A TENNYSON DICTIONARY
_Uniform with this Volume._
DICTIONARIES TO FAMOUS
AUTHORS.
=Dickens.= +A. J. Philip.+
=Thackeray.= +I. G. Mudge+ and +M. E. Sears+.
=Scott= (Waverley Novels). +M. F. A. Husband.+
=Kipling.= +W. A. Young.+
=Thomas Hardy.= +F. Saxelby.+
=Oscar Wilde.= +Stuart Mason.+
=Zola= (Rougon-Macquart Novels). +J. G. Patterson.+
=Medieval Romance and Romance Writers.= +Lewis Spence.+
A
TENNYSON DICTIONARY
THE CHARACTERS AND PLACE-NAMES CONTAINED
IN THE POETICAL AND DRAMATIC WORKS
OF THE POET, ALPHABETICALLY
ARRANGED AND DESCRIBED
WITH SYNOPSES OF THE POEMS AND PLAYS
By
ARTHUR E. BAKER, F.R.Hist.S., F.L.A.,
Author of
“A Brief Account of the Public Library Movement in
Taunton,” “A Concordance to the Poetical
and Dramatic Works of Alfred, Lord
Tennyson,” etc.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD
+New York+: E. P. DUTTON & CO
=Dedicated=
To the Memory of
CLARA,
Who, after an illness borne with fortitude and patience,
passed away on May 31st, 1914.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The success which has attended the publication of my _Tennyson
Concordance_ in 1912, has prompted me to undertake the compilation of
this Dictionary.
The book is intended as a work of reference for all lovers of
Tennyson’s works. Its principal function is to identify and describe
the multitudinous characters, place-names, etc.--whether fictitious or
historical--created or utilized by the Poet; anything, therefore, in
the nature of criticism is entirely outside its scope.
The two chief features claimed for this compilation are brevity and
accuracy. The Synopses furnish a short explanatory account of the
Poems and Plays, and the Dictionary proper a short description of the
characters and place-names, together with the names of towns, rivers,
horses, birds, flowers, etc. In all there are some 2,040 entries.
A list of the books consulted or quoted throughout the work is
appended; and for the valuable information obtained from them I take
this opportunity of expressing my acknowledgments.
A. E. B.
Contents
Page
SYNOPSES OF THE POEMS AND PLAYS 1
THE TENNYSON DICTIONARY 39
LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND OF WORKS CONSULTED AND QUOTED 295
SYNOPSES OF THE POEMS AND PLAYS
ACHILLES OVER THE TRENCH.
A rendering of the _Iliad_ xviii. 202, recounting the help given to
Achilles by Pallas and the consequent rout of the Trojans.
ADELINE.
Five stanzas written to a certain ‘spiritual Adeline’ to describe her
charms.
AKBAR’S DREAM.
A supposed conversation in blank verse between Akbar, the great Mogul
who ruled India from 1565 to 1605 +A.D.+, and his intimate friend
Abul Fazl. The poem is prefaced by a quotation from the writings of
Abul Fazl. Akbar was one of the most tolerant rulers who ever lived.
No creeds were condemned by him, and he invented a new religion which
aimed at being a sort of epitome of the best in all beliefs. In this
poem, he tells Abul Fazl that the cause of a temporary depression is
the shadow cast by an evil dream. He then expounds his theory of life
and religion to Abul. His opinion is that God is in all creeds and that
the one intolerable thing is intolerance. But now and then a doubt
asserts itself--as when he is troubled by dreams such as the one that
he has recently dreamed. In it, he thought he had built
‘a sacred fane,
A temple, neither Pagod, Mosque, nor Church,’
in which people of all creeds might worship, and in which might dwell
‘Truth and Peace
And Love and Justice’
But while he and Abul stood looking at, and rejoicing in their work
there was tumult, and in burst Akbar’s well-loved son Saleem, and slew
both his father and Abul. ‘Death’ however ‘had ears and eyes,’ and
Akbar saw his son despoiling the fair building and ruining a life-work.
After a time came some people from the west, ‘an alien race,’ and again
built up the law of toleration and equity, abolishing such monstrous
practices as súttee and child-marriage. The poem ends with a morning
hymn to the
‘Timeless in the flame that measures Time!’
ALEXANDER.
A Sonnet to Alexander, describing him as
‘Warrior of God, whose strong right arm debased
The throne of Persia,’
ALL THINGS WILL DIE.
A lament that the inevitable end of all things, however beautiful and
full of life, is death. Even the blue river, and the south winds will
cease,
‘And the old earth must die.’
AMPHION.
The supposed writer of this rather merry poem had been left a park by
his father. The poem voices his regret that he was not born in the days
when ‘Old Amphion’ sat down and sung, and ‘left a small plantation;’ In
those days, Nature was
‘So youthful and so flexile
* * * * *
You moved her at your pleasure.’
and trees sprang up at the twanging of a fiddle. But ‘in such a brassy
age’ as the present, ‘months of toil, And years of cultivation’ are
needed to make
‘at the end of all
A little garden blossom.’
ANCIENT SAGE.
An ancient sage gives a young man of fashion good advice in the form
of a commentary on a despairing song which the latter had written. The
youth is bidden to give up pleasure, and devote himself to temperance
and good works.
AUDLEY COURT.
A short poem in blank verse. The writer and his friend ‘Francis Hale,
the farmer’s son,’ are crowded out of the _Bull_ and the _Fleece_ Inns,
and so are forced to picnic at Audley Court. After they have eaten
of home-made bread and pastry, they discuss politics, the king, and
matters nearer home. Lastly, they end the picnic by entertaining one
another with songs. Francis sings a song, the refrain of which is ‘Let
me live my life,’ while his friend’s choice falls upon a mournful song
of one Ellen Aubrey. After this the two friends return at nightfall to
the quiet town
‘beneath a moon, that, just
In crescent, dimly rain’d about the leaf
Twilights of airy silver.’
