question. The eternity to which the friend belongs is concerned in the poet's present experience of the good (CXXIX) and the beautiful (CXXX). CXXIX. 3-4. O loved a higher: Cf. the proem, lines 39-40. In relation to the section as a whole, this passage suggests: the more the poet perceives the duality of life, the eternal constantly present to the temporal, and yet clearly different in quality, - the better he can feel the nature of his friend, and love it. For the friend's nature is dual: he is at once an earthly being, remembered and understood, but now far off; and an eternal being, not understood, but closely present.

11-12. Behold I dream

world with thee: Cf. the last stanza of CXIV.

CXXX. The question which troubled the poet when applied to the future (see XLVII) disappears here in the experience. of the present. The "soul" has answered "by the thing itself that is inquired after" (Emerson: "The Over-Soul," 17th paragraph). This poem recalls "Adonais," stanzas XLII-XLIII (page 225); but Tennyson's context, tone, and emphasis are quite different from Shelley's.

10-12. My love is vaster passion etc.: Cf. the proem, lines 39-40. CXXXI. This apostrophe is closely related to that of the four opening stanzas of the proem: the "living will" and the "Strong Son of God" are really identical.

9. With faith that comes of self-control: i.e., by exerting our higher will in shaping our lives, we may win firm faith in "one that with us works" (line 8) and "the hands -- moulding men" (last stanza of CXXIV). The idea is repeated, in Christian terms, in the proem, lines 15-16. The quest of faith that runs throughout "In Memoriam" culminates in the pregnant simplicity of this single verse. It reminds us that some ways of faith essayed by the poet proved unfirm; and that, on the other hand, many efforts at self-discipline and self-development, though not guided by faith, were laying a firm way toward it (e.g., LXXXV, 49-52). Faith has been found at the top of the "steppingstones" of effort that were directed, not

11-12. Until we close etc.: Cf.

the mystic experience of XCV, 35-42. EPILOGUE. "The poem concludes," said Tennyson, "with the marriage of my youngest sister Cecilia. It was meant to be a kind of Divina Commedia, ending with happiness." Is this a sufficient justification, artistically, for the epilogue — is it an organic part of "In Memoriam"?

6. he: Hallam. The "dark day" two lines below is that of his death. 13-16. No longer caring etc.: This stanza qualifies "love" (line 12). 27-28. the bridal bower: alluding to Milton's "Paradise Lost," IV, 598 ff.

moon

waged by England, France, and Turkey against Russia.

THE BROOK

Compare "In Memoriam," CI, 9-16. (363.) 1. hern: heron. The "coot" is a duck-like bird.

7. thorps: hamlets, villages.

9. Philip's: Philip is a character in the narrative poem from which this lyric is taken.

19. fairy foreland: diminutive

(fairy-like) promontory.

31. water-break: ripple.
38. covers: coverts, thickets.

COME INTO THE GARDEN

"Maud" (in which this song occurs) is a poem of passion composed of lyrics that progressively unfold a story. In these dramatic lyrics, "different phases of passion in one person," as Tennyson said, "take the place of different characters." The "one person" is the hero, of a high-strung, sensitive disposition, a kind of minor Hamlet, who, before his devotion to Maud, is on the verge of madness or suicide. The best side of his nature is rendered in the pure fervor of such a song as the one here given.

(364.) 892. To: For the syntax, cf. line 886.

WILL

Notice the position of the "citadel" (line 9) and the "city" (line 20) in reference to the person described in each case. (365.) 14. suggesting: insinuating, seducing.

IN THE VALLEY OF CAUTERETZ

The poem resulted from Tennyson's second visit to this beautiful valley in the Pyrenees, in 1861. "Two and thirty years ago" (line 6) actually one and thirty, i.e., in 1830- he had been there with Hallam.

MILTON

This is one of Tennyson's various attempts to reproduce in English the effect of classical verse. "My Alcaics are not intended for Horation Alcaics. . . . The Horatian Alcaic is perhaps the stateliest metre in the world except the Virgilian hexameter at its best; but the Greek Alcaic, if we may judge from the two or three specimens left, had a much freer and lighter movement" (Tennyson).

Lines 1-8 allude to Book Sixth, and lines 9-16 to Book Fourth, of "Paradise Lost."

