Indiana University Press

Indiana University Press
Alfred Tennyson: The Poetry and Politics of Conservative Vision

Author(s): Robert Preyer
Source: Victorian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Jun., 1966), pp. 325-352
Published by: Indiana University Press
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RobertPreyer
ALFRED TENNYSON: THE POETRY AND POLITICS

OF CONSERVATIVE VISION
N 1959 ARTHURCAR CONCLUDEDa discussion of Tennyson by

thathe was indeed"the'heirof all theages,'thein-
remarking
dubitable scion-perhaps the last-of the longest and best
honoredtradition ofEnglishpoetry, descending fromSpenserand Mil-
ton and, throughthem,fromclassicaland Christianorigins."lThis
evaluation,widelyacceptedtoday,is not questionedby the present
writer.The concernin this paper lies elsewhere-withTennyson's
inabilityto utilizethisgreattraditionas a meansof clarifying and
his
enriching responses to thelifeabout him even though, surprisingly,
he foundin it a basisfora specialand enduring artistic
achievement.
The first -
point Tennyson's to utilizethisgreattradition
inability as a
meansofclarifying and enrichinghisresponses to thelifeabouthim-
can be illustratedrathereasilyand we shallbeginwiththat.But to
arguethata basisforgreatartcanbe a setofideasand artistic conven-
1 ArthurJ. Carr, VictorianPoetry:Clough to Kipling (New York, 1959), p. ix. An in-

terestingaccount of the Christianhumanisttraditionas it was received and developed
by the Victorianpoets followson pp. ix-xxi.
JUNE 1966
326 RobertPreyer
tionswhichwere,apparently, irrelevantor inadequateto thesenseof

thehumansituation and ofthenatureoflifein histime- thiswillbe
moredifficult.
Especiallyso ifwe assenttotheproposition advancedby
F. R. Leavisthat"a seriousinterestin literature
startsfromthepresent
and assumesthatliterature matters, in thefirst
placeat anyrate,as the
consciousnessoftheage. If a literarytraditiondoesnotkeepitselfalive
here,in thepresent,as a pervasiveinfluence uponfeeling,
thought and
standardsofliving... thenitmustbe pronounced tobe dyingordead."
way of indicating
The simplest Tennyson's to respond
inability
withdepthorprecision to thelifeabouthimis topointto theevidence
ofa numberofpoemswhichproposeto recordand perpetuate experi-
enceswhichseemedto himworthhaving.3 It wouldbe unfairandtire-
someto examineheretheimmature workwhichexhibits - as is natural
- all the symptomsof a poet who is learninghow to composeverse
We see this,forexample,in "Isabel"
accordingto receivedtraditions.
a
(supposedly portraitof hismother),
Thestatelyflower
offemale
fortitude,
Ofperfect andpurelowlihead.
wifehood
A leaningandupbearing
parasite.
It is an orotundexercisein phrasing and soundeffects.In theabsence
ofanypersonally felttheme,theGrandStyle(complete witharchaisms,
euphemisms, andelaborateassonance)is employed toconveytheGrand
Platitude. Therecan be no doubt,however, thathisfeelings are deeply
engaged in theseriesof poems
patriotic composed in the 1830's which
give expression to the conventional upper-classconservative pieties
whichonemight notexpectfroma recentCambridge graduatewhowas
also a memberoftheeliteApostlesClub.An expertinvestigator ofthe
Heath Manuscript, Mary Donahue (Ullman)wryly concluded, "In
1830Englandemerged from about a of
half-centuryuninterrupted Tory
domination. Tennyson, did not emergewiththe century."4
certainly,
2 F. R. Leavis, Educationand the University(New York,1948), p. 119.

s It will be useful to recall I. A. Richards'commentthat the poet is "the man who is
mostlikelyto have experiencesof value to record.He is the pointat whichthe growth
of themindshowsitself"(Principlesof LiteraryCriticism[London, 1947], p. 61).
4 Mary Joan Donahue, "Tennyson'sHail Briton!and Tithonin the Heath Manuscript,"
PMLA, LXIV (1949), 398. Otherpatrioticpoems of the period include "You ask me,
why, tho' ill at ease," "Of old sat Freedom on the heights,""Love thou thy land"
(all 1833).
VICTORIAN STUDIES
TENNYSON: CONSERVATIVE VISION 327
The HeathMS of"HailBriton!"