The poem was suggested by Abbey Park at Torquay, and closes with a
description of Torquay, as it was in Tennyson’s youth, ‘the loveliest
sea-village in England.’
AYLMER’S FIELD.
A narrative poem in blank verse. The story is supposed to have been
told to the writer by an old vicar of the place where the events
narrated in the story took place. Sir Aylmer Aylmer was a typical
country squire. He lived in a magnificent house, and took great pride
in his ancestry. The Aylmers had always been friendly with the vicars
of the place--an office which was always held by the eldest son of
the Averill family, and so descended from father to son with great
regularity. At the time the story opens, sir Aylmer and his wife had
an only daughter, just five years younger than Leolin Averill, the
younger brother of Averill Averill, who was then vicar. Leolin and
Edith Aylmer grew up together, and as they grew older their childish
comradeship changed to love. Sir Aylmer suspected nothing--indeed he
deemed it impossible that an Averill should dream of linking himself
with an Aylmer. One day, however, he overheard some conversation
between his daughter and Leolin Averill which revealed the fact that
they were indeed lovers. He and his wife rated their daughter severely,
and forbade Leolin to have anything more to do with her. Leolin, in a
passion of grief and anger, sought his brother Averill and confided to
him his intention of making a great name and returning to marry Edith.
In accordance with this resolve he went to London and worked at the
law, occasionally receiving letters, secretly sent, from Edith. But one
day sir Aylmer intercepted one of these letters and the correspondence
was stopped. Edith, denied all intercourse with her lover, gradually
pined and died. On the day of her death, Leolin was found stabbed by
his own hand with a dagger Edith had given him. The elder Averill
preached a savage indictment of the cruel parents from the text,
‘Behold your house is left unto you desolate.’ The passionate sermon
wrought such remorse in sir Aylmer and his wife that they, too, died.
Aylmerston in Norfolk is said to be the scene of the poem.
BALLAD OF ORIANA.
Describes a soldier’s woe, who after pledging his troth to the
beautiful Oriana, went bravely into battle, only to see his betrothed,
who was watching him from the castle, pierced through the heart by an
arrow.
BANDIT’S DEATH.
The bandit carries a woman to his cave after murdering her husband,
Piero. She lives in hatred of the murderer, but her dislike is lessened
by the arrival of a son. With the police on his track, the Bandit
accidentally strangles the child as he utters a cry. He is sorry for
his action, but the woman, her loathing revived, stabs him as he
sleeps, and cutting off his head, puts it in a cloth, and carries it
away with her.
BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH.
Describes the defeat and slaughter of the army of Anlaf and Constantius
the traitor, by Athelstan and his brother Edmund.
BEAUTIFUL CITY.
A short description of Paris, ‘the centre and crater of European
confusion.’
BECKET.
A play in blank verse in five acts preceded by a Prologue.
Prologue. King Henry and Thomas Becket, chancellor of England, are
seen at chess. Their talk is friendly, and the king proposes
making Becket archbishop of Canterbury, and gives him a chart
showing the bower designed for his paramour Rosamund, together with
instructions to convey her safely thither. Eleanor of Aquitaine
plans with Sir Reginald Fitzurse to seize Rosamund, her rival.
Act i. Becket finds the burden of archbishoprick and chancellorship
too heavy to bear, and returns the Great Seal to the king,
resolving henceforth to stand for the Church even against Henry.
He saves Rosamund from Fitzurse and Eleanor, angers the king by
refusing to give his seal to certain laws regarding the trial of
clerics, and finally flees to France after having feasted beggars
instead of the angry nobles on the king’s side.
Act ii. Rosamund, in her bower, pleads with Henry to be friends with
Becket. Louis of France, Becket, and Henry meet at Montmirail.
Becket refuses to crown the king’s son. Henry goes away in a rage
and Louis, hitherto friendly, turns Becket out of France, but soon
repents his decision and invites Becket to stay.
Act iii. Henry and Rosamund talk in the bower. A new bower-maid
discloses to Rosamund the fact--which has been kept secret from
her--that Henry is married to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor and
Fitzurse spy out the bower. Becket and Henry are reconciled in
France and start for England.
Act iv. Geoffrey, child of Henry and Rosamund, leads Eleanor to his
mother. Eleanor and Fitzurse offer to murder Rosamund, but Becket
intervenes in time, and saves her, and sends her to a convent.
Act v. Henry is tricked by Eleanor and her knights into great anger
against Becket. Four knights rush off and murder the archbishop in
Canterbury Cathedral, leaving Rosamund by the body.
BEGGAR MAID.
A fair beggar maid came barefooted before king Cophetua, who so
admired her beauty that he swore an oath that he would make her his
queen.
BLACKBIRD, THE.
The writer, unlike his neighbours, welcomes the blackbird into his
garden, but laments the fact that, in the spring, the bird’s beautiful
song is seldom heard, as he is too intent on feeding.
BOÄDICEA.
An ‘experiment’ describing how queen Boädicea
‘Girt by half the tribes of Britain, near the colony Cámulodúne,
Yell’d and shriek’d between her daughters o’er a wild confederacy.’
Her speech is a wild denunciation of the Roman tyrants of Britain and a
fierce call to arms. In answer to her exhortation the people arose, and
‘Ran the land with Roman slaughter,...’
BREAK, BREAK, BREAK, ETC.
The writer, as he watches the sea ever breaking against the rocks,
envies the fisherman’s boy and the sailor lad who are both happy, while
he longs
‘for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of the voice that is still!’
The scene of the poem is Clevedon Church, which overlooks the Bristol
Channel.
BRIDESMAID, THE.
A sonnet describing how the bridesmaid, who shed tears at her sister’s
wedding, was comforted by the assurance that she too, would make a
happy bride.
