 
 brought up in London, and had travelled 
 on the Continent, residing some time in 
 Italy; he also had the acquaintance 
 with society and with literature which 
 made him the ideal complement of his 
 friend. In turn Hallam became the 
 student of nature and spent a great deal 
 of his time at Somersby, where Tenny- 
 son seems to have associated him with 
 the countryside almost as thoroughly as 
 he had his own father. 
 
 Love of nature once acquired can 
 never be lost. Tennyson had no desire 
 to lose it. During all his subsequent life 
 he kept close to nature's heart. Though 
 often in London, his residence was 
 nearly always in the country, — first 
 at High Beech, in the Epping Forest, 
 afterwards at Tunbridge and Twicken- 
 ham. In later life his famous residences 
 at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, and 
 at Aldworth in Surrey, gave him com- 
 
26 Temiysons Debt to Environment 
 
 panionsliip with nature in its most at- 
 tractive forms. Both the land and the 
 sea were his. He never failed to give 
 reverent worship to their nobility. 
 
 It may be said that his view of na- 
 tm^e was original. He was not only a 
 realist, but an idealist; and both his 
 realism and idealism were his own. He 
 did not attribute to nature the same 
 kind of life which is found in the early 
 poets of the romance school, but he did 
 give it a vitality of its own, and of his 
 own. His nature is not lifeless, for it is 
 always associated with the life of man. 
 The degree to which nature can be 
 spiritualized, aside from its relations to 
 the human soul, is largely subjective 
 with each individual. The great major- 
 ity of mankind, however much they 
 may sympathize with the more lofty 
 idealization of Wordsworth, will recog- 
 nize the truthfulness and sanity of the 
 view of nature given us by Tennyson. 
 
The Inspiration of Romance 27 
 
 IV. 
 THE INSPIRATION OF ROMANCE. 
 
 THE acquaintance with Arthur 
 Hallam brought Tennyson into a 
 new phase of the world of romance. 
 Hallam had been in Italy, and he not 
 only began to teach Italian to Tenny- 
 son's sister, but he had an equal mission 
 to Tennyson himself. This was found 
 in Alfieri and in Italian literature. 
 
 Still better, the Hallams had a sum- 
 mer residence at Clevedon on the Sev- 
 ern. Here, within sight of Clevedon, 
 and within easy walking distance, was 
 that network of British and Roman 
 fortresses which make up the English 
 wonderland, now known to us as the 
 Arthurian country. 
 
 The antiquities of England are largely 
 
28 Temiyson ^s Debt to Environment 
 
 crowded into this region. The steady 
 movements of one conquering race after 
 another, from East to West, has made 
 this the common battle ground of all 
 our' ancestors. Here each race made 
 its final stand against the Eastern or 
 Southern invader. Each race has built 
 its defensive works upon the ruins of 
 the race preceding, until the country is 
 a network of antiquities unparalleled in 
 historic interest by any other equal ter- 
 ritory on the planet. 
 
 The oldest of all, and of unknown 
 antiquity, are the works of the Druids. 
 Next after them were the Belgic Gauls, 
 who occupied this region a century or 
 two before the days of Julius Caesar. 
 Then came the Roman monuments, 
 which are far more numerous here than 
 in any other part of the island. Lastly 
 arose the British fortresses built in 
 Arthur's day, as a defence against the 
 slow but sure progress of the Anglo- 
 Saxon. 
 
The Inspiration of Romance 29 
 
 Here are all the localities of the 
 Arthurian world. Here are Glaston- 
 bury and the Isle of Avilon. Here are 
 Amesbury and Saurum. Here is the 
 probable site of Camelot ; and across 
 the Severn at Caerleon, in Wales, is 
 another possible site. Here are the 
 Usk and the "babbling Wey," as well 
 as the castle of Tintagel and the haunts 
 of Tristram and Isolt. 
 
 Tennyson's mind had been awakened 
 long before by the romance of Arthur. 
 As a child he and his brothers had en- 
 acted the history of the Knights, in 
 quest and tournament, as told by Mal- 
 lory. Tennyson had also become a 
 famous narrator of all sorts of romance, 
 for the entertainment of his brothers 
 and sisters. Nevertheless, Hallam's ac- 
 quaintance with the literature and the 
 antiquities of the Arthurian country 
 must have been a great stimulation. 
 
 We are certain from his own account 
 that Tennyson made long foot tours 
 
30 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 through all this region, studying care- 
 fully all that could be learned by obser- 
 vation and by tradition. Once he met 
 with an accident which detained him 
 six weeks, and during his detention he 
 made so many friends that, after his 
 recovery, they sent him forward on his 
 journey, from house to house of their 
 acquaintance. 
 
 The journal of his visit to this region 
 is very brief and condensed; but it is 
 of great significance to one who has 
 followed in his footsteps, and knows the 
 meaning of all its reference. In this 
 way he came to know the country, not 
 simply as it might be known to the 
 ordinary traveller, but as the common 
 people knew it, with all their traditions 
 and local associations. 
 
 The germs thus planted in Tennyson's 
 mind became a source of steady growth 
 throughout the rest of his life. The 
 Arthurian legends had evidently im- 
 pressed him powerfully, as they had 
 
The Inspiration of Roma7ice 31 
 
 many another of our literary men ; but 
 to none other did they continue to be a 
 steady source of interest. Many of his 
 early poems are preliminary studies of 
 characteristics which he here discovered. 
 By middle life they had rounded into 
 some of the noblest work which he has 
 ever accomplished; whereas the final 
 results which he was to gather within 
 this field were not attained until nearly 
 the close of his career. 
 
32 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 V. 
 
 THE DISCIPLINE OF SORROW. 
 
 s 
 
 ORROW is probably a part of the 
 discipline of every great man. 
 
 " Who never ate his bread with tears, 
 He knows you not, ye heavenly powers." 
 
 Certainly sorrow held a large part in 
 the development of Tennyson's middle 
 life. We can hardly imagine what the 
 influences of Tennyson would be with- 
 out his best known characteristic^ as it 
 is expressed in " In Memoriam." 
 
 Tennyson always possessed a serious 
 and somewhat grave disposition. Eacial 
 influence may account for part of it; 
 and the difference between the North 
 and the South of England may have 
 had its influence. This difference is 
 
The Discipli7ie of Sorrow 33 
 
 clearly pointed out in '-' The Princess," 
 as Tennyson apprehended it. Whether 
 or not it has any pronounced existence, 
 it is not out of harmony with the fancies 
 which literature has ascribed to climatic 
 influence. 
 
 But the share of sorrow which fell to 
 Tennyson was larger than may be ac- 
 counted for by any of the usual reasons. 
 His residence at Cambridge was inter- 
 rupted by the death of his father. This 
 circumstance seemed to preclude his 
 return to the University. The family 
 continued to reside at Somersby for a 
 few years, but their circumstances were 
 very much changed. The main depend- 
 ence of the family had been the pro- 
 fession of the elder Tennyson, who was 
 E-ector of Somersby and of three other 
 neighboring churches. 
 
 The small patrimony of the family 
 was barely sufficient to meet their actual 
 requirements. This was especially true 
 of Alfred, whose chosen profession of 
 
34 Te7inysons Debt to Eiiviroiime^tt 
 
 poet and man of letters had as yet but 
 little promise in the way of pecuniary 
 returns. He had a high sense of his 
 mission, and he determined to follow his 
 inspiration with singleness of purpose, 
 even if the outlook did seem unpromis- 
 ing, not to say hazardous. ^ 
 
 A greater reverse, if possible, was 
 still in store for him. Arthur Hallam 
 died a year and a half after the death 
 of his father. The affection between 
 the two young men has no parallel in 
 recent history. They were not only 
 friends, but companions. Hallam was 
 the most outspoken defender of Tenny- 
 son's genius; and Tennyson seemed to 
 have understood fully the value of Hal- 
 lam's friendship. Beside this, Hallam 
 was engaged to Tennyson's sister, and 
 was often found in the Somersby home. 
 