For Tennyson's early interest in Arthurian romance, see "The Lady of Shalott" (page 301) and "Sir Galahad" (page 319). His first Arthurian poem in blank verse was "Morte d'Arthur," which he composed before October, 1834, but did not publish till 1842. It may be inferred that the death of Hallam, and his subsequent years of brooding and discipline, and his composition of "In Memoriam," postponed whatever plans he may have had for an extensive treatment of the Round Table legends. At length, in 1859, "Enid," "Vivien," "Elaine," and "Guinevere" appeared. Then came another ten years' interval, ending with "The Holy Grail," "The Coming of Arthur," "Pelleas and

Ettarre," and "The Passing of Arthur" (the last named being a reissue, with added introduction and conclusion, of the early "Morte d'Arthur"). In 1871 "The Last Tournament" followed, in 1872 "Gareth and Lynette," and finally, in 1885, "Balin and Balan." The result could hardly be an epic with unified action, such as Tennyson's classical masters, or Milton, would have written; but rather, as his own term suggests, a series of idylls, or graceful, leisurely episodes, affording ample opportunity for the poet's felicitous power of description and his command of the music of verse.

ог

The twelve idylls are connected, however, by the central theme of Arthur's character and purposes. In Malory, he is the colorful king of romance, quite noble in nature but sharing the adventures and the human passions of his knights. In Tennyson, he is the temperate governor, refined and gracious, nobly considerate in his treatment of those around him, but standing, as a rule, rather palely apart from their life. Broadly speaking, he embodies Tennyson's ideal (and, more less, the middle century's ideal) of the modern gentleman-statesman, who holds his spirit above the pulling, tangled forces of the age, and yet strives to shape that age toward fruitful order ever hoping that society may "make one music as before, but vaster." (Review the passages expressing Tennyson's political and social. outlook: e.g., "Love Thou Thy Land," page 310; "In Memoriam," CVI-CXIV, CXXVII. See also Wordsworth's "Blest Statesman," page 55; Disraeli's "Wellington," page 300; etc.).

Tennyson felt the danger to modern society of the unloosed forces of wild idealism on the one hand and, on the other, of selfish desire. In the "Idylls of the King," wild idealism takes the form, mainly, of the romantic-religious ecstasy, followed by sad disillusion, of the unfit knights who follow the quest of the Holy Grail, deserting their Round Table duties. (See the introductory note on "Sir Galahad," page 722, above). That wild ecstasy, from Arthur's standpoint, is kin and ally of the selfish desires which are mainly instrumental in wrecking the State. From the

(366.) 5-8. Blurred by the creeping mist, etc.: This physical atmosphere is maintained throughout the present poem and the first part of the next.

(367.) 28. Enid: the loyal, patient, and pure heroine of the third and fourth idylls, "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid." - lissome: lithesome, nimble.

(368.) 127. weald: open country.

(369.) 147. housel: administration of the Eucharist.

(370.) 234. Lyonesse: a mythical region near Cornwall; see "The Passing of Arthur," line 81 ff. (page 380).

noble

(371.) 289. Bude and Bos: small towns on the coast of Cornwall. (372.) 333-334. For manners mind: Cf. "In Memoriam," CXI, 13-16 (page 355).

(373.) 395. The Dragon etc.: Regarding Arthur's father, we read in Geoffrey of Monmouth: "He was called Uther Pendragon, which in the British tongue signifies the dragon's head; the occasion of this appellation being Merlin's predicting, from the appearance of a dragon, that he should be king."

(377.) 597-601. The moony vapor, etc.: Cf. lines 5-8.

(378.) 668. Let no one dream etc.: echoing line 557.

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR

Lines 170-440 were Tennyson's early "Morte d'Arthur" (see the first paragraph of the note under "From 'Balin and Balan,' above. Compare Malory's Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI, Chapters 3-7, on which this poem is based.

14-17. As if some lesser god had made the world etc.: Cf. "In Memoriam," XXXIV, 5-8 (page 331).

76. this blind haze: See note to page 366, line 5-8, above.

(380.) 119-120. or .. Or: either

or.

(381.) 180. the moon was full: See lines 124-125.