BROOK, THE.
A poem in blank verse describing the memories aroused in a certain
Lawrence Aylmer by the sight of the brook he has known since childhood.
Here he parted with a poet friend, and here too, he met with Katie
Willows, whose father Philip he kept occupied with talk while Katie met
her lover. But now
‘Katie walks
By the long wash of Australasian seas
Far off, and holds her head to other stars,
And breathes in April-autumns. All are gone.’
Just as this conclusion is reached, the old dreamer looks up and is
astonished to find himself face to face with a girl so like the old
Katie that he is startled and inquires her name. ‘Katie Willows’ she
says, and explains the seeming miracle by stating that she is the
daughter of Katie Willows the first, but now returned from Australia.
Through the poems runs the well-known lyric, beginning:
‘I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,’
the supposed reply of the brook to the poet’s question
‘O babbling brook,’ ...
‘Whence come you?’
BUONAPARTE.
A patriotic sonnet to Napoleon glorying in the way Britain
‘The island queen who sways the floods and lands
From Ind to Ind,’
‘taught him lowlier moods’ at Trafalgar and in Egypt.
BY AN EVOLUTIONIST.
The soliloquy of a man who has reached old age with his animal
strength, and being largely decayed but
‘the Man is quiet at last
As he stands on the heights of his life with a glimpse of a height
that is higher.’
CAPTAIN, THE.
A ‘legend of the Navy’ in ballad metre. This short poem is the story of
a sea captain who earned the hatred of his crew by his cruelty, and yet
thought to
‘make the name
Of his vessel great in story.’
One day he sighted a ship of France, and gave orders to advance towards
her and give battle. The crew waited till they were alongside and then
allowed the enemy to shoot them down and destroy their ship, thus
revenging themselves on their cruel captain at the cost of their own
lives.
CARESS’D OR CHIDDEN BY THE SLENDER HAND.
One of the early sonnets, describing how
‘Light Hope at Beauty’s call would perch and stand,
And run thro’ every change of sharp and flat.’
CHARACTER, A.
Five stanzas, half playful description of man who
‘canvass’d human mysteries,
And trod on silk, as if the winds
Blew his own praises in his eyes.’
CHARGE OF THE HEAVY BRIGADE AT BALACLAVA.
A stirring practical description of ‘that ride into the Russian column.’
CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
A graphic description of the famous charge of the Light Brigade at
Balaclava, when, owing to an improperly given command, six hundred
cavalry rode to almost certain death in a hopeless attempt to capture
the Russian guns.
CHARITY.
A woman, whose lover deserts her to marry an heiress, finds out what
true charity is, when, after the husband has been killed in a railway
accident, the young widow helps and tends her in her hour of need.
CHURCH-WARDEN AND THE CURATE, THE.
An amusing poem in dialect in which a churchwarden, formerly a Baptist,
gives some useful advice to a young curate. It was suggested by a story
told to the poet by the Rev. Canon Rawnsley. The story is thus:
‘I returned to my father’s parish, Halton Holgate, near Spilsby, in
Lincolnshire, from my ordination, and found my father’s churchwarden,
G. R., upon the platform. He saw I had a white tie on, and he said
cheerily, “Well, Mr. Rownsley, I can seä by that white thing round
youre throat that they’ve gone and maäde a parson on you!”
‘“Well well,” he added, “God Omighty knows theer mun beä parsons as
well as farmers, and you’d be a fool i’ the crewyard along o’ the
beästs, I reckon, and I should mebbe beä as big a fool in the pulpit o’
Sunday. Now, doant be stunt, I’m youre feyther’s churchwarden, and I’m
goäin’ to giv’ you a bit o’ my moind.”’
Rawnsley: _Memories of the Tennysons._
CIRCUMSTANCE.
A single stanza tracing ‘two children in two neighbouring villages,’
through their life to the second generation and ending with the
reflection
‘So runs the round of life from hour to hour.’
CITY CHILD, THE.
Two stanzas describing the ‘city childs’--‘the dainty little
maidens’--desire for the pleasures of the country.
CLARIBEL.
Two stanzas descriptive of the beautiful bower ‘where Claribel
low-lieth.’
CLEAR-HEADED FRIEND, WHOSE JOYFUL SCORN.
Three stanzas, addressed to a friend, who, the poet declares, ‘will
not live in vain’ and goes on to predict a glorious future for his
evidently gifted friend.
COLUMBUS.
A speech put into the mouth of Columbus. He has discovered a new world
and is now dying in chains for his pains. He is evidently speaking
to a court noble come to visit him. He tells of all his struggles to
convince people that the earth was a sphere, of the inward certainty,
through all, that he was chosen of God to do his great work for
Spain, and of his vow that whatever wealth he brought from the new
world should be used in a Crusade. He bitterly resents his chains and
the worthless men who have entered into the heritage of the land he
discovered. Nevertheless, the poem ends on a fine note of patriotism:--
‘Rack’d as I am with gout, and wrench’d with pains,
Gain’d in the service of His Highness, yet
Am ready to sail forth on one last voyage.
And readier, if the King would hear, to lead
One last crusade against the Saracen,
And save the Holy Sepulchre from thrall.’
COME NOT, WHEN I AM DEAD.
Two stanzas in which the poet exhorts his child not to come to weep
over his grave but to
‘Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie:
Go by, go by.’
CROSSING THE BAR.
The beautiful and last poem beginning
‘Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!’
in which the poet compares his own death to the outgoing of a ship over
the harbour bar into the open sea.
CUP, THE.
A tragedy in blank verse in two acts.