 Hall am' s death was peculiarly sudden 
 and shocking. Its effect upon the 
 Tennyson household is not easily de- 
 scribed. It was many months before 
 
The Discipline of Sorrow 35 
 
 Tennyson's sister was again seen by lier 
 friends, and years did not efface the 
 bereavement in the mind and heart of 
 the poet. We now know that it was 
 seventeen years before his mind had 
 formulated his innermost sentiments 
 upon this subject. The changes which 
 came to him during these years can 
 only be told by the poem itself. 
 
 " In Memoriam " is the most expres- 
 sive monument which has ever been 
 erected to the memory of a man. It is 
 also one of the most remarkable pieces 
 of self-revelation which can be found in 
 literature. So natural is it, however, 
 and so true to the experience of man, 
 that it will always be read while the 
 English language is spoken. The time 
 must come in the experience of almost 
 every one who speaks our language 
 when this poem becomes his chief coun- 
 sellor and guide. It reveals to us the 
 nature of our own experiences, and 
 shows us the only path by which we 
 
36 Tennysoiis Debt to Environment 
 
 may escape from the anguisli of be- 
 reavement. 
 
 The first part describes the simple 
 effect of death, as seen in the lives of 
 those surviving^. The nature of the 
 sudden shock and its stupefj'ing effects, 
 as they are found in the experiences of 
 all men, are fully set forth in the open- 
 ing sections. We see him as he meets 
 all the exigencies which are common to 
 manldnd in this well known experience. 
 
 In the second part, the same atmos- 
 phere remains. ^Ye find all the expe- 
 riences which we have associated with 
 bereavement, except despair. Tennyson 
 never allows himself to yield to de- 
 spondency, or even to complain. The 
 mind, however, begins to employ itself 
 with the question, '- How fares it with 
 the happy dead ? " We are sure to find 
 hope in any answer which Tennyson 
 gives to this question, and it is exactly 
 at this point that the great merit and 
 utility of the poem is found. 
 
The Discipline of Sorrow 37 
 
 In England the early half of this 
 century was as pre-eminently an age of 
 doubt, as this half is the age of faith. 
 It was a transition period, in the minds 
 of men, with regard to almost every 
 question of faith ; no belief was assailed 
 more persistently than the doctrine of 
 man's immortality. Hence the signifi- 
 cance of the second part of the poem. 
 
 The third part shows us the method 
 by which the heart achieves its own 
 deliverance. Doubt has vanished, but 
 sorrow remains. He sees clearly that it 
 must remain, and can never be anything 
 else than sorrow. But he determines 
 that sorrow shall find a nobler use in 
 picturing the growth which must go on 
 in the mind and soul of immortal man. 
 He questions whether Hallam's mind 
 looks back to the life here, as some 
 divinely gifted man might remember 
 his own childhood. He imagines the 
 earthly fame which might have been 
 Hallam's had he lived; and pictures 
 
38 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 his probable life had he remained on 
 earth. 
 
 In part fourth, he discovers a new 
 interest in life from the memories of his 
 friend, and from communion with his 
 spirit. These memories and these com- 
 munions seem to cluster round the part- 
 ing days of their life at the old home in 
 Somersby. The time has come when 
 the Tennysons are to leave the house 
 in which they had been brought up. 
 With their dejoarture they seem to be 
 parting with the old memories; and 
 many sacred associations contend for 
 mastery as every object of the landscape 
 calls up old recollections. 
 
 In part fifth, the family observe 
 Hallam's birthday and Christmastide in 
 a strange place. Tennyson determines 
 that with new surroundings shall come 
 a new purpose. He discovers that re- 
 gret is dead, but love has survived. 
 He has learned the lesson of sorrow, 
 which is to broaden our sympathies. 
 
The Discipline of Sorrow 39 
 
 He has learned the love of all mankind. 
 He sees the purpose of all his discipline 
 and triumphs in spite of his loss, which 
 means that a greater gain has come to 
 him. 
 
 With Tennyson's triumph came the 
 triumph of his age and generation, con- 
 cerning the same problems. His poem 
 has probably done more than any other 
 one influence to confirm our belief in 
 the unseen, and to strengthen our con- 
 fidence in the 
 
 " One living will which shall endure, 
 When all that seems shall suffer shock." 
 
40 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE KEWAKDS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 THE period which we have desig- 
 nated the Discipline of Sorrow 
 has been spoken of as covering Tenny- 
 son's hfe from the death of Hallam 
 until the publication of "In Memoriam." 
 This would give an interval of seventeen 
 years. It must be remembered, how- 
 ever, that the period ends with 1850, 
 and the last few years are marked by 
 the return of joy to his life, even as the 
 story is recorded in " In Memoriam." 
 
 Hallam died in 1833 ; and it was not 
 until the appearance of Tennyson's col- 
 lected poems, in 1843, that our poet 
 again broke silence. This ten years 
 was the real brooding time in which his 
 mind was passing through the changes 
 
The Rewards of Success 41 
 
 described in the preceding chapter. It 
 seems to have been an era of hard 
 work, during which he had taken him- 
 self seriously in hand to perfect his 
 poetic art. 
 
 His progress during this time may be 
 judged by the character of the work 
 which he produced. In the volume of 
 1843 we find such poems as " Locksley 
 Hall," "Dora/' "Two Voices," "The 
 Talking Oak," "Ulysses," "Sir Gala- 
 had," "Launcelot and Guinevere," and 
 "Mort d' Arthur." These poems show 
 that the period had been one of severe 
 discipline. Not only had circumstances 
 been a schoolmaster, but he had evi- 
 dently been still more rigorous in his 
 own self-assigned tasks. 
 
 The great crisis of his life, however, 
 was still to come. He was induced to 
 invest his patrimony in a worthless en- 
 terprise, which resulted in utter failure. 
 It seems that everything which he pos- 
 sessed was lost in this venture. He 
 
42 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 suddenly found himself deprived of all 
 his previous dependence for a livelihood. 
 Without the discipline of practical life, 
 he now regarded himself as almost abso- 
 lutely helpless. He was so deeply per- 
 suaded of this idea that he seemed to be 
 utterly appalled and prostrated. His 
 best friends despaired of his life. It was 
 only after a year or two of the most care- 
 ful attention that he finally was restored 
 to comparative health and strength. 
 
 It was during this period that the 
 English government honored itself by 
 bestowing upon him an annual pension 
 of two hundred pounds. Never was a 
 pension more timely. It is probable 
 that we owe all his subsequent work to 
 this kindly interposition. This pension 
 was granted in 1845, in 1847 "The 
 Princess" was published, and in 1850 
 came " In Memoriam." 
 
 The year 1850 marks a complete 
 revolution in the affairs of Tennyson. 
 From that year he is a different being. 
 
The Rewards of Success 43 
 
 The discipline of sorrow has passed 
 away; henceforth his Hfe is to wear 
 another hue. He is now forty years 
 old, but he still has more than half his 
 life to live. The forty-two years still 
 remaining all point back to this year 
 1850 as the beginning of his new life, 
 a life which is to be free from all his 
 former cares. Success in its most at- 
 tractive forms is henceforth to be his, — 
 money, home, friends, fame, — best of 
 all, happiness, peace. 
 
 Three great and fortunate events 
 mark the importance of this year. The 
 first of these was the publication of " In 
 Memoriam." By this event all doubt 
 was forever removed as to the talent of 
 Alfred Tennyson. " The Princess " had 
 added much to his fame, though it was 
 open to criticism. But with the appear- 
 ance of " In Memoriam " all doubts 
 were laid at rest. These two poems, 
 added to those contained in the volume 
 of 1843, were sufficient to establish his 
 
44 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 name as a poet of the first rank. 
 Henceforth his books were sold by tens 
 of thousands. 
 