elaborates
on"theblindhysterics
ofthe
Celt"(In Memoriam,
CIX) withsuch commentsas thefollowing:
Yetfearthatpassionmayconvulse
Thyjudgement:feartheneighborhood
Of thatunstableCelticblood
That neverkeepsan equal pulse. (Stanza 5)
Only"menofSaxonpithand nerve"wereto be trusted in 1831,it ap-

pears.Similarlyone finds
herenotthe"liberalism" talkedup by
recently
Professor DeMott5butratheran habitualnagginginsistence
thatthings
are goingtoo fastfor"suchan aged commonwealth," thatthepeople
mightgetthewrongidea and evenattempt to concernthemselves in
politics.His horror
is
Lest thisgreatpeople,chafedin mind,
Should slightthe thingsthatwentbefore:
And love of novelformsavail
To quenchthelightof Reverence. (Stanzas lo, 11)
These stanzas,it seems certain,were writtenconcurrently
withpartsof
In Memoriam("Hail Briton!"is an extendedexercisein the In Me-
moriam stanzaform).The objectiontothemis thattheyareideological
conventional,
cliches,utterly thesortofthingthatpartyzealotswould
say buthere couched in a graveMiltonicstyle.In "Lovethouthyland"
thepressure ofa stronglyheldpersonalopinionis obviously
present:
But pampernota hastytime,
Norfeedwithcrudeimaginings
The herd,wild beastsand feeblewings
can lime.
That everysophister
- buttheremainder
ofthepoemlimpson withtheaid ofa roteofper-
sonifiedabstractions(Reverence,Prejudice,Discussion,Nature,and the
like)untilwe stumble to theforegone conclusion,"Earnwellthethrifty
nor
months, wed/ Raw Haste, half-sister
to Delay."Thesepoemsare
earlyand slightand are mentioned onlyto indicatethatTennyson's
politicalandsocialattitudesinthe1830'scloselyresembled thosewhich
obtainedamongthecountry gentryin thetimes of theFrenchRevolu-
tion.Out of themhe fashioned thesplendid "Ode on theDeath ofthe
5 Benjamin DeMott, "The General, The Poet and The Inquisition,"Kenyon Review,
XXIV (1962), 442-456. See also Donahue, p. 399: "But for most of the Apostles,
did notsurvive
liberalism AndTennyson,
commencement.. wholeftCambridge
before
them,seems, despite his son's anxious assertions,to have lost groundquickly,left to
himself."
StopfordBrooke noted that "The only strugglesfor freedomwith which he openly
sympathizedwere those of Poland in his youthand Montenegroin his age." Italy is
rarelymentioned;nor does he commenton the struggleagainst slavery.See Stopford
Brooke,Tennyson:His Artand Relationto ModernLife (London, 1894), p. 36.
JUNE 1966
328 Robert Preyer
Duke of Wellington"(1852; revised version,1855), perhaps the last

greatpublic occasional poem in English.The Iron Duke is the embodi-
ment of all those values in the English traditionwhich Tennysonad-
mired,and in writingof him the poet is able to speak out withthe full
authoritative power and simplicityone associateswithMilton.One can-
not say this,however,of the threeanti-Gallican,war-mongering poems
inspired by the coup d'etat of Napoleon III in 1851 - "Hands All
Round," "Britons,Guard your Own," and "The Third of February,
1852"; nor are we comfortablewith the revised "Conclusion"to The
Princesswhere similarsentimentsare expressedby "mycollege friend,
The Torymember'selder son." These passages correspondto the more
primitivefeelingsand impulses,to the firstthoughtsand established
prejudicesof a confirmed haterof France.6
It may well be true,as G. M. Young argues,that Tennysonbe-
tween 1840 and 1860 surplantedJamesThomsonas the greatmiddle-
class poet.7It cannotbe said, however,thathis patrioticpoems (with
the one exceptionwe have mentioned) show any notable advance on
the sortof thingThomsonturnedout in thisline - such as "Britannia"
(1729) and the interminable "Liberty"(1735-36). The truthis, one sus-
pects,that Tennysondid not reflectverydeeply on contemporary po-
litical and social affairs,he simplyreacted to them. His heart and
intellectwere with old England as it had developed historicallyunder
the aegis of Crownand aristocracy.As StopfordBrookenoted,"He was
alwaysan aristocrat, thoughhe would have said,withjustice,thatitwas
a government of the best men thathe desired,and not a government of
rankand birthalone. Rank and birth,when theywere unworthyoftheir
privilegedposition,he despised and denounced,because theywere in-
human. But I do not thinkthat he ever wished that rank should be
dissolved,or privilegesoverthrown, or thathe even conceivedthe idea
thatthe people of themselveswere to choose the best men ... When it
came to extendingthatcommunity of humanrelationship[forexample,
the "commonfeelings and duties of the race"] into the politicalor the
6 Sir Charles Tennysonoffersnumerousexamples of the poet's anti-Gallicanfrenzyin

