English Narrative Poems Part 32

The death of his close friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, in 1833 was a terrible blow to Tennyson and one from which it took him many years to recover. It was, however, the inspiration for his elegy _In Memoriam_, written for the most part during the period when the loss was felt most keenly. For some time after, Tennyson lived quietly, gaining in power and expression, and busy training himself for the future. The product of this seclusion came in two volumes of poetry, printed in 1842, which were enthusiastically greeted. In 1845 Wordsworth wrote, "Tennyson is decidedly the first of our living poets." _The Princess; A Medley_, appeared in 1847, and three years later he gave to the world the completed _In Memoriam_. This same year (1850) is also notable for his marriage with Miss Emily Sellwood and his appointment as poet-laureate in place of Wordsworth, who had just died.

From this time on his place in literature was secured, and he lived a happy life, making occasional short trips in England and on the continent, but remaining for the most part quietly at his estate on the Isle of Wight. Among his later works are _Maud_ (1855), _Enoch Arden_ (1864), _Idylls of the King_ (finished 1872), a group of _Ballads, and Other Poems_ (1880), and several dramas. He accepted a peerage in 1883.

Nine years later he died and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Tennyson, in the range and scope of his work, in the variety of his interests, and in the versatility of his art, is the most representative poet of the nineteenth century. He tried many kinds of poetry and met with some success in all. He learned versification as Stevenson did his prose style, by long-continued study and practice, with the result that he became eventually a supreme literary artist, a master of melody in words. His diction is admirably precise and exact, and he is easy to read and understand. While he is rarely profound or searching, like Browning, neither is he overintellectual; but he embeds sane and safe thought in a mould of beauty. He was a national poet in his patriotism and fondness for English scenery. Finally he was an apostle of religious optimism, ready to combat the morbid beliefs which were disturbing contemporary philosophy.

DORA (Page 103)

Published in 1842.

The clearness and simplicity of this exquisite pastoral make any explanatory notes superfluous. Regarding it, Wordsworth once said to Tennyson, "I have been endeavoring all my life to write a pastoral like your Dora and have not yet succeeded."

OeNONE (Page 108)

Most of this poem was written in 1830 while Tennyson was travelling in the Pyrenees Mountains with his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. The descriptions of scenery belong, therefore, to that district, and not to the vicinity of ancient Troy. _Oenone_ was first published in 1832, but was afterward frequently revised; it appears here in the final form approved by Tennyson himself.

[176] 1. =Ida= is a mountain in northwest Asia Minor near the site of Troy.

[177] 2. =Ionian=; Grecian.

[178] 10. Gargarus is the highest peak of Mount Ida.

[179] 13. =Troas= is the district in northwest Asia Minor in which was located the city of Troy.

[180] 13. =Ilion= was the Greek name for Troy.

[181] 16. =Paris= was the son of Priam, king of Troy, and his wife Hecuba.

[182] 37. =River-G.o.d=; Cebren, the G.o.d of a small river near Troas.

[183] 40. =Rose slowly.= According to tradition, Neptune, the G.o.d of the sea, was the founder of Troy, but was a.s.sisted by Apollo, who raised the walls to the music of his lyre.

[184] 51. =Simois=; a river having its source in Mount Ida.

[185] 65. =Hesperian gold.= The apples of Hesperides were made of pure gold. They were given to Here as a wedding present, and thereafter guarded night and day by a dragon. Hercules finally secured three of them through a stratagem.

[186] 66. =Ambrosially.= Ambrosia was the food of the G.o.ds.

[187] 72. =Oread.= The Oreads were nymphs who were supposed to guide travellers through dangerous places on the mountains.

[188] 79. =Peleus=; a king of Phitia who married Thetis, a sea-nymph. To the wedding feast all the immortals were invited except Eris, G.o.ddess of discord. In revenge, she cast a golden apple on the banquet table before the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, with an inscription awarding it to the most beautiful among them. The strife which followed resulted in the choosing of Paris as judge in the matter.

[189] 81. =Iris= was the messenger and attendant of Juno. She frequently appeared in the form of a rainbow.

[190] 83. =Here= (Roman Juno) was the wife and sister of Zeus (Roman Jupiter), and therefore Queen of Heaven.

[191] 84. =Pallas= (Roman Minerva) was the G.o.ddess of wisdom.

[192] 84. =Aphrodite= (Roman Venus) was the G.o.ddess of beauty and love.

[193] 95. =Amaracus=; a fragrant flower.

[194] 95. =Asphodel=; supposed to have been a variety of Narcissus.

[195] 102. The =peac.o.c.k= was a bird sacred to Here.

[196] 151. =Guerdon=; reward.

[197] 170. =Idalian=; so-called from Idalium, a town in Cyprus sacred to Aphrodite.

[198] 171. =Paphian=; a reference to Paphos in Cyprus where Aphrodite first set foot after her birth from sea foam.

[199] 195. =Pard=; leopard.

[200] 220. =The Abominable=; Eris, the G.o.ddess already referred to.

[201] 257. =The Greek woman=; Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta.

She was the wife promised to Paris by Aphrodite as his reward for his decision. Paris stole her from her husband through the direction of Aphrodite, and carried her back to Troy. As a result of this act, the Greeks, under Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon, joined in an attack on Troy which ended, after ten years, in the capture of that city. In the course of the siege Paris was killed.

[202] 259. =Ca.s.sandra=; the daughter of Priam, and hence the sister of Paris. She was condemned by Apollo to utter prophesies which, though true, would never be believed.

The conclusion of the story of Oenone and Paris may be read in Tennyson's own _Death of Oenone_ or in William Morris's _Death of Paris_.

ENOCH ARDEN (Page 117)

This poem was written in 1862, its actual composition taking only two weeks, although the poet had been considering the theme for some time.

It was first printed in 1864 and became popular at once, sixty thousand copies being sold in a very short period.

[203] 7. =Danish barrows= are burial mounds supposed to have been left by the early Danish invaders of England.

[204] 18. The =fluke= is the part of the anchor which fastens in the ground.

[205] 36. =Wife to both.= This line is a prophecy of future events in the story.

[206] 94. =Osier.= The reference is to baskets made of osier, a kind of willow.

[207] 98. The =lion-whelp= was evidently a heraldic device over the gateway to the hall.

[208] 99. =Peac.o.c.k-yewtree=; a yewtree cut, after the fashion of the old landscape gardeners, into the shape of a peac.o.c.k.

[209] 213. =Look on yours.= This is another prophetic line.

[210] 326. =Garth=; a yard or garden.

[211] 337. =Conies=; rabbits.