 The second of these occurrences was 
 closely related to the first. Exactly in 
 the middle of ^^In Memoriam" stands 
 section lxyiii., which seems to have 
 been almost prophetic. It describes his 
 dream of the crown of thorns, which 
 suddenly put forth leaves, and so be- 
 came a crown of laurel : — 
 
 ''I dream'd there would be Spring no more, 
 That Nature's ancient power was lost. 
 
 *'I wandered from the noisy town, 
 
 I found a wood with thorny boughs : 
 I took the thorns to bind my brows, 
 I wore them like a civic crown : 
 
 "I met with scoffs, I met with scorns 
 
 From youth and babe and hoary hairs 
 They called me in the public squares 
 The fool that wears a crown of thorns : 
 
The Rewards of Success 45 
 
 *' They called me fool, they called me child: 
 I found an angel of the night, 
 The voice was low, the look was bright ; 
 He looked upon my crown and smiled : 
 
 " He reach'd the glory of a hand, 
 
 That seemed to touch it into leaf : 
 The voice was not the voice of grief ; 
 The words were hard to understand." 
 
 How long this poem may have been 
 written before its publication we cannot 
 tell. The entire work was published in 
 1850, and it was in this same year that 
 the laureateship was bestowed upon 
 Tennyson by the Queen. From the 
 time of publication until this occurrence 
 would certainly be a swift fulfilment. 
 
 As to the honor itself, there can be 
 no doubt of its great value to Tennyson. 
 The name of the previous incumbent, 
 Wordsworth, as well as the character of 
 his contestants for the office, united to 
 make the position decidedly honorable. 
 There had been several other candidates, 
 including Browning and Leigh Hunt. 
 
46 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 Mrs. Browning also had been urged 
 strongly for the position, and she cer- 
 tainly would have made a worthy laure- 
 ate. After all, the appointment seemed 
 to fall naturally upon Tennyson. Rog- 
 ers and Barry Cornwall did not compete, 
 but Rogers's court suit, which had pre- 
 viously been used by Wordsworth, was 
 again brought into requisition for the 
 presentation of Tennyson. 
 
 The third of the fortunate events 
 which mark this year was his marriage 
 with Miss Emily Selwood. Tennyson 
 had met Miss Selwood twenty years be- 
 fore, and for ten years they had been 
 engaged to be married. But with the 
 long tarrying of the dark days of sor- 
 row, the engagement had been annulled. 
 Now with the return of sunshine it was 
 renewed. Their marriage proved to be 
 one of the most fortunate and happy of 
 which we have knowledge. " From that 
 day," says one of his letters, "peace 
 entered into my life." 
 
The Rewards of Success 4 7 
 
 The new houseliold was first estab- 
 lished at Twiclvenham, where Pope had 
 formerly lived. In 1853 they left 
 Twickenham for Farringford on the Isle 
 of Wight, where the family continued 
 to reside, during the greater part of the 
 year, for the remainder of their lives. 
 He was now one of the best known men 
 in England. All his surroundings were 
 fortunate, and he was destined to exert 
 an ever increasing influence for good 
 upon the men of his generation. 
 
 Browning has taught us that the dis- 
 cipline of joy is no less important than 
 the discipline of sorrow. Its influence 
 upon us is probably far greater than the 
 influence of adversity. Only we are not 
 accustomed to think of joy as a disci- 
 pline. Whether Browning is right, let 
 him judge who knows the inner life of 
 Mrs. Browning, and of Alfred Tennyson. 
 The last forty years of Tennyson's life 
 would seem to be a testimony to the 
 correctness of Browning's doctrine. 
 
48 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 YIL 
 CONTACT WITH WORLD IDEAS. 
 
 TENNYSON was now over forty 
 years of age. He found himself 
 in a position which brought him in close 
 contact with the great world of human 
 thought and human experience. Ever 
 since the French Revolution the narrow 
 barrier of national life and national 
 thought had been breaking down. Ideas 
 now passed from one nation to an- 
 other with the utmost freedom. The 
 comparative study of government and 
 religion was fully inaugurated, and the 
 scientific world was daily bringing forth 
 its astounding discoveries. 
 
 Tennyson was surrounded by a group 
 of men who kept him in constant touch 
 with the thought of the world, and that 
 
Contact with World Ideas 49 
 
 of its wisest and best thinkers. He 
 needed all their strength, and all their 
 wisdom. It was not an ordinary world 
 in the midst of which he was living. In 
 many respects it was a most strenuous 
 and agitating period ; especially so in 
 the political and social life of England. 
 
 The reaction against the French 
 Revolution had stopped the progress of 
 political reform, so far as England was 
 concerned. It was now only by slow de- 
 grees that conservative institutions could 
 be changed. The Reform Bill of 1832 
 marks the fact that until then England's 
 institutions had remained very conserva- 
 tive, not to say almost mediaeval. 
 
 After 1832 one reform followed an- 
 other in rapid succession until the gov- 
 ernment had been peaceably revolution- 
 ized. Each of those bills, however, was 
 passed only after violent parliamentary 
 agitation. For forty years the country 
 was continually in a ferment, through 
 the war of ideas. In the end England 
 
50 Tennysoii s Debt to Enviro7iment 
 
 had changed from a government by the 
 classes to a government by the people. 
 
 Tennyson was a liberal, and a lover of 
 progress. The part which he contributed 
 to the solution of England's problems 
 may be learned by reading his poems 
 which deal with the reform movements. 
 They are largely directed against the 
 claims and the pretensions of the nobil- 
 ity, — especially their arbitrary dictation 
 in social affairs on account of their pride 
 of birth and their greed for mammon. 
 
 " Maud " shows the interference of a 
 brother with the social rights of his sis- 
 ter. " Locksley Hall " curses the social 
 wrongs which warp us from the living 
 truth. The hero loses his bride through 
 the interposition of her family in behalf 
 of her cousin. "Aylmer's Field" is a 
 bitter denunciation of the pride of birth 
 entertained by the parents, who interfere 
 with the social rights of their daughter. 
 Their folly not only causes her destruc- 
 tion, but their own. All are engulfed 
 
Contact with World Ideas 51 
 
 in the overwhelming fate which falls 
 upon the house. 
 
 Those who regard Tennyson as con- 
 servative, must remember the difference 
 between that day and ours. It required 
 courage to champion the rights of men, 
 as he did. For his day, he was very 
 progressive. He was not extreme, but 
 he was outspoken. The storm of wrath 
 which some of his poems aroused has 
 never been fully understood, until re- 
 cently revealed in his " Life " written 
 by his son. 
 
 " The Princess " is his protest against 
 mediaeval education. In it he contends 
 stoutly for the co-ordinate progress of 
 the sexes, at least in the matter of cul- 
 ture. England's ideas of the education 
 of woman at this time were very rudi- 
 mentary. Practically, they had made 
 no advance since the days of Shake- 
 speare. " The Princess " was well calcu- 
 lated to meet the existing state of the 
 question, — not too radical to be read by 
 
52 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 the conservatives, and yet decidedly pro- 
 gressive. Beneath the surface of its 
 mildly satirical picture of woman's edu- 
 cation was concealed a powerful protest 
 in her favor. The art with which he 
 contrives to retain the attention of both 
 friend and foe is not always apjoarent 
 from a casual reading. 
 
 The emancipation of woman had 
 made but little progress in Tennyson's 
 day. He may not have contributed 
 much to this end, but his ideas were 
 certainly in advance of prevailing opin- 
 ion. There is one respect, however, in 
 which his view of womankind never can 
 be excelled; that is, his reverential re- 
 gard for her, and the ennobling and 
 glorifying enthusiasm with which he 
 treats the mutual love of man and 
 woman. This is only what we should 
 expect, when we remember his affection 
 for his mother and for his wife, as well 
 as all the story of his relations to his 
 family. 
 