Act i. Synorix, a Galatian ex-Tetrarch and a man with a reputation of
loose life, returns to the temple of Artemis in Galatia in search
of a priestess he had admired, now wife of Sinnatus, Tetrarch of
Galatia. He meets Sinnatus while hunting, and calling himself
Strato, goes in the evening to the Tetrarch’s house as guest. There
he tells Camma, Sinnatus’ wife, of his plan of leaguing with Rome
for the sake of Galatia. He also tells her of his love and that it
was he who earlier in the day had sent her a sacred cup. He bids
her come to the temple in the morning, to plead with the Roman
Antonius for the life of Sinnatus who has been plotting against
Rome. The identity of Synorix is discovered, and Sinnatus drives
him out. Camma meets Synorix at dawn. Sinnatus discovers them and
is slain by Synorix.
Act ii. Camma has become a priestess in the temple of Artemis.
Synorix has attained his ambition and is king of Galatia under
Rome. He sends messengers imploring Camma to marry him. She
consents, and awaits his coming in the temple. During the marriage
ceremony she fills the sacred cup he had given her with poisoned
wine, and, after drinking herself, gives it to him to drain. He
does so, and presently sickens and dies. Camma dies shortly after,
calling on the name of Sinnatus.
The theme of the tragedy is taken from Plutarch’s _Moralia_.
DAISY, THE.
A memory, written at Edinburgh, of what was apparently a honeymoon
journey in Italy. The writer--writing to his companion of the
journey--recalls all the beautiful things they had seen together in
Italy and how, as they were leaving the country, he plucked a daisy to
give her--
‘It told of England then to me,
And now it tells of Italy.’
Though he is now ‘ill and weary, alone and cold,’ the daisy, in fancy,
takes him once more to his love’s side in Italy.
DAWN, THE.
A poem in five stanzas, prefaced by a quotation from an Egyptian
priest--‘You are but children.’ The poet expresses the view that the
present is but the dawn of time--
‘Red of the Dawn!
Is it turning a fainter red? so be it, but when shall we lay
The Ghost of the Brute that is walking and haunting us yet, and
be free?’
All time till present has been but ‘red of the Dawn’ and now it is but
‘turning a fainter red.’ The Day, that is to see a better race of men,
is yet to come.
DAY-DREAM, THE.
A young man deeply in love with the Lady Flora, tells her his vision of
the ancient legend of the Sleeping Beauty. He describes, in beautiful
language, the Sleeping Palace and the Sleeping Beauty within it, who is
awakened, after a hundred years, by a kiss from the Fairy Prince, who
thus breaks the spell and sets the palace buzzing with renewed life
and activity. The Prince then rides off with the Princess, and both are
happy in their love for one another.
The Moral, the young man says, is hard to find, but many people would
find a meaning suited to their minds, and ‘to hook it to some useful
end’ would ‘cramp its use.’
He goes on to reflect on the pleasantness of falling asleep for some
time and waking up to find things bettered and fresh wonders to behold.
He says that he would gladly slumber for a hundred years himself, if,
at the end of that time he could awake the Lady Flora with a kiss.
DEAD PROPHET, THE.
A fierce attack upon those who make dead famous men into ‘copy,’
dissecting their lives with a keen eye under the pretence of reverence
for the dead. The poem is the story of an imaginary ‘dead prophet’ and
the indignities heaped upon his body by the old hag ‘Reverence.’
DEATH OF ŒNONE, THE.
The beautiful shepherd-prince, Paris, husband of the nymph Œnone, had
been chosen by the gods to judge which of the three goddesses Herè,
Pallas or Aphroditè, was the most beautiful, and to award a golden
apple to his choice. Aphroditè promised him the beautiful Helen of
Troy to wife if he would give her the apple. He did so, and deserted
Œnone for Helen, thus causing great war and bloodshed. In this poem
the poet tells the story of his return, sore wounded, to be cured of
his mortal hurt by Œnone, who refuses pity to him who had no pity for
her. Paris then falls dead, and is reverently cremated by the shepherds
who had known him in his youth. At dawn, Œnone, who all night has been
troubled by the vision of her husband’s disfigured face, goes forth,
and, finding a smouldering funeral pyre inquires for whom it has been
built. On hearing whose body lies there, she casts herself upon the
pyre and, remembering only her early happiness, dies with her husband.
DEATH OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE AND AVONDALE.
An address to the mourners for the Duke of Clarence, who died just
before his projected marriage to the princess May. Tennyson bids the
mourners ‘mourn in hope’ for
‘after his brief range of blameless days,
The toll of funeral in an Angel ear
Sounds happier than the merriest marriage-bell.’
DEATH OF THE OLD YEAR, THE.
A lament for the old year--here personified as an old man dying at
the stroke of twelve, while the new year is spoken of as ‘his son and
heir,’ who ‘blithe and bold’
‘Comes up to take his own.’
DEDICATION, A.
A dedication of some writing given by the author to a very dear friend,
exhorting him to
‘take this and pray that he,
Who wrote it, honouring your sweet faith in him,
May trust himself;’
through all mistrust, and scorn and criticism.
DEDICATORY POEM TO THE PRINCESS ALICE.
A short dedication of the _Defence of Lucknow_ to the dead princess
Alice, daughter of queen Victoria. The poet makes the princess’s known
patriotism a pretext for dedicating
‘this ballad of the deeds
Of England, and her banner in the East?’
at her dead feet.
DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW.
A patriotic poem descriptive of the gallant defence of Lucknow by a
‘handful of men’ written as though the writer had been one of the
besieged army. At the end of every stanza is the triumphant refrain
‘And ever upon our topmost roof the banner of England blew!’
The poem describes in vivid language the horrors of the siege, the
death of the Commander ‘Lawrence, the best of the brave,’ and the
unbounded joy of the whole garrison at the appearance of a relieving
force with Havelock and Outram in command.
Lucknow was one of the decisive sieges of the Indian Mutiny.
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE.