1852. "Hands All Round" was composed"with tears streamingdown his cheeks"; the
Catholic Church was called "That half-Paganharlotkept by France." He blurtsout
thiscomment:"By the livingGod France is in a loathsomestate." It was a feelingthat
stayedwithhim and was revivedby the onsetof the Franco-Prussian War. In 1870 the
poet is quoted as saying"The frightful
corruptionof theirliteraturemakes one fearthat
they [the French] are going straightto Hell." These quotationsare taken fromSir
Charles' biography, Alfred Tennyson (New York, 1949), pp. 265-266, 390.
7 G. M. Young, VictorianEssays, ed. W. D. Handcock (London, 1962), pp. 51-54.
Young's discussionof how Tennysontook over the audience for whom Thomsonwas
the poet par excellenceoccursin "The Age of Tennyson,"WhartonLecture on English
Poetry,BritishAcademy,read 29 March 1939.
VICTORIAN STUDIES
From Punch, XXIII (September 1852), 149.
JUNE 1966
330 Robert Preyer
social sphere,he notonlydrewback,he did notunderstand whatit

meant"(Brooke,p. 33).
This seemsto me a fairaccountof Tennyson's position;it ex-
plainsin goodpartwhyit was thatTennyson could"speakout"in the
grandMiltonicmodeonlywhendealingwiththatgrandsurvivalfrom
the past,the Duke of Wellington. His otherattempts to do so are
regularlyvitiatedbya failureoftone:thepoemsaredeeplyambivalent,
theylackauthority and assurance.
As an exampleofthiswe maynoteTennyson's curioushabitof
disavowing the authorityof his speakers.The dominant male in The
The heroof Maud is half-mad;
Princesshas fainting-fits. we are not
to takehisopinions veryseriously. early"Thoughts Suicide"is
The ofa
watered-down to "SupposedConfessions of a Second-rateSensitive
Mindnotin unitywithItself"in a further revision.
When"TheCharge
of the Heavy Brigade" (1882) reappeared in 1885 it flourishedan
Epiloguein which"ThePoet"playfully defendshismilitaryardorfrom
"Irene."Examplesofthissortofshilly-shallying
areplentiful.
Fitzgerald
pointed outthatsometime after a
1835 prologue(entitled"The Epic")
and an epiloguewereadded to "Morted'Arthur"(1833)to provide"an
excuse fortellingan old worldtale."8"The Epic" describesa Christmas
meeting ParsonHolmes,thePoetEverardHall,the
offourold friends,
speaker, and the host,FrancisAllen.Theirconversationis carefully
limitedto topicsof the day-"Now harpingon the Church-commis-
sioners,/Nowhawkingat geologyand schism"(11.15-16)- untilEver-
ard is asked to explainwhyhis earlyArthurianpoemswere never
published.The explanationfollows:
'0, sir,
He thought thatnothing newwas said,orelse
Something - thata truth
so said 'twasnothing
Looks freshestin thefashionofthe day;
God knows;he has a mintof reasons;ask.
It pleasedme wellenough.''Nay,nay,'said Hall,
'Whytakethestyleof thoseheroictimes?
For naturebringsnotback themastodon,
Norwe thosetimes;and whyshouldanyman
Remodelmodels?
(11. 29-38)
Neverthelessthe poet is prevailedupon to read "Morted'Arthur," a
poem which fartranscends in theme and accomplishmentthe trivial
apologeticswhichframeit. It is, of course,a powerful
renditionof a
mythhavingto do withthe deathof a heroand the sad
traditional
8 Hallam Tennyson,Alfred,Lord Tennyson:A Memoir(London, 1898), I, 189, 194n.
VICTORIAN STUDIES
plightof a survivor who can findno authority to fillthevoidthatthe