Contact with World Ideas 53 
 
 But doubtless his greatest service to 
 the cause of human progress was ren- 
 dered in his " Idylls of the King." The 
 simple qualities of heart which he there 
 glorifies are the very foundation of 
 human life. Keverence, loyalty, obedi- 
 ence, were the watchwords round which 
 these Idylls grew. They found their 
 inspiration in the love of native land, of 
 family, and of mankind. Loyalty to the 
 home becomes the foundation of the 
 state, and disloyalty, in even so private 
 a relation as the family, becomes the 
 cause of its disintegration. The nation 
 is ruined and brought to destruction by 
 the social vice of a single human being. 
 
54 Tennyson s Debt to E^ivironment 
 
 VIII. 
 THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE SEA. 
 
 TENNYSON never forgot that he 
 lived upon an island. Not only 
 did he live upon an island^ but he spent 
 a great part of his time upon its shore. 
 His father had a summer home at 
 Maplethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast. 
 The acquaintance with the sea^ which 
 he thus formed in his youth, became a 
 still more powerful attraction in the 
 later part of his life. 
 
 His home at Freshwater on the Isle 
 of Wight was within sight and sound of 
 the Channel, and here he formed some of 
 his most characteristic pictures of the sea. 
 He always thought of the ocean as it ap- 
 peared from the standpoint of the shore. 
 He has correctly observed all its action 
 
The Environment of the Sea 55 
 
 from this vantage ground, and has faith- 
 fully described its varying moods. 
 
 The description of a storm in "Sea 
 Dreams" is a splendid reproduction of 
 the real effect of stormy weather on the 
 coast of Cornwall. He had examined 
 both the sands and the sea-caves in his 
 various journeys about Land's End. In 
 front of Freshwater Bay, in the Isle of 
 Wight, was a similar ledge of rock, 
 which was slowly worn into sea-caves, 
 and finally almost carried away by the 
 action of the water. He had also vis- 
 ited the western coast of Ireland, where 
 the action of the waves was more violent 
 than at any point on the English coast. 
 
 In " In Memoriam," section cm., he 
 gives almost his only picture of a voyage 
 in which the observer leaves the shore. 
 In the "Passing of Arthur," he certainly 
 gives one voyage where the ship arrives 
 on the other side. The description here 
 is still limited, however, to his favorite 
 method. Sir Bedivere, who is the only 
 
56 Tenitysofis Debt to Environment 
 
 witness of this voyage, stands upon the 
 land, and strains his eyes until the vessel 
 fades to a mere speck and is lost in the 
 distance. But after sight has failed, 
 sound remains. He hears the sound of 
 a great cry, faint, as from beyond the 
 limit of the world, as if some far city 
 were one voice around a king returning 
 from his wars. 
 
 Although his standpoint did not often 
 vary from the land, nevertheless' his 
 mind went out wherever the ocean 
 reached, and wherever ships could sail. 
 He seemed to think of his island home 
 as thus connected with the world by 
 water. No one could reach England, 
 or depart from it, except by the sea. 
 Hence it was that the sea became to 
 him a necessary part of his mental 
 furniture. 
 
 Wordsworth had already taught us 
 the comparison of the sea with the 
 ocean of eternity, even to one living far 
 inland. It remained for Tennyson to 
 
The Environment of the Sea 57 
 
 carry out the idea by substituting the 
 real ocean for the ocean of eternity. To 
 his mind the sea was illimitable enough, 
 and earthly distance great enough, with- 
 out the idealization which had been 
 added by Wordsworth. 
 
 From his inshore standpoint, "cross- 
 ing the bar " was the beginning of the 
 voyage. Beyond that was the sea ; the 
 known was remote enough, contingent 
 enough, without going beyond the limit 
 of the real. Finally, since every one 
 must take this voyage at last, why re- 
 gard it as unpleasant or why mourn un- 
 duly for those who have gone upon it ? 
 
 '' Sunset and evening star, 
 And one clear call for me ! 
 And may there be no moaning of the bar, 
 When I put out to sea, 
 
 ' ' But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 
 Too full for sound and foam, 
 When that which drew from out the bound- 
 less deep 
 Turns agrain home. 
 
68 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 " Twilight and evening bell, 
 And after that the dark ! 
 And may there be no sadness of farewell, 
 When I embark ; 
 
 '' For tho' from out our bourne of Time and 
 Place 
 The flood may bear me far, 
 I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
 When I have crossed the bar." 
 
The Company of the Immortals 59 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE COMPANY OF THE 
 IMMORTALS. 
 
 NO part of Tennyson's teaching has 
 done more to increase our respect 
 for him than his protest against un- 
 seemly ostentation in the burial of the 
 dead. There is no doubt that his views 
 have had a wide influence on public 
 opinion. They were also rigidly car- 
 ried out by his friends, when the time 
 came for his own burial. 
 
 The journey from Farringford to 
 Westminster was accomplished in the 
 simplest manner possible. The casket 
 was placed on a road wagon belong- 
 ing to the family ; the flowers which 
 had been sent from all parts of Eng- 
 land were heaped upon it, and an old 
 
60 Te7i7tysons Debt to Ejivironment 
 
 servant led the horse to the railway 
 station. 
 
 On arriving in London the same sim- 
 plicity was practised. The casket was 
 placed on a covered van ; again the 
 flowers were overspread and it was then 
 driven to Westminster, without any in- 
 dication of a procession. His wish had 
 been respected, in every particular, in 
 the plans thus carried out by his family. 
 
 The public funeral of so distinguished 
 a man could not be conducted without 
 some attention to form. Nevertheless, 
 the services in Westminster were ex- 
 ceedingly simple and appropriate. His 
 own poems, " Crossing the Bar " and 
 " Silent Voices," were sung by the choir, 
 to music written for the occasion. After 
 the simple services for the dead, the pro- 
 cession moved to the Poets' Corner, 
 where the pavement had been raised 
 next the grave of Browning. 
 
 Before the casket was finally sealed, 
 a package was placed within containing 
 
The Company of the Immortals 61 
 
 the volume of Shakespeare's "Cymbe- 
 line/* which the poet held in his hand 
 when he was dying. Cymbeline was 
 Shakespeare's contribution to the litera- 
 ture of old British life, before the days 
 of the Anglo-Saxon. Tennyson perhaps 
 felt that this British thread united Cym- 
 beline with his own British "Idylls of 
 the King." 
 
 The part, however, which Tennyson 
 had been reading before his death was 
 the song of the brothers at the funeral 
 of Imogen. Her simple burial in the 
 forest, where her brothers made her a 
 grave among the leaves, was no more 
 beautiful and natural than the wonder- 
 ful song which they chanted over her 
 dust. It was this song that Tennyson 
 had loved. Certainly it is one of the 
 most wonderful which Shakespeare ever 
 produced; though no one else than Ten- 
 nyson could have thought of the many 
 reasons on account of which it would be 
 dear to him. 
 
62 Tennyson's Debt to Environment 
 
 Not the least of these, perhaps, may 
 be found in the fact that Imogen was 
 not really dead. In any case, it forms a 
 golden link between the hearts of the 
 two poets. It is something to think 
 that a modern poet had chosen this as 
 the last printed page on which his eyes 
 should rest. There was also a deep 
 significance in the happy thought by 
 which the volume was enclosed with 
 him, at the last moment. 
 
 *' Fear no more the heat o' the sun, 
 Nor the furious winter's rages ; 
 Thou thy worldly task hast done, 
 Home are gone, and ta'en thy wages. 
 