A monologue spoken by Demeter the earth-goddess at the return of her
daughter Persephone from the dark home of her husband, the monarch of
Hades. Persephone, according to the Greek legend of the Spring, had
been stolen away while playing in a field, and taken to be the bride
of ‘dark Aïdoneus,’ king of Hades. But so great was Demeter’s sorrow
for her child that she neglected to bless the land with increase. So
Zeus decreed that for nine months in the year Persephone should live
with her mother--the other three to be spent with her husband in the
underworld. Demeter, however, is but ‘ill-content,’ and looks forward
to the time when Persephone shall spend the whole year with her. The
theme is taken from Ovid.
DE PROFUNDIS.
A poem in two parts, named respectively _The Two Greetings_ and _The
Human Cry_. The first part is subdivided, and contains a father’s
greeting, first, to the physical being of his child, after the ‘nine
long months of antenatal gloom,’ and secondly to the spiritual being of
the child ‘half-lost In thine own shadow and this fleshly sign.’ _The
Human Cry_ is a shorter poem in two stanzas. In it, the poet voices the
adoration of man towards God--
‘We know we are nothing--but Thou wilt help us to be.
Hallowed be Thy name--Hallelujah!’
DESERTED HOUSE.
A short poem in five stanzas, describing--in the simile of a deserted
house--a dead body. It is called a house from which
‘Life and Thought have gone away
* * * * *
Leaving door and windows wide:’
The last verse is an expression of the hope of immortality--
‘Life and Thought
Here no longer dwell;
But in a city glorious--
A great and distant city--have bought
A mansion incorruptible.’
Nevertheless the human longing also finds voice in the last line--
‘Would they could have stayed with us!’
DESPAIR.
A man and his wife having lost faith in a God and hope of a life
to come, and being miserable in this, resolve to end themselves by
drowning. The woman is drowned, but the man rescued by a minister of
the sect he had abandoned.
DIRGE, A.
A poem in seven stanzas the refrain of which is ‘Let them rave.’ The
dead need be troubled by no discordant voices--
‘God’s great gift of speech abused’
for the grave is quiet and only
‘The balm-cricket carols clear
In the green that folds thy grave.’
DORA.
A narrative poem in blank verse, founded on a story in Miss Mitford’s
_Our Village_. In it, the poet tells the story of a man who brought
up his brother’s daughter with his own son. He had planned a marriage
between them, and when the time was ripe he broached the subject to
his son William, who refused to marry his cousin Dora, and left his
father’s house to marry a certain Mary Morrison. The indignant father
forbad Dora to see or communicate with William or his wife or child.
William died in poverty, leaving his widow and small son. Dora helped
them by stealth, and at last persuaded Mary to let her have the child
in the hope that her uncle’s heart might be moved to compassion. But
after he had agreed to adopt the boy he sent Dora away in great anger.
Mary, however, refused to allow Dora to sacrifice herself for the
sake of the boy, and they went together to ask for the child again.
The father was so moved by his daughter-in-law’s appeal and by the
winsomeness of his grandson that he was reconciled to Dora and Mary--
‘So those four abode
Within one house together;’
DOUBT AND PRAYER.
A short prayer in which the poet prays God
‘Steel me with patience! soften me with grief!’
Through sorrow and even sin, the soul finds God, but the poet here
prays that death may not come to him
‘Till this embattled wall of unbelief
My prison, not my fortress, fall away!’
DREAMER, THE.
A certain man dreamed he heard the lament ‘a voice of the Earth’ of one
who said--
‘To the wail of my winds, and the moan of my waves,
I whirl, and follow the Sun.’
The dreamer thought he answered with a song, counselling the wailing
voice to remember that--
‘all’s well that ends well,
Whirl, and follow the Sun!’
DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN, A.
The poet had been musing on Chaucer’s _Wild Tales_ till he imagined
himself living in the past. This poem is an account of the dream that
followed. The poet dreamed he was in a wood in which he met with many
fair dead women--Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Jephtha’s daughter, and
Fair Rosamond. They each told him of the joys and sorrows of their
respective lives, and he was at last awakened by Cleopatra’s sharp
scornful taunt of Rosamond for having so ‘tamely died.’ The dreamer
closes the poem with the regret that he awakened before he had seen
other fair women--
‘her, who clasp’d in her last trance
Her murder’d father’s head,’
or Joan of Arc, or Eleanor of Castile.
DYING SWAN, THE.
A description in two stanzas of the wonderful death-song of a swan.
Tennyson apparently believed the popular saying that ‘a swan only sings
at its death.’
EAGLE, THE.
Six lines, descriptive of a view seen from a mountain top by an eagle.
EARLY SPRING.
A ‘Spring Song’ in eight stanzas.
EDWARD GRAY.
A ballad, containing the story of Edward Gray who was beloved by Ellen
Adair. He, however,
‘Thought her proud, and fled over the sea;’
In his absence she pined and died. Edward Gray is untouched by the
lovableness of other women--his heart is buried with Ellen Adair.
EDWIN MORRIS.
This poem is the story of a man who stayed for nine months by a lake.
While here he made friends with ‘Edwin Morris and Edward Bull the
curate.’ Also, he fell in love with a millionaire’s daughter, Letty
Hill. One evening he was found making love to Letty, and her relatives
forbad him the place, and married her
‘to sixty thousand pounds,
To lands in Kent and messuages in York,
And slight Sir Robert with his watery smile
And educated whisker.’
They then brought a lawsuit against Letty’s lover, and he left the place
‘left Edwin, nor have seen
Him since, nor heard of her, nor cared to hear.’
ELEÄNORE.
A poem in eight stanzas written in praise of a ‘Serene, imperial
Eleänore!’
ENGLAND AND AMERICA IN 1782.
A short poem addressed to England personified as ‘Strong mother of a
Lion-line.’ The writer bids England be proud of the American rebels who
‘Retaught the lesson thou hadst taught,
And in thy spirit with thee fought----’
ENOCH ARDEN.