deathcreated.In obviousrespectsthiselegyis a precursor to the"Ode
on theDeathoftheDuke ofWellington," thoughoccasioned, perhaps,
by the deaths (within two yearsof each other) ofhis fatherand hisbest
friend.Yettheaccompanying matter indicatesthatTennyson is uneasy
in his use of thisparticular episodefromthe "matterof Britain," no
longer securein his to
efforts relatea traditionalpoetic mode and matter
to contemporary experience. He wishesto be positivein hissocialand
politicalstance,to discusscurrentaffairsas an interestedcitizen.Yethe
is everdrawnto storieswhichsuggestthattheold orderis dyingor
dead, thatno meansof replenishing its authorityis availableto the
survivors:
AhlMy LordArthur, whither shallI go?
WhereshallI hide myforeheadand myeyes?
FornowI see thetrueold timesare dead,
And I, thelast,go forthcompanionless,
Andthedaysdarkenroundme,and theyears,
Amongnewmen,strangefaces,otherminds.
(11.278-280, 287-289)
Arthur repliesby citingtheGreatChainofBeing ("For so thewhole

roundearthis everyway/BoundbygoldchainsaboutthefeetofGod"
[11.305-306]),butthisis coldcomfort forSirBedivere.The truth ofthe
matteris thatTennysondoes feelabandonedin themodemuniverse
and pretendsthisis notso. "On God and Godlikemenwe build our
trust"he criesoutin theWellington Ode (1. 266) -but he is burying
theGreatDuke and likeCarlyle,hispoliticalmentor, he looksaround
in vainfora new Cromwell.
Hereis therootofthetrouble:thetradition ofChristianhuman-
ismoffers littlehelpin the of
process selecting leaders(and formulating
policies) in an unheroicage. If we werecommitted to a beliefthat
Providential Orderand DivineGovernance are displayedin thetrans-
actionsrecordedby historians, well and good: theChristian humanist
has an explanation (God's mercyor justice) fortheriseto powerof
saintsand sinners alike.Butthiscornerstone ofChristian humanism, so
frequently celebratedin theliteraryworkswhich mediated thetradition,
crumbles awayin thenineteenth century. Menwritesermons and even
writeaboutGod in Historybut theidea is no longerfunctional. God
is claimedby all interested in
parties political and socialdisputes.
NeitherCarlylenorTennysonwas preparedto eliminateGod
fromhis accountof history;on the otherhand,theycould scarcely
fithimin exceptas a possibleoccasionfortheotherwise inexplicableor
JUNE 1966
332 RobertPreyer
anomalous.God, in short,is equated withtheunknown,theunknowable,

even the irrational.We stand here at the verylimitsof a long and im-
pressivetradition,defendingwe know not what against what reason
suggestsis so. It is no wonder,therefore,
thattheTennysoniantoneveers
fromquerulousnessto bluster,fromthatof a "littleHamlet"who knows
that he mustdo what is right(but cannot decide what,in fact,is the
rightthingto do), to thatof an impatientcavalierwho givespassionthe
rip,somewhatin the fashionof Shakespeare'sTroilus:
Nay,ifwe talkofreason,
Let's shutourgatesand sleep.Manhoodand honour
Shouldhaveharehearts, wouldtheybutfattheirthoughts
Withthiscramm'dreason.Reasonand respect
Makeliverspale and lustihooddeject.
This instabilityof feeling and attitudeshows up, of course, in The