 * ' Fear no more the frown o' the great, 
 Thou art past the tyrant's stroke, 
 Care no more to clothe, and eat; 
 To thee the reed is as the oak. 
 
 " Fear no more the lightning-flash, 
 
 Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone ; 
 Fear not slander, censure rash ; 
 Thou hast finished joy and moan. 
 
The Company of the Immortals 63 
 
 ' ' No exerciser harm thee ! 
 
 Nor no witchcraft charm thee ! 
 Ghost uulaid forbear thee! 
 
 Nothing ill come near thee ! 
 Quiet consummation have; 
 And renowned be thy grave ! " 
 
pavt II. 
 
 STUDY OF THE POEMS. 
 
I. 
 
 STUDY OF THE MINOR POEMS. 
 
 Chapter HI. — The Influence of Nature. 
 
 Read: Ode to Memory; The Brook; 
 Song, — The Owl ; Second Song to the 
 same ; The Northern Farmer (old style) ; 
 The Northern Cobbler; The Miller's 
 Daughter; The Gardener's Daughter; 
 Dora ; Locksley Hall ; Edwin Morris, or 
 The Lake; Isabel is his mother, as is 
 also the mother of the Prince in The 
 Princess. Sections c, ci., and cii. of 
 In Memoriam are a description of Som- 
 ersby; A Farewell is his farewell to 
 Somersby Brook. 
 
 Chapter IV.— The Inspiration of Eomance. 
 
 Read: The Lady of Shalott; The 
 Day Dream; Sir Galahad; Sir Laun- 
 
68 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 celot and Guinevere ; Mort d' Arthur. 
 The above are the early studies of the 
 Arthurian Romances. For the later 
 ones read the Idylls of the King (see 
 Study of, in Chapter III. of Part II.). 
 
 Chapter V. — The Discipline of Sorrow. 
 
 Read : " Break, Break, Break " ; Sea 
 Dreams ; Two Voices ; In Memoriam 
 (see Study of, in next chapter) ; " Come 
 not when I am dead.'* 
 
 Chapter VI. — The Eewards of Success. 
 
 Read: The Lyrics in Maud; The 
 Lyrics in the Princess, which were added 
 in 1850; also the patriotic poems which 
 were written after his appointment as 
 Laureate : Ode on the Death of the 
 Duke of Wellington; Britons Guard 
 Your Own ; Hands All Round ; Charge 
 of the Light Brigade; The Defence of 
 Lucknow. 
 
Study of the Minor Poems 69 
 
 Chapter VII. — Contact With World 
 Ideas. 
 
 Eead : The Princess ; Maud ; Aylmer's 
 Field; Locksley Hall; Locksley Hall 
 Sixty Years After ; On Cambridge Uni- 
 versity; Vastness; The Palace of Art; 
 Despair ; The Idylls of the King. 
 
 Chapter VIII. — The Environment of 
 THE Sea. 
 
 Read: Ulysses; The Lotos Eaters; 
 Enoch Arden ; sections ix. to XYii. of In 
 Memoriam; Sea Dreams; The Fleet; 
 The Revenge, A Ballad of the Fleet; 
 Crossing the Bar; The Passing of 
 Arthur. 
 
 Chapter IX. — The Company of The 
 Immortals. 
 
 Read: Tiresias; The Ancient Sage; 
 Ulysses ; Sir Galahad ; The Holy Grail ; 
 The second division of In Memoriam, — 
 sections xxviii. to lvii. ; DeProfundis; 
 The Human Cry; To Dante; To Virgil; 
 To Victor Hugo ; Silent Voices. 
 
70 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 II. 
 
 THE STUDY OP " IN MEMORIAM." 
 
 ' ' In Memoriam " is really a series of poems. 
 For convenience it may be better to designate 
 each poem as a section, since they are num- 
 bered consecutively. 
 
 PAET FIEST. 
 
 THE FIRST RESULTS OF BEREAVEMENT. 
 
 PART First includes twenty-seven 
 sections. The first four sections 
 describe the depressing effect of sorrow. 
 The next four contain the same idea 
 together with the advice of injudicious 
 friendsj and the influence of accustomed 
 objects as reminders of the departed. 
 With section ix. begins the considera- 
 tion of the ship which bears the dust 
 of Hallam from Italy to England. Ten- 
 
The Skidy of '' In Memoriam " 71 
 
 nyson represents himself as standing 
 on the shore of England, and looking 
 out, by the power of vision, to observe 
 the progress of the vessel. 
 
 In section xi. he prays for calm 
 weather, as in harmony with the still- 
 ness which holds the noble dead. In 
 XII., XIII., and xiv. he expresses his 
 impatience and unconscious dissatisfac- 
 tion at the result of the very thing for 
 which he had prayed. That is, he is 
 anxious for the ship to come to Eng- 
 land, and he has also prayed for calm 
 weather, but the two desires cannot be 
 harmonized. 
 
 In XV. he gives a beautiful description 
 of a storm : 
 
 " The winds begin to rise 
 And roar from yonder dropping day." 
 
 He describes the storm by its effect 
 upon the land; keeping up the situa- 
 tion in which he stands upon the 
 shore looking out upon the sea. In 
 
72 Teiinysons Debt to Envh^onme^tt 
 
 XVI. he discovers the inharmonious 
 character of the two desires referred 
 to above. He sees that the storm is 
 really what he ought to wish, since the 
 calm air never can bring the ship to 
 England. 
 
 Section xvii. records the arrival of 
 the ship, and his blessing upon it for 
 having brought the precious relics back 
 to his native land. In xviii. he rejoices 
 that the burial may be in English earth, 
 instead of in the sea. Section xix. re- 
 veals the English rivers which now 
 take the place of the Danube, since he 
 has been buried within sight and sound 
 of their waters. 
 
 Sections xx. and xxi. show how sor- 
 row becomes a master passion, although 
 it may not be understood by those 
 who behold it. From xxii. on to the 
 end of Part First, he reviews the story 
 of the life which he and Hallam had 
 lived together on earth. In spite of the 
 sweetness of their companionship, and 
 
The Study of'^In Memorzam " 73 
 
 the bitterness of his bereavement, he 
 nevertheless closes with the comforting 
 belief that 
 
 '' 'Tis better to have loved and lost, 
 Thau never to have loved at all." 
 
 PAET SECOND. 
 
 THE PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 Part Second includes sections xxYiii. 
 to LVii. Its general subject is " How 
 fares it with the happy dead?" This 
 question is brought up by the coming of 
 Christmas, which constrains them to 
 make this inquiry of the missing one, in 
 sections xxviii. to xxx. 
 
 Sections xxxi. and xxxii. refer to 
 Mary at the Resurrection of Lazarus. 
 Section xxxiii. shows the possible mis- 
 take of even a high-minded sceptic who 
 should doubt man's immortality. Sec- 
 tion xxxiY. shows what life would be if 
 man were not immortal. In xxxv. he 
 rejoices that love came first, and death 
 
74 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 afterwards, since now death has no 
 power to destroy love. Section xxxvi. 
 shows why the Word was made flesh. 
 Section xxxvii. shows the difference be- 
 tween the voice of nature and of revela- 
 tion with regard to man's immortality. 
 
 Sections xxxviii. to xlyiii. give vari- 
 ous suggestions as to the answer of the 
 main question, " How fares it with the 
 happy dead ? " Sections xl. to xlii., 
 Do they continue to grow, to advance, 
 and shall we be left behind ? Section 
 XLiii., Or do they rest unconscious ? 
 Section xliy.. Do they remember the 
 earth ? Section xly., Only one child- 
 hood for both worlds. Section xlyi.. 
 We see only the earth; they see both 
 worlds. Sections xlyii. and xlyiii., Is 
 Buddhism true ? 
 