(382.) 205. mere: lake (as in line 219). This is the "great water" previously mentioned (see lines 175-180). In the distance it opens upon the ocean (lines 466-467). (383.) 278. conceit: conception, fancy. (384.) 312. samite: a heavy silk fabric, generally embroidered with gold.

315. and lightly etc.: Contrast the movement of line 280.

(385.) 366. three queens: See lines 452456. Malory says of the three queens: "one was King Arthur's sister, Queen Morgan le Fay; the other was the Queen of Northgalis; the third was the Queen of the Waste Lands. Also there was Nimue, the chief lady of the lake," etc. (XXI, ch. 6).

383. greaves and cuisses: armor for the leg, below the knee and above the knee.

403. an image of the mighty world: See "Guinevere," lines 460-463 (page 374). (386.) 427. Avilion: the Celtic equivalent of the classical Happy Isles (see note to "Ulysses," line 63, page 720, above). The ensuing description is largely based on classical rather than Celtic sources. With line 431 compare Odyssey, X, 195.

445. From the great deep, etc.: "Merlin's song when he [Arthur] was born" (Tennyson).

NORTHERN FARMER

Here also "The old order changeth, yielding place to new" (line 408 of the preceding poem). — These two Northern Farmer monologues should be read aloud, successively, before being studied. The Lincolnshire dialect (the rustic speech of Tennyson's native county) has something of the Scotch "broadness," but also a decided drawl. A drawling and slurred pronunciation, not a sharp dieresis, is indicated by the two dots over the second of two vowels, e.g., "aäle." The pronouns "he" and "they," sometimes "I," are slurred into "a;" "me" into "ma;" "him" into "um;" and so on. Note also that oi=i (y); ow = ou (as in "hour").

OLD STYLE

liggin': lying.

(387.) 10. 'issèn: himself. II. toithe: tithe.

14. cast oop: cast up, confessed. Marris: Morris. - barne: bairn, child. 16. raäte: rate, poor tax.

18. bummin': buzzing, droning.buzzard-clock: cockchafer.

27-28. I weänt saäy etc.: The farmer's underlying notion seems to be as follows:- The Parson may be sincere, in spite of his smooth manner. And, in his own place, he may have hold of the truth (lines 17-20). As he is not a hard worker, however, how can he know God's intention in regard to me? But if it be true that God is taking me, then he, like his parson, is meddling in a practical matter that he doesn't understand (lines 43-52). 30. boggle: bogey, goblin.

31. butter-bump: bittern.

-

32. stubbed: To stub a piece of land ("lot") is to pull out the stubs or tree-roots. raäved an' rembled: tore up ("rived") and threw out. When he prepared the ground for cultivation, he got rid of the bogey too.

33. Keäper's: i.e., it was the ghost of the keeper or game-warden of Thurnaby "waste" (wild piece of woodland). 34. 'enemies: anemones.

35. toäner: one or the other.
36. 'soize: the assizes.

(387.) 38. fuzz: furze, also commonly known as gorse.

40. yows: ewes.

(388.) 49. aäpoth: halfpennyworth.

52. hoälms: holms, level land on

the banks of a stream.

53. quoloty: quality, gentry.

54. thessen: themselves.

60. rembles: pulls out.

66. 'toättler: teetotaler.

NEW STYLE

To the old-style tenant farmer succeeds the new-style independent farmer with property interests - and different virtues! 5. a craw to pluck: something awkward to settle (proverbial).

7. to weeäk: this week.
15. blaws: blows, blossoms.
17. stunt: obstinate.

(389.) 24. as 'ant nowt: that has nothing. 26. addle: earn.

27. clear: i.e., clear of debt. 30. got shut on: got rid of. 31. grip: ditch for draining a field. He's like a sheep on its back in the "ditch," unable to get up till somebody "lends a shove."

tion of him if we could fully understand and appreciate it. This we cannot do, because of the limitation of our faculties (lines 17-18): we fulfil our proper destiny when we catch "broken gleams" of God in Nature (lines 9-10). In the realm of the spirit, however, we can have direct contact with him (lines 11-12; cf. "In Memoriam," CXXIV, page 358). (390.) 3-4. Is not the Vision He live in dreams: Though only a dream or appearance, the universe may transiently represent God to us.