A Study of Poetry Part 24

C. "EXPRESSION."

What may be said in general of his handling of the lyric form: as to unity, brevity, simplicity of structure? Occasional use of presentative rather than representative language? Choice of metres? Use of rhymes?

Modification of rhythm and sound to suit the idea conveyed? Evidence of the artist's caring for either form or content to the neglect of the other? Note whatever differences may be traced, in all these respects, between Tennyson's earlier and later lyrics.

III

TENNYSON'S NARRATIVE POETRY

[Write a criticism of the distinctively narrative work of Tennyson, based upon the questions suggested below.]

A. "IMPRESSION" (i. e., experience, thought, emotion).

_General Characteristics._

After cla.s.sifying Tennyson's narrative poetry, how many of his themes seem to you to be of his own invention? Name those based, ostensibly at least, upon the poet's own experience. To what extent do you find his narrative work purely objective, i. e., without admixture of reflective or didactic elements? What themes are of mythical or legendary origin? Of those having a historical basis, how many are drawn from English sources? Does his use of narrative material ever show a deficiency of emotion; i. e., could the story have been better told in prose? Has he the story-telling gift?

_Of Nature._

How far does the description of natural phenomena, as outlined in Topic II, A, enter into Tennyson's narrative poetry? Does it always have a subordinate place, as a part of the setting of the story? Does it overlay the story with too ornate detail? Does it ever r.e.t.a.r.d the movement unduly?

_Of Man._ (Note that some of the points mentioned under _General Characteristics_ apply here.)

What can you say of Tennyson's power of observing character? Of conceiving characters in complication and collision with one another or with circ.u.mstances? Give ill.u.s.trations of the range of human relationships touched upon in these poems. Do the later narratives show an increased proportion of tragic situations? Does Tennyson's narrative poetry throw any light upon his att.i.tude towards contemporary English society?

_Of G.o.d._ (See Topic II, A.)

B. "TRANSFORMING IMAGINATION."

Adjust the questions already suggested under Topic II, B, to narrative poetry. Note especially the revelation of Tennyson's personality through the instinctive processes by which his narrative material is transformed.

C. "EXPRESSION."

What may be said in general of his handling of the narrative form, i. e., his management of the setting, the characters and the plot in relation to one another? Have his longer poems, like the "Idylls," and "The Princess,"

the unity, breadth, and sustained elevation of style that are usually a.s.sociated with epic poetry? What can you say of Tennyson's mastery of distinctly narrative metres? Of his technical skill in suiting rhythm and sound to the requirements of his story?

IV

TENNYSON'S DRAMAS

[Reference books for the study of the technique of the drama are easily available. As preparatory work it will be well to make a careful study of Tennyson's dramatic monologues, both in the earlier and later periods.

These throw a good deal of light upon his skill in making characters delineate themselves, and they reveal incidentally some of his methods of dramatic narrative. For this paper, however, please confine your criticism to "Queen Mary," "Harold," "Becket," "The Cup," "The Falcon," "The Promise of May," and "The Foresters." In studying "Becket," compare Irving's stage version of the play (Macmillan).]

A. Cla.s.sify the themes of Tennyson's dramas. Do you think that these themes offer promising dramatic material? Do you regard Tennyson's previous literary experience as a help or a hindrance to success in the drama?

_Nature._ Apply what is suggested under this head in Topics I, II, and III, to drama.

_Man._ Apply to the dramas what is suggested under this head in Topics II and III, especially as regards the observation of character, the conception of characters in collision, and the sense of the variety of human relationships. Do these plays give evidence of a genuine comic sense? What tragic forces seem to have made the most impression upon Tennyson? Give ill.u.s.trations, from the plays, of the conflict of the individual with inst.i.tutions.

_G.o.d._ Comment upon Tennyson's doctrine of necessity and retribution. Does his allotment of poetic justice show a sympathy with the moral order of the world? Are these plays in harmony with Tennyson's theology, as indicated elsewhere in his work? Do they contain any clear exposition of the problems of the religious life?

B. Compare Topic II, B. In the historical dramas, can you trace the influence of the poet's own personality in giving color to historical personages? Compare Tennyson's delineation of any of these personages with that of other poets, novelists, or historians. Do you think he has the power of creating a character, in the same sense as Shakespeare had it?

How much of his dramatic work do you consider purely objective, i. e., untinged by what was called the lyric egoism?

C. What may be said in general of Tennyson's handling of the dramatic form? Has he "the dramatic sense"? Of his management of the web of circ.u.mstance in which the characters are involved and brought into conflict? Comment upon his technical skill as displayed in the different "parts" and "moments" of his dramas. Does his exhibition of action fulfill dramatic requirements? Is his vocabulary suited to stage purposes? Give instances of his purely lyric and narrative gifts as incidentally ill.u.s.trated in his dramas. Instance pa.s.sages that cannot in your opinion be successfully acted. In your reading of these plays, or observation of any of them that you have seen acted, are you conscious of the absence of any quality or qualities that would heighten the pleasure they yield you?

Taken as a whole, is the form of the various plays artistically in harmony with the themes employed?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This list includes the more important books and articles in English which have been discussed or referred to in the text. There is an excellent bibliography in Alden's _Introduction to Poetry_, and Patterson's _Rhythm in Prose_ contains a full list of the more technical articles dealing with rhythms in prose and verse.

ALDEN, RAYMOND M.

_English Verse_. New York, 1903.

_An Introduction to Poetry_. New York, 1909.

"The Mental Side of Metrical Form," in _Mod. Lang. Review_, July, 1914.

ALEXANDER, HARTLEY B.

_Poetry and the Individual_. New York, 1906.

ANDREWS, C. E.

_The Writing and Reading of Verse_. New York, 1918.

ARISTOTLE.

_Theory of Poetry and Fine Art_, edited by S. H. Butcher. New York, 1902.

_On the Art of Poetry_, edited by Lane Cooper. Boston, 1913.

BABBITT, IRVING.

_The New Laokoon_. Boston and New York, 1910.

BERNBAUM, ERNEST, _editor_.

_English Poets of the 18th Century_. New York, 1918.

BOSANQUET, BERNARD.

_A History of Aesthetic_. New York, 1892.

_Three Lectures on Aesthetic_. London, 1915.

BRADLEY, A. C.

_Oxford Lectures on Poetry_. London, 1909.

BRAITHWAITE, WILLIAM S., _editor_.

_The Book of Elizabethan Verse_. Boston, 1907.

_Anthology of Magazine Verse 1913-19_. New York, 1915.

BRIDGES, ROBERT.