 In L. he wishes that the dead might 
 again be with him. In li. he questions 
 that wish. Do we indeed desire their 
 presence in our life ? Is there no hidden 
 flaw which we would hide ? In lii. he 
 
The Study of'In Memoriam " 75 
 
 answers, Yes, we really desire their 
 presence, since tlieir love is noble, and 
 sufficient to overlook our imperfections. 
 This leads him to hope that God will do 
 the same for our infirmities, and that 
 every Winter may be changed to Spring. 
 This noble expression of his larger hope, 
 as given in liv., becomes the culminat- 
 ing of the second part of the poem. 
 Indeed, it is the very heart of the 
 work. 
 
 Notwithstanding this high confidence 
 that "good will be the final goal of ill," 
 he nevertheless recognizes the difficul- 
 ties which obstruct its consummation. 
 Sections lv. and lyi. admit the harsh 
 character of nature's law, and the un- 
 thinking destruction wherewith she has 
 blotted out many types, seeming to us 
 to care but little for life of any kind. 
 But he still thinks that man must be 
 an exception, else he would be a mon- 
 ster, a dream, a discord. 
 
76 Tennyson s Debt to Enviro^iment 
 
 PAET THIED. 
 THE CHASTENING POWER OF SORROW. 
 
 Part Third includes sections LViii. to 
 Lxxyii. It may be said that the first 
 two grand divisions of the poem describe 
 the dark side of sorrow. Similarly, the 
 last two grand divisions describe its 
 brighter side. Part Third is the transi- 
 tion, and naturally it partakes of the 
 character of both. 
 
 Section LViii. is transitional; and Lix. 
 expresses the subject of the division : 
 " Sorrow shall change her garb." Since 
 Sorrow must remain with him and con- 
 trol his life, she shall at least assume a 
 more pleasing exterior. In harmony 
 with this general subject sections LX. 
 and Lxi. express his faith that Hallam 
 is better off than if he had remained on 
 earth. In this much he discerns his 
 resignation. I am content to be his 
 lover, from this lower estate. " Nor 
 
The Study of '' In MemoriamT 77 
 
 can the soul of Shakespeare love thee 
 more.'* 
 
 Section lxii., I would not call him 
 back to my small life. Section Lxiii., 
 Still, he may sympathize with my pain 
 and my littleness. Section Lxiv., The 
 past may claim his thoughts at times. 
 Section lxv., A part of my life may 
 live in him. Section Lxvi., Does he 
 wonder at my lightness, like one with 
 any trifle pleased ? 
 
 Section lxyii., The moonlight on 
 Hallam's tablet in the church at Cleve- 
 don. Tennyson had so arranged his 
 own sleeping room that the fact de- 
 scribed in the first stanza was true. 
 Section lxviii., In dreams he also sees 
 Hallam as living, and never as dead. 
 This is a natural law, by which we al- 
 ways remember the stronger impression, 
 probably because the earlier. 
 
 Section Lxix., His dream of the fool 
 that wears a crown of thorns. The 
 vision of an angel that reached the 
 
78 Tennyson s Debt to E7ivironme7it 
 
 glory of a hand, and touched his thorny 
 crown into leaf. This section, which 
 stands exactly in the middle of the 
 poem, is the dividing line, in case one 
 wishes to use the simplest possible 
 division of the poem into two parts. 
 
 Sections Lxx. and Lxxi. describe other 
 characteristics of his dreams about 
 Hallam. Sections Lxxii., lxxiii. and 
 LxxiY. mark the second anniversary of 
 Hallam's death. Section lxxy. ex- 
 presses his faith that Hallam's deeds 
 are sufficiently applauded in the other 
 world, hence he will pronounce no eu- 
 logy upon him here. Section lxxvi., 
 Earthly fame is too fleeting to be wor- 
 thy of eulogy. Section lxxyii.. Obliv- 
 ion soon obscures the work of man. 
 
 PAET rOUETH. 
 
 THE SUSTAINING POWER OF SORROW. 
 
 Part Fourth includes sections lxxyiii. 
 to cm. It is the beginning of an en- 
 
The Study of '^ In Memoriam " 79 
 
 tirely new departure, which speaks of 
 returning health and renewed interest in 
 life. It shows that trust in things above 
 is not dimmed by sorrow, but sustained. 
 
 Sections Lxxviii. and Lxxix., The sec- 
 ond Christmas, reminds him of the per- 
 fect character of their affection. " More 
 than my brothers are to me," because 
 they were of the same mould ; whereas 
 Hallam was different, complementary. 
 Section lxxx. supposes the circumstances 
 had been reversed, and Tennyson had 
 been removed. Then he doubts not that 
 Hallam would have turned his burden 
 into gain. " Hence I must do the same." 
 Section lxxxi.. The sudden frost of 
 death gives ripeness to the grain. Sec- 
 tion Lxxxii., But it also brings separa- 
 tion ; this separation is the only feud he 
 wages with Death. 
 
 Sections lxxxiii. and lxxxiy., The 
 second New Year, causes him to think 
 once more of what might have been had 
 Hallam lived, but his thoughts are no 
 
80 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 longer morose, it is rather a prophecy of 
 a genial life of letters which they cer- 
 tainly would have lived but for this 
 interruption. This is the last sombre 
 note. The two remaining grand divis- 
 ions contain nothing further but hope 
 and courage. 
 
 In section Lxxxv. his sister inquires 
 of him whether his love for Hallam has 
 drained his capability of love. Whether 
 he could not love some one else ; this 
 time a woman, as his answer implies. 
 He responds with the long and beauti- 
 ful poem on " Friendship/' which closes 
 with the poem " To the Sea at Twi- 
 light/' contained in Lxxxvi. Sections 
 LXXXYii., LxxxYiii., and lxxxix. de- 
 scribe a return to Cambridge Univer- 
 sity, where all things remind him of the 
 friendships of the past, but without any 
 thoughts of gloom. 
 
 With section xc. begins the second 
 phase of the sustaining power of sorrow. 
 That is, the sj)iritual communion with 
 
The Study of ''In Memoriam " 81 
 
 the departed. He first raises tlie ques- 
 tion, " What^ if they came back ? '' 
 Section xci., If so, then come in the 
 springtime and in the warm sunshine ; 
 not in the winter, nor in the night. 
 Section xcii., Can they so return ? Sec- 
 tion xciii., We dare not say they can- 
 not ; and we wish they might. Section 
 xciv., The kind of heart which one must 
 have to hold communion with the dead. 
 Section xcv., Tennyson's experience of 
 such an actual communion with the spirit 
 of Hallam. Section xcvi., The nature 
 of doubt, and the use of doubt. Sections 
 xcvii. and xcviii.. Where has Hallam 
 been since he has left us ? 
 
 Sections c. to cm., Leaving the old 
 home at Somersby, — the most touching 
 part of the poem. When Tennyson 
 comes to bid good-bye to the old home 
 in which he had been brought up, he 
 finds that every object in the country- 
 side reminds him of two men, who are 
 rivals in his own heart, — rivals in a 
 
 6 
 
82 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 losing game. His father and Hallam 
 seem to have equal claim on his recollec- 
 tion, in connection with all these objects. 
 The group closes with the remarkable 
 dream in cm. concerning their voyage 
 and their meeting with Hallam. 
 
 PART FIFTH. 
 
 REJOICING IN THE VICTORY OF FAITH AND 
 LOVE. 
 
 Part Fifth describes his return to full 
 health and soundness. Sections ciY. to 
 cvi. find the Tennyson s in a strange 
 home at the occurrence of the third 
 Christmas. The group opens with the 
 remarkable lyric in cvi., 
 
 ''Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky," 
 
 wherein he determines that with new 
 surroundings shall come a new view of 
 life; and that regret, which saps the 
 mind, shall no longer control him. 
 
