Tennyson's Life and Poetry Part 4

_Poemes de Alfredo Tennyson_--_Enoch Arden_, _Gareth y Lynette_, _Merlin y Bibiana_, etc. Tr. by D. Vicente de Arana. Barcelona, 1883.

ITALIAN.

_Idilli, Liriche, Mite e Leggende, Enoc Arden._ Tr. by C. Faccioli.

Verona, 1876.

_Tommaso Crammero e Maria e Filippo._[47] Tr. by C. Faccioli. Verona, 1878.

_Il Primo Diverbio._[48] Tr. by E. Castelnuovo. Venice, 1886.

_La Prima Lite._[48] Tr. by P. T. Pavolini. Bologna, 1888.

LATIN.

_In Memoriam._ Tr. into Elegiac verse by O. A. Smith. 1866.

_Enoch Arden_: Poema Tennysonianum Latine Redditum W. Selwyn. London, 1867.

_Horae Tennysonianae_: sive Eclogae e Tennysono Latine Redditae A. J. Church.

London and Cambridge, 1870.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Three volumes of verse by Frederick Tennyson have appeared, viz.: _Days and Hours_ (1854); _Isles of Greece; Sappho and Alcaeus_ (1890); _Daphne, and Other Poems_ (1801). The published works of Charles Turner are as follows: _Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces_ (1830); _Sonnets_ (1864); _Small Tableaux_ (1868); _Sonnets, Lyrics and Translations_ (1873); _Collected Sonnets, Old and New_ (1880). Edward Tennyson (1813-1890) achieved something of a reputation as a versifier; he contributed a sonnet to the _Yorks.h.i.+re Annual_ for 1832.

[2] Edward Fitzgerald, in a letter written in 1835, says: "I will say no more of Tennyson than that the more I have seen of him, the more cause I have to think him great. His little humours and grumpinesses were so droll, that I was always laughing.... I felt what Charles Lamb describes, a sense of depression at times from the overshadowing of a so much more lofty intellect than my own."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i.

[3] "Tennyson has been in town for some time: he has been making fresh poems, which are finer, they say, than any he has done. But I believe he is chiefly meditating on the purging and subliming of what he has already done: and repents that he has published at all yet. It is fine to see how in each succeeding poem the smaller ornaments and fancies drop away, and leave the grand ideas single."--_Letters of Edward Fitzgerald_, vol. i., p. 21.

Extract from a letter dated October 23, 1833.

[4] "Alfred Tennyson dined with us. I am always a little disappointed with the exterior of our poet when I look at him, in spite of his eyes, which are very fine; but his head and face, striking and dignified as they are, are almost too ponderous and ma.s.sive for beauty in so young a man; and every now and then there is a slightly sarcastic expression about his mouth that almost frightens me, in spite of his shy manner and habitual silence."--f.a.n.n.y Kemble's _Records of a Girlhood_, pp. 519-20.

This entry in f.a.n.n.y Kemble's journal is dated June 16, 1832.

[5] Fitzgerald, in a letter written in London (April, 1838) says: "We have had Alfred Tennyson here; very droll, and very wayward: and much sitting up of nights till two and three in the morning with pipes in our mouths: at which good hour we would get Alfred to give us some of his magic music, which he does between growling and smoking."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., pp. 42, 43.

[6] Milnes, in a letter dated July 20, 1856, gives this glimpse of the Laureate's domestic life: "He is himself much happier than he used to be, and devoted to his children, who are beautiful."--_Reid's Life of Lord Houghton_, Vol. I.

[7] The time of Tennyson's removal from Twickenham to Farringford can be fixed with tolerable definiteness. Fitzgerald writes (Oct. 25, 1853): "I am going to see the last of the Tennysons at Twickenham;" and again (in December, 1853): "I hear from Mrs. Alfred they are got to their new abode in the Isle of Wight."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., pp.

225-6.

[8] In 1865, Alfred Tennyson was elected a member of the Royal Society; in 1869, an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and, in 1884, president of the Incorporated Society of Authors. He is also president of the London Library.

[9] "An interesting fact relating to the poet's descent may here be mentioned. His mother's mother (Mrs. Fytche) was a granddaughter of a certain Mons. Fauvelle, a French Huguenot, who was related to Madame de Maintenon."--Church's _Laureate's Country_, p. 10.

[10] Edward Fitzgerald, in a letter written soon after Charles Turner's death (April 25, 1879), says: "Tennyson's elder, not eldest, brother is dead; and I was writing only yesterday to persuade Spedding to insist on Macmillan publis.h.i.+ng a complete edition of Charles' Sonnets: graceful, tender, beautiful, and quite original little things."--_Letters and Literary Remains_, vol. i., p. 437.

[11] Mary Tennyson (1810-1884) married the Hon. Alan Ker, Puisine Judge of the Supreme Court of Jamaica.

[12] Emily Tennyson (1811-1887), who was betrothed to Arthur Hallam about 1830, became the wife of Capt. Richard Jesse, R. N.

[13] The Hon. Lionel Tennyson was attacked by jungle fever during a visit to India, and died on board the Chusan, near Aden, April 20, 1886, aged thirty-two. He was a profound student of dramatic poetry, and would have won a name for himself in literature. For several years he was connected with the India office, and prepared a masterly report on "The Moral and Material Condition of India," for 1881-82. In 1878, he married the accomplished daughter of Frederick Locker. The eldest of their three sons is the "golden-haired Ally" who inspired the well-known verses of his grandfather.

[14] "Queen Mary" was produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in April, 1876--Miss Bateman as Mary and Irving as Philip.

[15] "The Cup" was played at the Lyceum in January, 1881--Irving taking the part of Synorix and Miss Terry that of Camma.

[16] "The Falcon" was presented at St. James' Theatre, London, in December, 1879--Mr. Kendal playing the role of Count Federigo and Mrs.

Kendal that of Lady Giovanna.

[17] "The Promise of May" was performed at the Globe Theatre, London, (Nov. 11-Dec. 16, 1882), with Mrs. Bernard-Beere as Dora, Miss Emmeline Ormsby as Eva, Mr. Hermann Vezin as Edgar and Mr. Charles Kelly as Dobson.

[18] "The Foresters" was produced at Daly's Theatre, New York, (Mar.

17-April 22, 1892),--Mr. John Drew in the role of Robin Hood and Miss Ada Rehan as Maid Marian.

[19] Walter's _In Tennyson Land_, p. 62.

[20] Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, vol. xv., p. 651.

[21] Johnson's _Cyclopedia_, vol. vii., p. 755.

[22] _Ibid._

[23] J. H. Ward, in _Atlantic Monthly_, Sept., 1879.

[24] _Encyclopedia Americana_, vol. iv., p. 660.

[25] J. A. Graham, in _Art Journal_, Feb., 1891.

[26] Lodge's _Peerage_ (1888), p. 597.

[27] _Art Journal_, Feb., 1891.

[28] _Atlantic Monthly_, Sept., 1879.

[29] A full transcript of the inscription on the rector's tomb is given in Church's _Laureate's Country_ (p. 27), a work that is simply invaluable to students of Tennyson.

"Somersby and Bag Enderby are hamlets about one quarter of a mile apart,"

says Gatty, "and are held by one Rector, who now resides at the latter place."--_Key to "In Memoriam."_ Preface.

"Not far from the south-eastern extremity of this Wold country is the little village of Somersby. The nearest town to it is Horncastle, which is six miles to the south-east.... Somersby is something less than fifteen miles from the sea."--Church's _Laureate's Country_.