Princess,the two LocksleyHalls, Maud, and manyotherplaces: it ap-
pears as a failureof tone.Tennysonis unable to achieve a consistentand
interestingpoint-of-view which "places" contemporary experienceand
institutionsin a significantrelationto the culturaltradition.One may
well ask, how can such a poet speak as a guardian of his cultureand
spokesmanforthe values of an historicalsociety?It is impossibleto be
"simple,sensuous,and passionate" and at the same time deeply am-
bivalentand perplexed.In Milton'spoetryall the culturalpast is linked
with contemporaryexperienceand inheritedvalues provide positive
directionforactionin the present.The same outspokenfearlessnessand
simplicityis presentin the actions and utterancesof the Great Duke:
Wellington,apparently,had no doubts and hesitationsin his commit-
ments.But Tennysonwas withoutcertitude.He could onlylamenttheir
passing,and hope for"one far-off divine event,/To which the whole
creationmoves"(In Memoriam,Conclusion)- namely,theemergenceof
the "Christthatis to be" (In Memoriam,CVI) when (and if) biological
evolutionhappens to be accompanied by a moral evolution.But this
hope is tentative:"Vastness"and otherpoems indicate that Tennyson
can also affirm thatman doesn'tchange and thatoriginalsin is part of
his nature.
The objection,then,is to Tennyson'sinstabilityof feelingand
attitude,his inabilityto achieve a consistentpoint-of-view about mod-
em experienceand institutions withinthe Christianhumanistframe-
work. He was to compose great passages out of this experience of
vacillationand uncertainty; but theywere the productsof the suffering
isolatedartist,notthespokesmanforthetribe.Tennysondid notpossess
the deep and pondered assurance,the poise and mastery,which we
VICTORIAN STUDIES
associatewithMiltonand otherChristianhumanists.It is onlyin a group

of occasional poems addressed to or memorializingfriendsthat assur-
ance and poise return.9
"In the Valley of Cauteretz"(1861) memorializesan earliervisit
withHallam:
All alongthevalley,streamthatflashest
white,
Deepeningthyvoicewiththedeepeningofthenight,
All alongthevalley,wherethywatersflow,
I walk'dwithone I lovedtwoand thirtyyearsago.
All alongthevalley,whileI walk'dto-day,
The twoand thirty yearswerea mistthatrollsaway;
For all alongthevalley,downthyrockybed,
Thylivingvoiceto me was as thevoiceofthedead,
And all alongthevalley,by rockand cave and tree,
The voiceofthedead was a livingvoiceto me.
It is in such poems,occasional offerings
to friendshipand courtesy,that
the problemof conveyingthe pressureof a personalintensityin tradi-
tionalformsfindsa solution.But thesepoemsare notMiltonic- theyare
private,not civic and culturalutterances.They are a recordof personal
experiencecoherentlystatedand valued. It is preciselywhat we do not
getin The Princess,Maud, and manyotherstrenuousattemptsto convey
a sense of thehuman situationand of the value of lifein his own times.
These poems find their models in classical Latin writers (notably
Horace and Virgil),or, occasionally,as in the followinglyric,in the
Greekepigrammatists:
Live thyLife,
Youngand old,
Like yonoak,
Brightin spring,
Livinggold;
Summer-rich
Then; and then
Autumn-changed,
Soberer-hued
Gold again.
9 A list of these occasional poems would include "To ProfessorJebb," "Prologue To

General Hamley," "The Roses on the Terrace," "To the Marquis of Dufferinand
Ava," "To W. C. Macready,""To the Rev. W. H. Brookfield," "In Memoriam- W. G.
Ward," "To E. Fitzgerald" (very fine), "In the Garden at Swainston" (also very
fine),"To the Rev. F. D. Maurice,""FraterAve Atque Vale," and others.Most of these
poems appear as dedicationsto longerworksor volumesof poems. There are as well
officialoccasional poems,usuallyhavingto do withroyal eventsand a numberof fine
commissioned workssuch as "To Virgil:Writtenat the Request of the Mantuansforthe
NineteenthCentenaryof Virgil's Death." The one great and commandingsuccess
among the public occasional verse is, of course, "Ode on the Death of the Duke of
Wellington,"since boyhooddays the greatfigureof English conservatism, and Tenny-
son's hero.
JUNE 1966
334 RobertPreyer
Allhisleaves
Fallen at length,
Look,he stands,
Trunkand bough,
Naked strength.
The laststanzacouldhavebeenwritten here
byYeats;thereis nothing
to recallthetradition
ofSpenserand Milton.
II
We havebeentrying, thusfar,to exemplify Tennyson's inability