 In cvii. they keep Hallam' s birthday, 
 not sorrowfully, but with festive cheer, 
 
The Study of ''In Memoriam " 83 
 
 with books and music. In cviii. he 
 gives the keynote of this section, — 
 
 " I will not shut me from my kind, 
 
 I will not eat my heart alone." 
 
 Instead of this he will think of Hal- 
 lam as still living, a noble man, full of 
 heart affluence of discursive talk. Sec- 
 tion ex,, Influence of a noble man upon 
 others. Section cxi., His outward graces ; 
 the gentleman versus the churl. Section 
 cxii.. His powers of mind. Section 
 cxiii., his character in public life. Sec- 
 tion cxiv., his combination of knowledge 
 with reverence. 
 
 With CXY. he celebrates the coming of 
 Spring. The Winter of sorrow and re- 
 gret has gone by, and it is again Spring- 
 time in his heart as well as in Nature. 
 Section cxvi.. Trust in that which made 
 the world fair, leads him to hope that 
 life shall again be fair. Sections cxyii. 
 and cxYiii., he also trusts that those we 
 call dead "are breathers of an ampler 
 
84 Tennyson s Debt to Environme7it 
 
 day." Section cxix., He again visits 
 Hallam's home, which formerly seemed 
 so deserted, but now nature makes it 
 beautiful. 
 
 Section cxx., He rejoices in the battle, 
 now that it is over. He feels sure that 
 man is not made to perish. Section 
 cxxi., He sees his friend in the morning 
 and in the evening star ; and in cxxii. 
 he feels that he will be with him in a 
 larger world. Section cxxiii., In sjoite 
 of all the change which earth has seen, 
 the spirit of man will remain the same. 
 
 Section cxxiv.. He rejoices that our 
 confidence in the future is a matter of 
 feeling, or direct knowledge ; instead of 
 a matter of intellection, which is only 
 mediate, or secondary knowledge. In 
 cxxv., he regrets some bitter notes which 
 his harp had sounded. He has no bitter- 
 ness now. 
 
 In cxxvi., cxxvii., and cxxviii. he 
 rejoices that love is the final goal of all. 
 In spite of all disquietudes of earth, his 
 
The Study of '' In Memoriam " 85 
 
 faith teaches him that all is well. And 
 all will be well in the future, no matter 
 what eddies shall yet be made in the on- 
 ward flood. Sections cxxix. and cxxx. 
 are directly addressed to Hallam, who 
 still retains his personality, though he 
 may have become one with God and 
 Nature. Section cxxxi. is his address to 
 God the Father. 
 
 The Epilogue is a marriage hymn to 
 his sister. It is not disconnected from 
 the main unity of the poem, but is 
 closely bound to the highest unity of 
 Part Fifth, in which he states his return- 
 ing interest in earthly life and in earthly 
 living. While written for his sister, it 
 is his own hymn of rejoicing in his own 
 new life, full of confidence and hope. It 
 celebrates love, which is the strongest 
 ground of faith and hope. 
 
86 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 III. 
 
 THE STUDY OF THE IDYLLS OF 
 THE KING. 
 
 " ^T^HE IDYLLS " must not be read 
 X in the order in which they were 
 published, but in the order in which 
 they are taken up in the following 
 pages, which is now generally recog- 
 nized as their natural relation. 
 
 The unity of the series is discoverable 
 in two ways. First, in the gradual 
 development of the story of one great 
 sin, which runs through the entire series, 
 and slowly undermines all the moral 
 forces of the state. The second tie 
 which binds the entire series is the 
 unity of time. The story runs through 
 the changing seasons of one entire year, 
 from new year to new year. 
 
Study of the ''Idylls of the King "87 
 
 In studying the " Idylls of the King " 
 it is best to discard the allegory, or at 
 least to defer it as of secondary impor- 
 tance. The art value of the poems is 
 to be found by making the characters 
 human. Therefore, we should think of 
 them as real men and women. If they 
 could be accurately located in time and 
 place, it would be much better for our 
 art progress. We might better dismiss 
 all question of probability, and view 
 them simply as romance, rather than 
 spend our time puzzling their meaning 
 as vague and colorless allegories. 
 
 That is to say, they ought to be con- 
 sidered first as stories. In so far as 
 they are works of art, they were created 
 by the imagination; therefore let the 
 imagination revivify them. Thus re- 
 created they become the art property of 
 any one who studies them. 
 
 The first Idyll, " The Coming of Ar- 
 thur," has so much that is allegorical, 
 that it might be well enough to consider 
 
88 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 the symbolism with reference to a few 
 of the principal characters. Arthur is 
 not simply an old British king, he also 
 represents the human soul, or the 
 national soul of Britain. All question- 
 ings about his birth are simply the 
 questions which arise concerning the 
 origin of the soul. 
 
 Merlin, on the other hand, represents 
 the human intellect, or the intellect 
 assisted by the power of science. The 
 Lady of the Lake is Religion. The 
 three Queens are the three Christian 
 virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
 All the remaining characters are better 
 understood by considering them from 
 the standpoint of the story, simply as 
 human beings. That is, by reading 
 the story in its primary and apparent 
 sense. 
 
 Arthur comes to establish the reign of 
 law, after the departure of the Romans 
 had left the country in disorder. There- 
 fore the knights are required to take the 
 
study of the ''Idylls of the King "89 
 
 usual vows of chivalry, and unite with 
 him in forming the state. The usual 
 questions with regard to rank are to be 
 observed, in order that his state may 
 serve the real purpose for which it was 
 founded. 
 
 " Gareth and L3Tiette " is a story 
 illustrating the successful establishment 
 of this knightly order. The knights are 
 true to their vows of manliness, gentle- 
 ness, faithfulness, and obedience. Gareth 
 achieves the quest which falls to him by 
 obedience to the common ideals which 
 govern all the knights. In his career 
 the allegory is more easily discerned 
 than in any other of the Idylls; but 
 that should not be alloAved to divert the 
 attention from its plain significance as 
 a romantic story. 
 
 '' The Marriage of Geraint " is another 
 idyllic story illustrating the success and 
 moral splendor of Arthur's reign. As a 
 story alone it is interesting and beauti- 
 ful. Its literary merit is to be found 
 
90 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 by seeking to feel and know these ele- 
 ments of beauty for their own sake. 
 Fortunately, it is not encumbered with 
 any allegorical significance which re- 
 quires, or even invites, an explanation. 
 It is now incorporated with the next 
 Idyll. 
 
 ^'Geraint and Enid" is another ro- 
 mantic story, full of incident and 
 adventure. As before, the story is self- 
 revealing. The only point which we 
 need to remember with reference to its 
 unity with the other poems of the se- 
 ries is Geraint's reason for leaving the 
 court. His evil suspicions of his wife 
 were aroused by rumors of the Queen's 
 disloyalty. 
 
 "Balin and Balan " shows the strength 
 which these rumors have gained. The 
 brothers lose their lives from the fact 
 that their recent coming to the court 
 had prevented their both becoming 
 acquainted with the current report. 
 Though written the last of the Idylls, 
 
Study of the ''Idylls of the King " 91 
 
 this one is really the key on which the 
 action turns. Without it we should be 
 uncertain as to the cause of the moral 
 decay which now becomes suddenly 
 apparent. 
 
 " Merlin and Vivien " might be consid- 
 ered almost a digression from the main 
 story. It is really a concession to the 
 necessity of the allegory. It shows that 
 intellect alone is not a sufficient founda- 
 tion for moral uprightness. Vivien, 
 where no heart is, furnishes a contrast 
 with Enid the true wife, and a foil to 
 Guinevere the false wife. Thus show- 
 ing that intellect must be allied with 
 the heart, in order to produce moral 
 excellence. 
 
