The bulrush nods unto his brother
The wheatears whisper to each other:
What is it they say?
The wheatears whisper to each other:
What is it they say?
Tennyson
'
Thus far the Spirit:
Then parted Heavenward on the wing: and I
Was left alone on Calpe, and the Moon
Had fallen from the night, and all was dark!
[The following review of 'Timbuctoo' was published in the _Athenaeum_
of 22nd July, 1829: 'We have accustomed ourselves to think, perhaps
without any very good reason, that poetry was likely to perish among
us for a considerable period after the great generation of poets which
is now passing away. The age seems determined to contradict us, and
that in the most decided manner; for it has put forth poetry by a
young man, and that where we should least expect it--namely, in a
prize poem. These productions have often been ingenious and elegant
but we have never before seen one of them which indicated really
first-rate poetical genius, and which would have done honour to any
men that ever wrote. Such, we do not hesitate to affirm, is the little
work before us; and the examiners seem to have felt it like ourselves,
for they have assigned the prize to the author, though the measure in
which he writes was never before, we believe, thus selected for
honour. We extract a few lines to justify our admiration (50 lines,
62-112, quoted). How many men have lived for a century who could equal
this? ' At the time when this highly eulogistic notice of the youthful
unknown poet appeared, the _Athenaeum_ was edited by John Sterling and
Frederick Denison Maurice, its then proprietors. ]
[Footnote A: Mr Swinburne failed to find this couplet in any of
Chapman's original poems or translations, and was of opinion that it
is Tennyson's own. ]
[Footnote B: Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. ]
=Poems Chiefly Lyrical=
[The poems numbered I-XXIV which follow, were published in 1830 in the
volume _Poems chiefly Lyrical_. (London: Effingham Wilson, Royal
Exchange, 1830. ) They were never republished by Tennyson. ]
I
=The 'How' and the 'Why'=
I am any man's suitor,
If any will be my tutor:
Some say this life is pleasant,
Some think it speedeth fast:
In time there is no present,
In eternity no future,
In eternity no past.
We laugh, we cry, we are born, we die,
Who will riddle me the _how_ and the _why_?
The bulrush nods unto his brother
The wheatears whisper to each other:
What is it they say? What do they there?
Why two and two make four? Why round is not square?
Why the rocks stand still, and the light clouds fly?
Why the heavy oak groans, and the white willows sigh?
Why deep is not high, and high is not deep?
Whether we wake or whether we sleep?
Whether we sleep or whether we die?
How you are you? Why I am I?
Who will riddle me the _how_ and the _why_?
The world is somewhat; it goes on somehow;
But what is the meaning of _then_ and _now_!
I feel there is something; but how and what?
I know there is somewhat; but what and why!
I cannot tell if that somewhat be I.
Thus far the Spirit:
Then parted Heavenward on the wing: and I
Was left alone on Calpe, and the Moon
Had fallen from the night, and all was dark!
[The following review of 'Timbuctoo' was published in the _Athenaeum_
of 22nd July, 1829: 'We have accustomed ourselves to think, perhaps
without any very good reason, that poetry was likely to perish among
us for a considerable period after the great generation of poets which
is now passing away. The age seems determined to contradict us, and
that in the most decided manner; for it has put forth poetry by a
young man, and that where we should least expect it--namely, in a
prize poem. These productions have often been ingenious and elegant
but we have never before seen one of them which indicated really
first-rate poetical genius, and which would have done honour to any
men that ever wrote. Such, we do not hesitate to affirm, is the little
work before us; and the examiners seem to have felt it like ourselves,
for they have assigned the prize to the author, though the measure in
which he writes was never before, we believe, thus selected for
honour. We extract a few lines to justify our admiration (50 lines,
62-112, quoted). How many men have lived for a century who could equal
this? ' At the time when this highly eulogistic notice of the youthful
unknown poet appeared, the _Athenaeum_ was edited by John Sterling and
Frederick Denison Maurice, its then proprietors. ]
[Footnote A: Mr Swinburne failed to find this couplet in any of
Chapman's original poems or translations, and was of opinion that it
is Tennyson's own. ]
[Footnote B: Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. ]
=Poems Chiefly Lyrical=
[The poems numbered I-XXIV which follow, were published in 1830 in the
volume _Poems chiefly Lyrical_. (London: Effingham Wilson, Royal
Exchange, 1830. ) They were never republished by Tennyson. ]
I
=The 'How' and the 'Why'=
I am any man's suitor,
If any will be my tutor:
Some say this life is pleasant,
Some think it speedeth fast:
In time there is no present,
In eternity no future,
In eternity no past.
We laugh, we cry, we are born, we die,
Who will riddle me the _how_ and the _why_?
The bulrush nods unto his brother
The wheatears whisper to each other:
What is it they say? What do they there?
Why two and two make four? Why round is not square?
Why the rocks stand still, and the light clouds fly?
Why the heavy oak groans, and the white willows sigh?
Why deep is not high, and high is not deep?
Whether we wake or whether we sleep?
Whether we sleep or whether we die?
How you are you? Why I am I?
Who will riddle me the _how_ and the _why_?
The world is somewhat; it goes on somehow;
But what is the meaning of _then_ and _now_!
I feel there is something; but how and what?
I know there is somewhat; but what and why!
I cannot tell if that somewhat be I.