A long narrative in blank verse. In it, the poet tells the story of
Enoch Arden. He and Philip Ray--the miller’s son--lived in a seaside
town and both loved Annie Lee. She flirted impartially with both, but
at last Enoch won and married her, for ‘Philip loved in silence.’
Enoch was a sailor’s orphan and pursued his father’s trade. When two
children had been born to him, Enoch’s good fortune deserted him. He
broke a limb in an accident and lost his job. As he lay recovering he
was haunted by the thought of his wife and children starving because
he was unable to work for them. Then came an offer from the captain
of a China-going vessel to take Enoch as boatswain and he went, first
selling his boat to provide money for Annie and bidding them all a
sorrowful farewell. After his departure, the third and sickliest child
was born, but scarcely lived a few weeks. Philip Ray, who had not seen
Annie since Enoch left, thinking to be of comfort to her, asked her to
let him educate the remaining boy and girl as Enoch would have wished.
Annie consented and Philip became a second father to her children,
though scruples kept him from seeing Annie often. But the years went
by and Enoch did not return, and at last Philip convinced Annie that
Enoch was dead, and they were married. A child was born, and they were
very happy. Meanwhile Enoch was not dead, but prospering much. After
he had made and lost a fortune, Enoch at last returned to his native
town, eagerly anticipating seeing Annie again. He learned from a gossip
called Miriam Lane of Annie’s marriage with Philip. The news was too
much for his already failing strength, and he died without making
himself known to Annie, first giving Miriam Lane a curl of his son’s
hair, which Annie had given him--to give the boy’s mother.
‘And when they buried him the little port
Had seldom seen a costlier funeral.’
EPIC, THE.
An introduction to the beautiful _Morte d’Arthur_. On Christmas Eve
four college friends sat about the fire and wine after the rest of the
guests had departed. They talked of the decay of Christmas customs
and of the Christian religion. One of their number, Everard Hall, was
known at college as a toper and a poet of parts. His friends laughingly
inquired of him what he had done with an epic he had written about
king Arthur. He replied that he had burnt it, deeming it of little
interest. One of the young men had, however, rescued the eleventh
book from the flames and forthwith produced it. The poet was then
constrained to read the _Morte d’Arthur_.
EPILOGUE.
A short poem dedicating ‘the Sleeping Beauty’ series of poems to a
certain ‘Lady Flora.’
EPITAPH ON CAXTON.
Written for the Caxton window in St. Margaret’s. The poet praises
Caxton as a seer praying for ‘Light more light,’ but seeing only the
glory and not the disadvantages of the spread of learning.
EPITAPH ON GENERAL GORDON.
Written for the cenotaph in Westminster Abbey. The poet addresses
Gordon as ‘Warrior of God,’ whose bones lie in the far-away Soudan.
EPITAPH ON LORD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.
Lines written in memory of this enthusiastic admirer of Tennyson and
friend of Byron.
FAITH.
Two stanzas encouraging men to
‘Doubt no longer that the Highest is the wisest and the best,’
FALCON, THE.
A play in blank verse in one scene. Count Federigo degli Alberighi has
been in love with the Lady Giovanna since she was fifteen. He had gone
to the war, thinking she cared nothing for him, and in his absence and
believing him dead she had married another. She is now a widow with
one son, and Federigo is living with his old nurse and foster-brother
in poverty--having sold all his possessions to give gifts to Giovanna.
To the consternation of the inmates of Federigo’s cottage, the lady
appears one morning announcing that she will stay for breakfast. There
is nothing in the larder, and Federigo reluctantly gives an order
to kill his much loved falcon for the lady’s entertainment. He is
horrified--when the bird is dead--to learn that she had come to beg
no other thing than the falcon for her son who is sick. All, however,
ends well with a mutual declaration of love and a hopeful certainty of
the boy’s recovery. The theme of the story is taken from Boccaccio’s
_Decamerone_.
FAREWELL, A.
Four stanzas in which the poet bids farewell to a ‘cold rivulet’ ‘for
ever and ever.’
FAR-FAR-AWAY.
A song written for music with a refrain ‘far-far-away.’
FATIMA.
A woman’s passionate love-song. She enumerates the delights of her love
and her longing for her lover’s coming and ends with a determination to
‘Die, dying clasp’d in his embrace.’
FIRST QUARREL, THE.
A narrative poem, written in dialect in the first person. The narrator
is a woman who tells the story of her life to a sympathetic friend.
She is an Isle of Wight girl. When quite a young girl she was the
sweetheart of a boy of the same village. When the boy--Harry--began
to grow up, a farmer relative sent for him and after saying good-bye
to Nelly--the girl--he went to Dorsetshire to work on his kinsman’s
farm. While there, he got into trouble with another girl. But when he
returned, he and Nelly were married and were very happy. Work, however,
‘was scant in the Isle,’ and Harry crossed the Solent in search of
employment. He wrote his wife saying he had got a six weeks’ job and
was coming back to kiss her good-bye on the following day. While she
was tidying the house ready for his return, she came across a box
containing a letter written to Harry by the other girl. This so angered
her that she would have nothing to say to her husband when he came
in and refused to be mollified by his gentle assurances of love and
trust, and the complete deadness of the past. After trying in vain to
reassure her, Harry leaves her, and she refuses to say good-bye. He
sends her a letter to say he had work in Jersey and is going by the
boat that night--‘and the boat went down that night.’ So the first
quarrel proved the last.
FLEET, THE.
Lines written in praise of the British Navy after a newspaper attack
upon it.
FLIGHT, THE.
A girl rouses her sister on her wedding morning, and they fly together
from a hateful marriage proposed by a mercenary father.
FLOWER, THE.
A ‘fable’ of one who sowed a seed that, grown into a flower, was dubbed
a weed. It grew tall and beautiful, the seeds were in demand, it became
easy to get and so again a weed.