 " Launcelot and Elaine " carries on the 
 main plot of the story. It is a tragedy 
 wherein the bitter results of sin are 
 made apparent, through the deeds of 
 the chief actors. All the principal 
 threads of the plot are united in this 
 Idyll. The action would naturally fall 
 
92 Teitnysofis Debt to Environment 
 
 quickly from this point to the final ca- 
 tastrophe, if the original story had been 
 followed. 
 
 The direct action, however, is super- 
 seded by the Idyll of " The Holy Grail." 
 This digression was brought into the 
 story as late as the twelfth century. It 
 shows the willingness of the knights to 
 follow delusions and superstitions rather 
 than the plain path of duty. Neverthe- 
 less, it is a beautiful digression. It 
 shows the ideal man in the pursuit of 
 noble ends. It is a worthy ambition for 
 a Percival, but too vague and mystic 
 for most of the other knights. 
 
 " Pelleas and Ettarre " returns to the 
 main action. Its shameful story shows 
 the wide spread extent of moral cor- 
 ruption among the knights. It shows 
 conclusively why the j)ursuit of the 
 " Holy Grail " came too late. No merely 
 external aim could counteract the deep 
 corruption of heart which now was 
 spreading like a virus. 
 
Study of the ''Idylls of the King " 93 
 
 In "The Last Tournament" the action 
 tends rapidly to its conclusion. The 
 King is absent in a quest, and no one 
 avenges the open scoffs with which 
 Launcelot is greeted as President of the 
 Tournay. He has no desire to defend 
 himself, even against open insult. Evi- 
 dently the glory of the " Round Table " 
 has departed. 
 
 " Guinevere " is the most splendid Idyll 
 of the twelve. It is unsurpassed in our 
 literature for purely human interest. 
 Nothing can exceed the nobility which 
 is here revealed in the character of 
 Arthur. The sad part of the story is 
 quickly told, but the tragedy of the 
 final meeting of Arthur and Guinevere 
 cannot be told in language. Tennyson 
 here shows his power to suggest more 
 than he delineates. The hazy nebulous 
 picture of the two great souls is Miltonic 
 in its grandeur. Arthur is as great as 
 his own ideals, but Guinevere is more 
 human. Her real womanliness comes 
 
94 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 out more strongly than in any previous 
 Idyll. 
 
 " The Passing of Arthur/' with which 
 the story ends, is the most epical of the 
 series. Its strength and simplicity are 
 marvellous. The air of mystery, which 
 again comes into the life of Arthur car- 
 ries the poem into a very high spiritual 
 realm. It is worthy to follow the pre- 
 ceding Idyll ; and that is honor enough. 
 It is also a worthy conclusion of the 
 great series. It leaves us full of admira- 
 tion for our old British Mythology. We 
 are glad that we have such a heritage. 
 We are doubly glad that Tennyson has 
 ennobled and glorified it. He has re- 
 vealed to us our own, and that too a 
 part of our own which is older than the 
 Anglo-Saxon. 
 
A Tennyson Chronology 95 
 
 A TENNYSON CHEONOLOGY. 
 
 1809. Alfred Tennyson, fourth son of the 
 Rev. George Clayton and Elizabeth Fitch 
 Tennyson, born at Somersby, Aug. 6th. 
 The children of the Tennyson family were 
 as follows : — 
 
 George, May, 1806-1806, born at Tealby. 
 Frederick, June, 1807- " Louth. 
 
 Charles, July, 1808-1879, " Somersby. 
 Alfred, Aug. 6, 1809-1892, 
 Mary, Sept., 1810-1884, 
 Emilia, Oct., 1811-1889, 
 
 (Engaged to A. H. Hallam, d. 1833.) 
 Edward, Jan., 1813-1890, born at Somersby 
 Arthur, May, 1814- 
 Septimus, Sept., 1815-1866, 
 Matilda, Sept., 1816- 
 Cecilia, Oct., 1817- 
 Horatio, Sept., 1819- 
 
 1816-1820. In Louth Grammar School. 
 
96 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 1827. Poems by Two Brothers, Charles and 
 Alfred. 
 
 1828. Entered Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 
 1830. Poems, . chiefly Lyrical, by Alfred 
 Tennyson. 
 
 1831. Left Cambridge in February. His 
 father died in March. 
 
 1833. Poems by Alfred Tennyson. Dated 
 
 '33, but appeared before the opening of 
 
 the year, and hence are sometimes called 
 
 the edition of '32. 
 1833. Death of Arthur Hallam at Vienna, 
 
 Sept. 15th. 
 1837. The Tennyson family left Somersby 
 
 for High Beach, in Epping Forest, near 
 
 London. 
 1842. Poems by Alfred Tennyson, in two 
 
 vols., 12mo. Second edition, '43 ; third, 
 
 '45 ; fourth, '46 ; fifth, '48 ; sixth, '50 ; 
 
 seventh, '51 ; eighth, '53. 
 1845. Received a pension of two hundred 
 
 pounds through Sir Robert Peel. 
 1847. The Princess. Second edition, '48; 
 
 third, '50 ; fourth, '51 ; fifth, '53. Songs 
 
 added in '50. 
 
A Te7znyson Chronology 97 
 
 1850. In Memoriam. On June 13th was 
 married to Miss Emily Selwood. Nov. 
 19th appointed Poet Laureate. 
 
 1855. Maud, and Other Poems. 
 
 1859. Published the first four Idylls of the 
 King. These were Enid, Elaine, Vivien;- 
 and Guinevere. Ten thousand copies 
 sold in six weeks. 
 
 1860. Enoch Arden. 
 
 1869. The Holy Grail; The Coming and 
 Passing of Arthur ; Pelleas and Ettarre. 
 Forty thousand copies ordered in advance 
 of publication. 
 
 1871. The Last Tournament. 
 
 1872. Gareth and Lynette. Collected Works 
 in seven volumes. 
 
 1875-84. The Dramas: Queen Mary, Har- 
 old, The Cup, The Falcon, The Promise 
 of May, Becket. 
 
 1885. Tiresias Volume : Balin and Balan ; 
 and Other Poems. 
 
 1886. Locksley Hall Sixty Years After; 
 Complete Works in ten volumes. 
 
 1889. Demeter, and Other Poems. Twenty 
 thousand copies sold in first week. 
 
98 Tennyson s Debt to Environment 
 
 1892. The Foresters, Robin Hood, and 
 
 Maid Marian. 
 1892. Died, October 6th, at 1.35 a. m. 
 1892. The Silent Voices, published Oct. 
 
 12th, together with the order of services 
 
 in Westminster Abbey. 
 1892. Oct. 28th, The Death of (Enone, Ak- 
 
 bar's Dream, and Other Poems. 
 
Bibliography 99 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 The best books on Tennyson are : — 
 
 First of all, "Alfred, Lord Tennyson: A 
 
 Memoir by his Son." 
 ''Tennyson and his Relation to Modern 
 
 Life." S. A. Brooke. 
 " The Poetry of Tennyson." Henrv Van 
 
 Dyke. 
 " Tennyson : Poet, Philosopher, Idealist." 
 
 J. C. Walters. 
 " Tennyson : A Biographical Sketch." 
 
 Alfred Waugh. 
 
 On the Idylls of the King the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 " The Growth of the Idylls of the King." 
 Richard James. 
 
 " Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Ar- 
 thurian Story." M. W. Maccallum. 
 
 "Essays on Tennyson's Idylls of the 
 King." Littledale. 
 
100 Tennysoiis Debt to Environment 
 
 On In Memoriam : — 
 
 " Prolegomena to In Memoriam.'' Thomas 
 Davidson. 
 
 " Tennyson's In Memoriam." Joseph 
 Jacobs. 
 
 " Tennyson's In Memoriam, its Purpose 
 and Structure." J. F. Genung. 
 
 " A Companion to In Memoriam." Eliza- 
 beth Rachel Chapman.