第6章

Wordsworth，andtheotherpoetsIhavenamed，Byron，Shelley，Keats，andColeridge，madesuchaprotestagainstauthorityinpoetryashadbeenmadeinthe16thcenturyagainstauthorityinreligion；

andforthisauthorityweresubstitutedthesoul-experiencesoftheindividualpoet，whosethisversetothesongthatwaswithinhim，andchosesuchsubjectsaswouldbestembodyandarticulatethatsong。

Butbytheendofthefirstquarterofthepresentcentury，thegreatpoeticalbillow，whichwasnotindeedcausedby，butreceivedanimpulsefrom，thegreatpoliticalbillow，theFrenchRevolution(fortheywerecognateorco-radicalmovements)，hadquitespentitself，andEnglishpoetrywasatacomparativelylowebb。ThePoeticalRevolutionhaddoneitswork。

Apoeticalinterregnumofafewyears’durationfollowed，inwhichthereappearedtobeagreatreductionofthespirituallifeofwhichpoetryistheoutgrowth。

Mr。EdmundW。Gosse，inhisarticle`OntheEarlyWritingsofRobertBrowning’，inthe`Century’forDecember，1881，hascharacterizedthisinterregnumalittletoocontemptuously，perhaps。Therewas，indeed，agreatfallinthespiritualtide；

butitwasnotsuchadead-lowtideasMr。Gossewouldmakeit。

Atlength，in1830，appearedavolumeofpoemsbyayoungman，thenbuttwenty-oneyearsofage，whichdistinctlymarkedthesettinginofaneworderofthings。Itborethefollowingtitle：

`Poems，chieflyLyrical。ByAlfredTennyson，London：

EffinghamWilson，RoyalExchange，Cornhill，1830。’pp。154。

Thevolumecomprisedfifty-threepoems，amongwhichwere`ThePoet’

and`ThePoet’sMind’。Thesetwopoemswereemphaticallyindicativeofthehighidealofpoetrywhichhadbeenattained，andtothedevelopmentofwhichthebandofpoetsoftheprecedinggenerationhadlargelycontributed。

Areviewofthevolume，byJohnStuartMill，thenayoungmannotyettwenty-fiveyearsofage，waspublishedin`TheWestminster’

forJanuary，1831。Itbearstestimonytothewriter’sfineinsightandsureforesight；anditbearstestimony，too，tohishighestimateofthefunctionofpoetryinthisworld——anestimate，too，inkindandindegree，notolderthanthispresentcentury。

Thereviewisasimportantalandmarkinthedevelopmentofpoeticalcriticism，asarethetwopoemsIhavementioned，inthedevelopmentofpoeticalideals，inthenineteenthcentury。

Intheconcludingparagraphofthereview，Millsays：”Agenuinepoethasdeepresponsibilitiestohiscountryandtheworld，tothepresentandfuturegenerations，toearthandheaven。He，ofallmen，shouldhavedistinctandworthyobjectsbeforehim，andconsecratehimselftotheirpromotion。Itisthusthathebestconsultsthegloryofhisart，andhisownlastingfame……

Mr。Tennysonknowsthat”thepoet’smindisholyground”；

heknowsthatthepoet’sportionistobe”Dower’dwiththehateofhate，thescornofscorn，Theloveoflove”；

hehasshown，inthelinesfromwhichwequote，hisownjustconceptionofthegrandeurofapoet’sdestiny；

andwelooktohimforitsfulfilment……IfourestimateofMr。Tennysonbecorrect，hetooisapoet；andmanyyearshencemaybereadhisjuveniledescriptionofthatcharacterwiththeproudconsciousnessthatithasbecomethedescriptionandhistoryofhisownworks。”

Twoyearslater，thatis，in1832(thevolume，however，isantedated1833)，appeared`PoemsbyAlfredTennyson’，pp。163。

Initwerecontained`TheLadyofShalott’，andtheuntitledpoems，knownbytheirfirstlines，`Youaskmewhy，tho’illatease’，`OfoldsatFreedomontheHeights’，and`LovethouthyLand，withLovefarbrought’。

In`TheLadyofShalott’ismysticallyshadowedforththerelationwhichpoeticgeniusshouldsustaintotheworldforwhosespiritualredemptionitlabors，andthefatalconsequencesofitsbeingseducedbytheworld’stemptations，thelustoftheflesh，andthelustoftheeyes，andtheprideoflife。

Theotherpoems，`Youaskmewhy’，`OfoldsatFreedom’，and`Lovethouthyland’，areimportantasexponentsofwhatmaybecalledthepoet’sinstitutionalcreed。Acarefulstudyofhissubsequentpoetrywillshowthatintheseearlypoemsheaccuratelyanddistinctlyrevealedtheattitudetowardoutsidethingswhichhehassincemaintained。Heisagooddealofaninstitutionalpoet，and，ascomparedwithBrowning，aSTRONGLYinstitutionalpoet。Browning’ssupremeandall-absorbinginterestisinindividualsouls。Hecaresbutlittle，evidently，aboutinstitutions。Atanyrate，hegivesthemlittleornoplaceinhispoetry。Tennysonisaverydecidedreactionaryproductoftherevolutionaryspiritwhichinspiredsomeofhispoeticalpredecessorsofthepreviousgeneration。

Hehasahorroroftherevolutionary。Tohim，theFrenchRevolutionwas”theblindhystericsoftheCelt”，[`InMemoriam’，cix。]，and”theredfool-furyoftheSeine”[`I。M。’，cxxvii。]。