to utilizehismastery ofthetraditionofSpenserand Miltonas a means
of clarifying and sharpeninghis expressionof thelifeabouthim.We
turnnowto examineoursecondcontention whichseemsto contradict
whathas beensaid above.It is thatTennyson did,afterall,finda way
to exploittheresources ofthetraditionofSpenserand Milton,keeping
italiveinnewcreation andaliveas a pervasiveinfluenceonthefeelings
and attitudes ofhisgeneration.
T. S. Eliotwas surelycorrectin speakingofTennyson as being
almostwhollyencrustedand embeddedin his milieu.WhenEnoch
Arden'schildwas bornwe readhow
In himwoke,
Withhisfirst babe's first
cry,thenoblewish
To save all earningsto theuttermost,
And givehis childa betterbringing-up
Thanhishad been,orhers.
(11.84-88)
of such"noblewishes"thatbrought
Doubtlessit was theversification
the
Tennyson applause of a vastaudience.YetTennysonwas obsessed
a
by great visionof societyand ofthe of
relations
right men to one an-
otherandthecosmos;hispurposesgo wellbeyondthoseofEnochwho
dreamedthathe would,
returning rich,
Becomethemasterofa largercraft,
Withfullerprofitslead an easierlife,
Have all hispretty
oneseducated,
Andpass hisdaysin peace amonghis own.
(11.143-147)
The "vision"he mediatesis notinimicalto suchsentiments
but
it does transcend
them.It is essentially and
Providential, henceunhis-
toricalin themodemsense,thoughoftendescribedas "evolutionary"
or "Burkeian."As we have indicatedearlier,theProvidential
viewof
VICTORIAN STUDIES
historyhas its limitations.It cannot demonstratein any detail how a

process of change makes its presence feltby opening up unexpected
possibilitiesof actionand awarenessand closingdown others.It cannot
be used to predictwhat actions in the presentmightpossiblyhave a
chance of affectingthe immediatefuturein desirable ways. Indeed, a
Providentialtheoryof historysimplypointsto the existenceof ups and
downs, the certaintythat no matterwhat man does, all thingswill
change,usually in unexpectedways. It suggestsstronglythat perman-
ence is change, change the only enduringworldly experience.Now
Tennysonwas fascinatedby thisperdurable,paradoxical"change,"the
sort exemplifiedin Spenser's descriptionof Adonis in The Faerie
Queene:
All be he subjectto mortalitie,
Yet is eternein mutabilitie,
Anyby successionmadeperpetuall,
Transformed oft,and chaungeddiuerslie.
"Eterne in mutabilitie":here all thingschange and yet retain their
"state."We oughtnot forgetthat Tennysonwas attractedto scientific
studies all his life, that he was far more concernedwith theoriesof
evolutionthanwiththeoriesof history.We see the scientificfascination
with permanence and change everywheretake precedence over the
historicalinterestin the struggleof man to gain controlover his own
destiny:
The woodsdecay,thewoodsdecayand fall,
The vaporsweep theirburthento theground,
Man comesand tillsthefieldand liesbeneath,
And aftermanya summerdiestheswan.
("Tithonus")
I am suggestingthat Tennyson'sscientificbent was perfectly
congenialwithhis old-fashionedProvidentialtheoryof history.He was
not troubledby the fact that Providentialnotionswere of no help for
the legislator,the sociologist,the historian.He had not the economist's
urge to accountforthe enormouslyacceleratedrate of change in recent
decades. It was enough to speculate endlesslyon the significanceof
change and its possible directionand force.As a man with scientific
interestshe could see that change mightwell be "evolution";as an
inheritorof the traditionof Christianhumanismhe would tend to feel
that any sudden changes threatena break in continuityand hence dis-
ruptionin the cultureand chaos. For example, the irruptionof new
categoriesof people intostationsnot assignedthemby God constituted
a major crisisin the nicely balanced relationsobtainingbetween the
JUNE 1966
336 Robert Preyer
forcesof permanenceand change. Traditionally,"duty"was a function

of status;it depended on the assumptionthatGod has "called" men to
their particularstations.Further,the humanistconcept of behavior
(Self-Discipline) requiredthe repressionof privateimpulseand desire
in the interestsof a public behaviordeemed properto one's stationin
society.This worked fairlywell in a rigid class structure.But when
change became unprecedentedlyrapid, the entire ethical structure
would fall in ruinsalong withthe social edifice.There can be no ques-
tion that Tennysonoftenso reasoned: here is an explanationfor his
frequentbouts of hystericalfear.
Yet thisversionof experience,withall its limitations,
had certain
advantages for a Victorian author.It provided a definite
standingplace
outside the laissez-faireethos and helped definehis role as spokesman
forthoseaspectsof thehumansituationwhichwere notreceivingmuch
attention.It affordeda means of indicatingthe dangersimplicitin the
untrammeled, restlessdrivetowardsuccess and self-realization,a drive
aptly symbolized in the character of Ibsen's Brand with his great
cry,
Self completelyto fulfill,
That'sa validrightofman.
And no morethanthatI will!
Tennyson'straditionprovidedthe basis fora readyreplyto such

utterances:high claims forthe selflead to social isolation:
Deep dreadand loathingofhersolitude