FLOWER IN THE CRANNIED WALL.
A fragment, in which the poet declares his conviction that
‘if I could understand
What you (_i.e._ the flower) are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.’
FORESTERS, THE.
A play in blank verse in four acts. The plot is adapted from the
legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It opens with the outlawry of
Robin by Prince John, Regent for Richard I, and ends with the return of
Richard and the marriage of Robin and Marian.
FORLORN.
A short poem in which a mother chides her daughter for contemplating a
marriage of which she is unworthy.
FORM, THE, FORM, THE.
An early sonnet in which the frivolous soul of a ‘slight coquette’ is
described.
FRATER AVE ATQUE VALE.
Lines written in praise of Catullus--‘tenderest of the Roman poets.’
This poem was written while Tennyson was staying in Italy, and contains
descriptions of lake scenery.
FREEDOM.
A political poem in which the poet gave expression to his conviction
that innovations and reforms should be gradually introduced.
GARDENER’S DAUGHTER, THE.
An artist tells the story of his love for the gardener’s daughter, and
shows a picture of her in her youth. A narrative poem in blank verse.
GOD AND THE UNIVERSE.
Two stanzas in which the poet expresses his fear of God and imagines
God to reply reassuringly.
GODIVA.
A poem in blank verse in which the poet tells the story of the
sacrifice made by Lady Godiva on behalf of the people of her husband’s
city, Coventry.
GOLDEN YEAR, THE.
An account, in blank verse, of a poet who wrote some verses
anticipating the return of the golden age. A friend of the poet declares
‘That unto him who works, and feels he works,
This same grand year is ever at the doors.’
GOOSE, THE.
A short humorous poem. An old woman is given a goose--which lays golden
eggs--by a stranger. After prospering, she grows tired of the clatter
made by the goose and drives it out to the original owner.
GRANDMOTHER, THE.
A monologue in which an old woman who has outlived all her children
recounts the chief events of her life to a grandchild. The poem was
suggested in a letter from Benjamin Jowett giving the saying of an old
lady, ‘The spirits of my children always seem to hover about me.’
HANDS ALL ROUND.
A ‘convivial lyric’ in which the poet calls for healths to be drunk to
England, her colonies and other friendly powers.
HAPPY.
The words of the wife of a leprous Crusader who has been formally
separated from the community. The wife refuses to leave him, and swears
that she will live and die at his side.
HAROLD.
A five-act play in blank verse. The plot is concerned with incidents
happening between Harold’s--then earl of Wessex--first setting out
for Normandy, where he was to swear the rash oath to help William of
Normandy to the English throne, and the defeat of the English and death
of Harold at the battle of Senlac, 1066.
HELEN’S TOWER.
Lines written at the request of Lord Dufferin for the Tower built in
memory of Helen, mother of Lord Dufferin. The poet expresses in these
lines his conviction that were the ‘granite girth’ of the Tower as
strong as the love between mother and son which caused it to be built,
it would endure ‘Doomsday fire.’
HENDECASYLLABICS.
An experiment in ‘a metre of Catullus’ addressed to ‘you chorus of
indolent reviewers,’ and humorously conveying the poet’s request and
critics to be lenient to the new metre.
HIGHER PANTHEISM, THE.
A short poem expressing the poet’s belief in the ‘Immanence of God in
the Universe.’ The poem contains the beautiful and well-known couplet
‘Speak to Him thou for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet--
Closer is He than breathing, nearer than hands and feet.’
IDYLLS OF THE KING.
An epic series of poems founded on Malory’s _Morte d’Arthur_.
Dedication. To Queen Victoria in memory of Albert, Prince Consort.
Coming of Arthur. The coming of Arthur to his kingdom, his royal
parentage is proved, he marries Guinevere, daughter of king
Leodogran, and founds his knighthood of the Round Table. He rids
the land of wild beasts and marauders.
Gareth and Lynette. Of how Gareth son of Lot and Bellicent obtained
his mother’s consent to serve as kitchen-boy at Camelot before
he should discover himself to Arthur and ask for knighthood. Of
how Arthur discovered the Prince in the kitchen-boy and sent him
to rescue Lyonors, sister of Lynette, from the Castle Perilous,
guarded by four warriors. Of his success in the quest.
Marriage of Geraint. Of how queen Guinevere was insulted by a
dwarf riding with a knight and lady. Of how sir Geraint followed
them to avenge the Queen. Of how he came to the town where they
dwelt and chanced to lodge with an old man in the power of the
stranger-knight. Of how Geraint loved Enid, the daughter of his
poverty-stricken host. Of how he overcame the stranger-knight in
the lists. Of how Geraint and Enid rode back together to Arthur’s
court, and there were married.
Geraint and Enid. Of how Geraint took Enid his wife to his own land
in Devon. Of how for love of her he neglected knightly adventure.
Of how she wept for it. Of how he misunderstood her sorrow, and
grew jealous thinking she loved another. Of how they set forth on
horseback, Enid in front and not beside him. Of how Geraint fought
many men by the way and overcame them all. Of how they came to
Arthur’s court. Of how all misunderstanding was removed. Of how
they returned to Devon to live long and happy.
Balin and Balan. Of how Balin and Balan, brothers, were brought by
the King to his court. Of how Balan was dubbed knight, and sent
on a quest, and of how Balin, having been dubbed knight before,
remained at court. Of how he obtained leave to wear the Queen’s
crown upon his shield. Of how sir Balin presently rode away to
seek adventure and came to the castle of king Pelles. Of how one
sir Garlon spoke evil of the Queen and Lancelot. Of how sir Balin
struck him in his anger and fled the castle. Of how he rested
in the forest and hung his shield upon a tree, deeming himself
unworthy of the Queen’s token. Of how a damsel came and also spoke
evil of the Queen. Of how sir Balan chanced to pass. Of how sir
Balin, being beside himself, fought his brother. Of how they were
both slain and afterwards buried by the Lady of the Lake.