Heattachesgreatimportancetotheoutsidearrangementsofsocietyforupholdingandadvancingtheindividual。Hewould”makeKnowledgecirclewiththewinds”，but”herherald，Reverence”，must”flyBeforehertowhateverskyBearseedofmenandgrowthofminds。”

Hehasagreatregardforprecedents，almostASprecedents。

Heisemphaticallythepoetoflawandorder。Allhissympathiesaredecidedly，butnotnarrowly，conservative。Heis，inshort，achoiceproductofnineteenthcenturyENGLISHcivilization；

andhispoetrymaybesaidtobethemostdistinctexpressionoftherefinementsofEnglishculture——refinements，ratherthantheruderbutmorevitalformsofEnglishstrengthandpower。

Allhisidealsofinstitutionsandthegeneralmachineryoflife，arederivedfromEngland。Sheis”thelandthatfreementill，Thatsober-suitedFreedomchose，Thelandwhere，girtwithfriendsorfoes，Amanmayspeakthethinghewill；

AlandofSETTLEDGOVERNMENT，ALANDOFJUSTANDOLDRENOWN，WHEREFREEDOMBROADENSSLOWLYDOWN

FROMPRECEDENTTOPRECEDENT：

Wherefactionseldomgathershead，Butbydegreestofullnesswrought，ThestrengthofsomediffusivethoughtHathtimeandspacetoworkandspread。”

Buttheanti-revolutionaryandtheinstitutionalfeaturesofTennyson’spoetryarenotthoseofthehighergroundofhispoetry。

Theyarefeatureswhich，thoughprimarilydue，itmaybe，tothepoet’stemperament，areindirectlyduetotheparticularformofcivilizationinwhichhehaslived，andmoved，andhadhisculture，andwhichhereflectsmorethananyofhispoeticalcontemporaries。

Themostemphasizedandmostvitalizedidea，theideawhichglintsfortheverywhereinhispoetry，whichhasthemostimportantbearingonman’shigherlife，andwhichmarkstheheightofthespiritualtidereachedinhispoetry，is，thatthehighestorderofmanhoodisawell-poised，harmoniouslyoperatingdualityoftheactiveorintellectualordiscursive，andthepassiveorspirituallysensitive。ThisistheideawhichINFORMShispoemof`ThePrincess’。Itisprominentin`InMemoriam’andin`TheIdyllsoftheKing’。In`ThePrincess’，thePrince，speakingoftherelationsofthesexes，says：——”inthelongyearslikermusttheygrow；

Themanbemoreofwoman，sheofman；

Hegaininsweetnessandinmoralheight，Norlosethewrestlingthewsthatthrowtheworld；

Shementalbreadth，norfailinchildwardcare，Norlosethechildlikeinthelargermind；

Tillatthelastshesetherselftoman，Likeperfectmusicuntonoblewords；

Andsothesetwain，upontheskirtsofTime，Sitsidebyside，full-summ’dinalltheirpowers，Dispensingharvest，sowingtheTo-be，Self-reverenteachandreverencingeach，Distinctinindividualities，Butlikeeachotherev’nasthosewholove。

ThencomesthestatelierEdenbacktomen：

Thenreigntheworld’sgreatbridals，chasteandcalm：

Thenspringsthecrowningraceofhumankind。”

TostatebrieflythecardinalTennysonianidea，manmustrealizeaWOMANLYMANLINESS，andwomanaMANLYWOMANLINESS。

Tennysonpresentstoushisidealmaninthe109thsectionof`InMemoriam’。Itisdescriptiveofhisfriend，ArthurHenryHallam。AllthatismostcharacteristicofTennyson，evenhisEnglishness，isgatheredupinthispoemofsixstanzas。

Itisinterestingtomeetwithsucharepresentativeandcomprehensivebitinagreatpoet。”HEART-AFFLUENCEindiscursivetalkFromhouseholdfountainsneverdry；

TheCRITICCLEARNESSofaneye，ThatsawthroughalltheMuses’walk；

SERAPHICINTELLECTANDFORCE

TOSEIZEANDTHROWTHEDOUBTSOFMAN；

IMPASSIONEDLOGIC，whichoutranThebearerinitsfierycourse；

HIGHNATUREAMOROUSOFTHEGOOD，BUTTOUCH’DWITHNOASCETICGLOOM；

AndpassionspureinsnowybloomThroughalltheyearsofAprilblood。”

ThefirsttwoversesofthisstanzaalsocharacterizetheKingArthurofthe`IdyllsoftheKing’。*1*Inthenextstanzawehavethepoet’sinstitutionalEnglishness：——”Aloveoffreedomrarelyfelt，OffreedominherregalseatOfEngland；nottheschool-boyheat，TheblindhystericsoftheCelt；

AndMANHOODFUSEDWITHFEMALEGRACE*2*

Insuchasort，thechildwouldtwineAtrustfulhand，unask’d，inthine，Andfindhiscomfortinthyface；

Allthesehavebeen，andtheemineeyesHavelook’don；iftheylook’dinvain，Myshameisgreaterwhoremain，Norletthywisdommakemewise。”——

*1*See`TheHolyGrail’，theconcludingthirty-twoverses，beginning：”AndspakeInottootruly，OmyKnights”，andending”yehaveseenthatyehaveseen”。

*2*Theideaof`ThePrincess’。