Fell on her,fromwhichmoodwas born
Scornofherself;again,fromoutthatmood
Laughterat herself-scorn.
("The Palace of Art,"11.229-232)
Horrorslurkedin "the abysmaldeeps of personality":

But in darkcorers ofherpalace stood
Uncertainshapes; and unawares
On white-eyedphantasms weepingtearsofblood,
And horriblenightmares,
Andhollowshapesenclosingheartsofflame,
And,withdimfretted foreheadsall,
On corpsesthree-months-old
at noonshe came,
That stoodagainstthewall.
A spotof dull stagnation,
withoutlight
Or powerofmovement, seem'dmysoul.
It was difficult
enoughto do one's Duty; to look too closelyor too
VICTORIAN STUDIES
deeplyintothefeelingsof theselfincapacitated
one formoralaction
and couldeasilylead to spiritual
vertigo:
Beneathall fanciedhopesand fears
Ayme,thesorrowdeepensdown,
Whosemuffled motionsblindlydrown
The bases ofmylifein tears.
Be nearme whenmylightis low,
Whentheblood creeps,and thenervesprick
And tingle;and theheartis sick,
Andall thewheelsofbeingslow.
(In Memoriam, XLIX, L)
The theorizing, innerexploration,

andrisk-taking ofthegreatRomantic
poetswere beyondhis ken.Blake'sidea of perfection as an inward
harmony of all thepowersofbeingwhichissuesin joy;theinsistence
on spontaneity, on thesubconscious,theneed (as Rilkephrasedit) "to
alloweveryimpression andeverygermoffeelingtogrowto completion
whollyinyourself, inthedarkness, in theunutterable,unconscious, un-
accessibleto yourunderstanding, and to awaitwithdeephumility and
patiencethehourofbirthofa newclarity."10 Allthisplayedas littlepart
inhisidea ofpoetryas inhisidea ofduty.
It adds up to a rathergrimvision.The struggleto findsome
groundsforlivingjoyfully is foredoomed. Thereis onlythediscipline
oftheselfto thedutiesofstationand thestoichopeofeventualcalm
and surceasefrompain.Indeedit is theroleoftheVictorian poet-sage
to call attention
insistently to the ideal of subordinationof selfto a
highergoodand at thesametimetolighten theburdenofthenecessity.
In oneofitsaspectsthispoetry seekstorousethewillincombatagainst
thatwhichit fears- thecollapseofsuchmeaningsand coherences as
theculturehad left.In another, theobjectis to sootheand restore the
"unquietwill"by leadingit to contemplate imagesof achievedrepose
(such as found in 11.
"Lucretius," 103-110) and of naturaltranquillity
suchas we findinthesetwolovelypassages:
A leagueofgrasswash'dby a slowbroadstream,
That,stirr'dwithlanguidpulsesof the oar,
Waves all itslazy liliesand creepson
Barge-laden, to threearchesofa bridge
Crown'dwiththeminster-towers.
("The Gardener'sDaughter,"11.40-44)
... as thecrestofsomeslow-archingwave,
Heard in dead nightalongthattable-shore,
to A
10 RainerMariaRilke,Letter YoungPoet,trans.R. Snell(London,1945), p. 17.
JUNE 1966
338 Robert Preyer
Drops flat,and afterthe great waters break