Merlin and Vivien. Of how Vivien came from the base king Mark to
spy on Lancelot and Guinevere. Of how she whispered slanders in
Arthur’s court. Of how she sought to gain from Merlin the secret
of a spell. Of how she followed him to Broceliande, and, having
gained the secret of the enchantment, used it upon the great wizard
himself and left him as one dead.
Lancelot and Elaine. Of how sir Lancelot stayed at the castle of
Astolat and of how Elaine, the maid of Astolat, loved him not
knowing who he was. Of how he wore her favour in a tourney. Of how
he was wounded, and of how Elaine tended him in sickness. Of how
he recovered and rode away with no word of love, being pledged to
the Queen. Of how Elaine sickened and died of her love, and of how
her body was placed in a boat and rowed to Camelot by an old deaf
servant.
Holy Grail. Of how the sister of sir Percivale saw a vision of the
Holy Grail. Of how she made a girdle of her hair for Galahad. Of
how many of the Round Table swore to find the Grail. Of how they
set forth from Camelot. Of how Galahad and Percivale set forth
together. Of their adventures and temptations. Of how sir Galahad
was the sole knight worthy to behold the Grail. Of the unsuccessful
return of other knights to Camelot. Of the King’s welcome and of
how some did not return.
Pelleas and Ettarre. Of the young knight sir Pelleas and of how he
overcame in the jousts and gained the victor’s circlet for the lady
Ettarre. Of how she shut herself in her castle and scorned her
champion. Of how he was brought a prisoner to her by her knights.
Of how sir Gawain undertook to plead the cause of sir Pelleas with
the lady Ettarre. Of how she was false with Gawain. Of how Sir
Pelleas grew distraught and fought unwittingly with sir Lancelot
and accused him of shame with Guinevere. Of how sir Pelleas went
out and was no more seen.
Last Tournament. Of the ruby carcanet that Guinevere gave to the king
as a tourney prize. Of the tourney and of how sir Tristram won the
rubies. Of how he refused to give them to any lady of the court but
kept them for Isolt, the Queen of the Cornish king Mark. Of Dagonet
the king’s fool and of his talk with Tristram. Of Tristram’s
coming to Tintagil and Isolt. Of Isolt’s jealousy of Tristram’s
wife--Isolt of Brittany. Of how king Mark slew Tristram as he
clasped the ruby carcanet about the throat of Isolt the Queen.
Guinevere. Of Lancelot’s resolution to leave Guinevere. Of their last
meeting and of its discovery by Modred. Of the flight of Lancelot
to his castle and of the queen to a nunnery at Almesbury. Of the
war of the king with Lancelot and of the treachery of Modred. Of
the visit of the king to the queen at Almesbury, of his forgiveness
and her repentance. Of how the king went out to his last battle,
and of how Guinevere made atonement by a life of penitence and
piety in the nunnery.
Passing of Arthur. Of the battle with the heathen hosts of Modred.
Of how the knights of the Round Table perished in the fight.
Of how the king was wounded and of how he sent sir Bedivere to
throw Excalibur into the lake, from whence it had come. Of how
sir Bedivere at first would not and lied to the king, but at last
yielded and flung Excalibur into the lake. Of how Arthur was
carried to the water and of how he did not die but passed from sir
Bedivere in a funeral barge in which were three queens.
IF I WERE LOVED, AS I DESIRE TO BE.
An early sonnet in which the poet declares that, with love at his
desire, he would fear nothing in heaven or earth.
IN MEMORIAM, A. H. H.
A long poem in a unique metre written to the memory of the poet’s
greatest friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died at Vienna. The body was
brought back to be buried at Clevedon--the home of the Hallams. The
poem contains Tennyson’s expressed thoughts on Life and Death and God
and Man, as well as his passionate grief and love for Arthur Henry
Hallam.
IN MEMORIAM, WILLIAM GEORGE WARD.
Six lines beginning--
‘Farewell, whose living like I shall not find,’
IN THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.
A nurse’s description of the illness and eventual death under an
operation of a little girl in a children’s hospital.
IN THE GARDEN AT SWAINSTON.
A lament for three dead friends, memories of whom are revived by the
garden where they had walked with the poet.
IN THE VALLEY OF CAUTERETZ.
The poet’s memories of a dead friend who had formerly been with him at
Cauteretz.
ISABEL.
Three stanzas in praise of Isabel--a pattern of purity and holy calm.
ISLET, THE.
A woman urges her lover to go with her to a beautiful island he has
described for her. He refuses because
‘a worm is there in the lonely wood,
That pierces the liver and blackens the blood;
And makes it a sorrow to be.’
JUNE BRACKEN AND HEATHER.
Nine lines, dedicating a book to a friend who has
‘a faith as clear as the heights of the June-blue heaven,
And a fancy as summer-new
As the green of the bracken amid the gloom of the heather.’
KAPIOLANI.
Six stanzas in praise of Kapiolani, chieftainess of the Sandwich Isles,
who defied the priesthood of the Island goddess, Peelè, and so won the
people to Christianity.
KATE.
Two stanzas in which is described a lady who bears strong resemblance
to Shakespeare’s Kate--the Shrew.
KRAKEN, THE.
A sonnet describing some sort of horrible sea monster called the Kraken.
LADY CLARA VERE DE VERE.
Nine stanzas addressed by a poet to a certain nobly-born but haughty
lady. He assures her that
‘Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.’
LADY CLARE.
A narrative poem. Lady Clare discovers on the eve of her marriage that
she is not lady Clare, and that the real owner of her lands and wealth
is her husband-to-be. She hastens to tell him the truth. He appreciates
her honesty but declares that he will marry her and that she shall
‘still be Lady Clare.’
LADY OF SHALOTT, THE.