]
III
The poems of 1842 naturally divide themselves into seven groups:--
1.
III
The poems of 1842 naturally divide themselves into seven groups:--
1.
Tennyson
It is interesting to note how many of
these poems have direct didactic purpose. How solemn is the message
delivered in such poems as 'The Palace of Art' and 'The Vision of Sin',
how noble the teaching in 'Love and Duty', in 'Oenone', in 'Godiva', in
'Ulysses'; to how many must such a poem as 'The Two Voices' have brought
solace and light; how full of salutary lessons are the political poems
'You ask me, why, though ill at ease' and 'Love thou thy Land', and how
noble is their expression! And, even where the poems are less directly
didactic, it is such refreshment as busy life needs to converse with
them, so pure, so wholesome, so graciously human is their tone, so
tranquilly beautiful is their world. Who could lay down 'The Miller's
Daughter, Dora, The Golden Year, The Gardener's Daughter, The Talking
Oak, Audley Court, The Day Dream' without something of the feeling which
Goethe felt when he first laid down 'The Vicar of Wakefield? ' In the
best lyrics in these volumes, such as 'Break, Break', and 'Move
Eastward', 'Happy Earth', the most fastidious of critics must recognise
flawless gems. In the two volumes of 1842 Tennyson carried to perfection
all that was best in his earlier poems, and displayed powers of which he
may have given some indication in his cruder efforts, but which must
certainly have exceeded the expectation of the most sanguine of his
rational admirers. These volumes justly gave him the first place among
the poets of his time, and that supremacy he maintained--in the opinion
of most--till the day of his death. It would be absurd to contend that
Tennyson's subsequent publications added nothing to the fame which will
be secured to him by these poems. But this at least is certain, that,
taken with 'In Memorium', they represent the crown and flower of his
achievement. What is best in them he never excelled and perhaps never
equalled. We should be the poorer, and much the poorer, for the loss of
anything which he produced subsequently, it is true; but would we
exchange half a dozen of the best of these poems or a score of the best
sections of 'In Memoriam' for all that he produced between 1850 and his
death?
[Footnote 1: In 'The Keepsake', "St. Agnes' Eve"; in 'The Tribute',
"Stanzas": "Oh! that 'twere possible". Between 1831 and 1832 he had
contributed to 'The Gem' three, "No more," "Anacreontics," and "A
Fragment"; in 'The Englishman's Magazine', a Sonnet; in 'The Yorkshire
Literary Annual', lines, "There are three things that fill my heart with
sighs"; in 'Friendship's Offering', lines, "Me my own fate".
]
III
The poems of 1842 naturally divide themselves into seven groups:--
1. STUDIES IN FANCY.
'Claribel'.
'Lilian'.
'Isabel'.
'Madeline'.
'A Spirit Haunts'.
'Recollections of the Arabian Nights'.
'Adeline'.
'The Dying Swan'.
'A Dream of Fair Women'.
'The Sea-Fairies'.
'The Deserted House'.
'Love and Death'.
'The Merman'.
'The Mermaid'.
these poems have direct didactic purpose. How solemn is the message
delivered in such poems as 'The Palace of Art' and 'The Vision of Sin',
how noble the teaching in 'Love and Duty', in 'Oenone', in 'Godiva', in
'Ulysses'; to how many must such a poem as 'The Two Voices' have brought
solace and light; how full of salutary lessons are the political poems
'You ask me, why, though ill at ease' and 'Love thou thy Land', and how
noble is their expression! And, even where the poems are less directly
didactic, it is such refreshment as busy life needs to converse with
them, so pure, so wholesome, so graciously human is their tone, so
tranquilly beautiful is their world. Who could lay down 'The Miller's
Daughter, Dora, The Golden Year, The Gardener's Daughter, The Talking
Oak, Audley Court, The Day Dream' without something of the feeling which
Goethe felt when he first laid down 'The Vicar of Wakefield? ' In the
best lyrics in these volumes, such as 'Break, Break', and 'Move
Eastward', 'Happy Earth', the most fastidious of critics must recognise
flawless gems. In the two volumes of 1842 Tennyson carried to perfection
all that was best in his earlier poems, and displayed powers of which he
may have given some indication in his cruder efforts, but which must
certainly have exceeded the expectation of the most sanguine of his
rational admirers. These volumes justly gave him the first place among
the poets of his time, and that supremacy he maintained--in the opinion
of most--till the day of his death. It would be absurd to contend that
Tennyson's subsequent publications added nothing to the fame which will
be secured to him by these poems. But this at least is certain, that,
taken with 'In Memorium', they represent the crown and flower of his
achievement. What is best in them he never excelled and perhaps never
equalled. We should be the poorer, and much the poorer, for the loss of
anything which he produced subsequently, it is true; but would we
exchange half a dozen of the best of these poems or a score of the best
sections of 'In Memoriam' for all that he produced between 1850 and his
death?
[Footnote 1: In 'The Keepsake', "St. Agnes' Eve"; in 'The Tribute',
"Stanzas": "Oh! that 'twere possible". Between 1831 and 1832 he had
contributed to 'The Gem' three, "No more," "Anacreontics," and "A
Fragment"; in 'The Englishman's Magazine', a Sonnet; in 'The Yorkshire
Literary Annual', lines, "There are three things that fill my heart with
sighs"; in 'Friendship's Offering', lines, "Me my own fate".
]
III
The poems of 1842 naturally divide themselves into seven groups:--
1. STUDIES IN FANCY.
'Claribel'.
'Lilian'.
'Isabel'.
'Madeline'.
'A Spirit Haunts'.
'Recollections of the Arabian Nights'.
'Adeline'.
'The Dying Swan'.
'A Dream of Fair Women'.
'The Sea-Fairies'.
'The Deserted House'.
'Love and Death'.
'The Merman'.
'The Mermaid'.
