The skill with which Tennyson has here given us,
in quintessence as it were, Shakespeare's superb creation needs no
commentary, but it is somewhat surprising to find an accurate scholar
like Tennyson guilty of the absurdity of representing Cleopatra as of
gipsy complexion.
in quintessence as it were, Shakespeare's superb creation needs no
commentary, but it is somewhat surprising to find an accurate scholar
like Tennyson guilty of the absurdity of representing Cleopatra as of
gipsy complexion.
Tennyson
For the "iron years" of that reading 'cf.
'
Thomson, 'Spring', 384, "'iron' times". ]
[Footnote 14: From 1833 till 1853 this stanza ran:--
"The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,
The temples and the people and the shore,
One drew a sharp knife thro' my tender throat
Slowly,--and nothing more".
It is curious that Tennyson should have allowed the last line to stand
so long; possibly it may have been to defy Lockhart's sarcastic
commentary: "What touching simplicity, what pathetic resignation--he cut
my throat, nothing more! " With Tennyson's picture should be compared
AEschylus, 'Agamem. ', 225-49, and Lucretius, i. , 85-100. For the bold and
picturesque substitution of the effect for the cause in the "bright
death quiver'd" 'cf. ' Sophocles, 'Electra', 1395,
[Greek: 'neakonaeton aima cheiroin ech_on,']
"with the newly-whetted blood on his hands". So "vulnus" is frequently
used by Virgil, and 'cf. ' Silius Italicus, 'Punica', ix. ,
368-9:--
Per pectora 'saevas'
Exceptat 'mortes'. ]
[Footnote 15: She expresses the same wish in 'Iliad', iii. , 73-4. ]
[Footnote 16: Cleopatra.
The skill with which Tennyson has here given us,
in quintessence as it were, Shakespeare's superb creation needs no
commentary, but it is somewhat surprising to find an accurate scholar
like Tennyson guilty of the absurdity of representing Cleopatra as of
gipsy complexion. The daughter of Ptolemy Aulates and a lady of Pontus,
she was of Greek descent, and had no taint at all of African
intermixtures. See Peacock's remarks in 'Gryll Grange', p. 206, 7th
edit. , 1861. ]
[Footnote 17: After this in 1833 and in 1842 are the following stanzas,
afterwards excised:--
"By him great Pompey dwarfs and suffers pain,
A mortal man before immortal Mars;
The glories of great Julius lapse and wane,
And shrink from suns to stars.
"That man of all the men I ever knew
Most touched my fancy.
O! what days and nights
We had in Egypt, ever reaping new
Harvest of ripe delights.
"Realm-draining revels! Life was one long feast,
What wit! what words! what sweet words, only made
Less sweet by the kiss that broke 'em, liking best
To be so richly stayed!
"What dainty strifes, when fresh from war's alarms,
My Hercules, my gallant Antony,
My mailed captain leapt into my arms,
Contented there to die!
"And in those arms he died: I heard my name
Sighed forth with life: then I shook off all fear:
Oh, what a little snake stole Caesar's fame!
What else was left?
Thomson, 'Spring', 384, "'iron' times". ]
[Footnote 14: From 1833 till 1853 this stanza ran:--
"The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,
The temples and the people and the shore,
One drew a sharp knife thro' my tender throat
Slowly,--and nothing more".
It is curious that Tennyson should have allowed the last line to stand
so long; possibly it may have been to defy Lockhart's sarcastic
commentary: "What touching simplicity, what pathetic resignation--he cut
my throat, nothing more! " With Tennyson's picture should be compared
AEschylus, 'Agamem. ', 225-49, and Lucretius, i. , 85-100. For the bold and
picturesque substitution of the effect for the cause in the "bright
death quiver'd" 'cf. ' Sophocles, 'Electra', 1395,
[Greek: 'neakonaeton aima cheiroin ech_on,']
"with the newly-whetted blood on his hands". So "vulnus" is frequently
used by Virgil, and 'cf. ' Silius Italicus, 'Punica', ix. ,
368-9:--
Per pectora 'saevas'
Exceptat 'mortes'. ]
[Footnote 15: She expresses the same wish in 'Iliad', iii. , 73-4. ]
[Footnote 16: Cleopatra.
The skill with which Tennyson has here given us,
in quintessence as it were, Shakespeare's superb creation needs no
commentary, but it is somewhat surprising to find an accurate scholar
like Tennyson guilty of the absurdity of representing Cleopatra as of
gipsy complexion. The daughter of Ptolemy Aulates and a lady of Pontus,
she was of Greek descent, and had no taint at all of African
intermixtures. See Peacock's remarks in 'Gryll Grange', p. 206, 7th
edit. , 1861. ]
[Footnote 17: After this in 1833 and in 1842 are the following stanzas,
afterwards excised:--
"By him great Pompey dwarfs and suffers pain,
A mortal man before immortal Mars;
The glories of great Julius lapse and wane,
And shrink from suns to stars.
"That man of all the men I ever knew
Most touched my fancy.
O! what days and nights
We had in Egypt, ever reaping new
Harvest of ripe delights.
"Realm-draining revels! Life was one long feast,
What wit! what words! what sweet words, only made
Less sweet by the kiss that broke 'em, liking best
To be so richly stayed!
"What dainty strifes, when fresh from war's alarms,
My Hercules, my gallant Antony,
My mailed captain leapt into my arms,
Contented there to die!
"And in those arms he died: I heard my name
Sighed forth with life: then I shook off all fear:
Oh, what a little snake stole Caesar's fame!
What else was left?