Whitening forhalf a league, and thin themselves,
Far over sands marbled with moon and cloud,
From less and less to nothing.
("The Last Tournament,"11.461-466)
A poetryinformedby these contradictory aims would appear to
be incompleteor unstable,stoical one momentand escapist the next.
The questiontherefore poetrythat
is how to accountforthemagnificent
is made fromthisvision.What was leftout - or put in - thatdifferen-
tiatesit decisivelyfromthelesserworkswhichexhibita confusedinten-
tion or an unstable structureof feeling?How is it given significant
expression,how shaped so men repelled by Tennyson'sreactionary
mind and opinionscould look to him with gratitudeand respect?1
III
We can make a beginningby notinghow the visionis fleshedout

in a seriesof imagesthatrelate,in a special way,the cosmicand natural
to the human environment. It is the relationestablishedbetween these
environments thatis significant;poemswhichmerelypresentbut do not
relate cosmic, natural, or human scenes have little hold on our
attention.l2
Traditionally,cosmic imageryis employedto call attentionto
the unchangingaspects of being,constantsand regularitieswhichexist
- out there- and are beyondmortalcontrol.However,the "aspect" of
this region, whether benign, indifferent, or menacing,is constantly
admirerswere preciselythe sortof people he loathed. W. J. Fox

11 His firstsignificant
praised him in the pages of the BenthamiteWestminster Review, XIV (1831), 210-
224; Leigh Huntwrote"we have seen no such poeticalwritingsince the last volumeof
Mr. Keats" (quoted in J. R. Lounsbury,The Life and Times of Tennyson[New Haven,
1905], p. 236); and thefirstsustained,sympathetic and intelligent
responseto his verse
(outside the Cambridgecircleof friends)was JohnStuartMill's fascinatingaccountin
the London Review, I (1835), 402-424.
12 These lines from"The Golden Year" (1846) demonstratethe bathos which results
when cosmicimageryis draggedin to inflatesignificancies, i.e. wherethe settingforit
is inadequate:
We sleep and wake and sleep, but all thingsmove;
The sun fliesforwardto his brotherson;
The dark earthfollowswheel'd in her ellipse;
And humanthingsreturning on themselves
Move onward,leading up the golden year. (11. 22-26)
There is little tonal controlin this poem (another of the late 1840 experimentsin
juxtaposinghigh and middle styles in poems with contemporaneoussettings). The
sensuousexactnessand felicityof the finalimage in thisworkdiminishesthe effective-
ness of the generalityof styleapparentelsewhere.Here it is:
He spoke; and, high above, I heard themblast
The steep slate-quarry,and the great echo flap
And buffetroundthe hills,frombluffto bluff. (11.74-76)
VICTORIAN STUDIES
VISION
TENNYSON:CONSERVATIVE 339
changing and directlyrelated to feeling.For this reason the cosmos

suppliespoets witha tremendously expanded contextin whichto frame
the human cry as it rises fromthe earth.Tennysonis able to use this
resourceto transmuteratherthansimplyamplifyhis subject.He blends
urgentand particularhuman emotionswith cosmic immensitiesand
creates in his verse a new experienceat once impersonaland intense,
general and particular.The thingto observe is the quality of the re-
directionofthe reader'sattentionfroma particularizedhumansituation
to an absorbingand mysteriouscosmic display.Thus, in the following
lines,Tennyson'scosmicsymbolforanarchy- the celestialbodies seen
in the perspectiveof horror- enormouslyenriches(as well as expands)
the contextof personalfeelingwhichhas been establishedearlier:
0 Sorrow, cruel fellowship,
What whispersfromthylyinglip?
'The stars,'she whispers,'blindlyrun;
A web is wovenacrossthesky;13
From out waste places comes a cry,
Andmurmurs
fromthedyingsun.'
(In Memoriam,
III)
Outer space and the time of outer space (which is eternity)become
objectsof terrorto the mindthrownintotermoilby stressof grief.They
are no longerenvisagedas "heaven"but ratheras the
Innumerable, pitiless,passionless eyes,

Cold fires,
yetwithpowerto bum and brand
His nothingness
intoman. (Maud, I, xviii)
Elsewherethe starsare renderedin a beneficentperspectivewithequal
adroitness.My point is that thereis set going a certainreverberation
between two planes of action, such as we have, for example, in
Aeschyleandramawithitsalternationoflyricalmythand thedialogueof
human affairs.The resultis a unique experienceat once plastic and
general,remoteand powerful.
There is a second world of imagery- that of nature- the environ-
mentof the earth,its seasons and atmospheres,whichalso envelopsthe
regionwherehumanactionsand feelingstranspire.Sometimesthe con-
trastbetween the two worlds of imagery- the heavens and earth- is
13 See also, in the precedingSection (II):

Old yew,whichgraspethat the stones
That name the underlyingdead,
Thy fibresnet the dreamlesshead,
Thy rootsare wraptabout the bones. (italics mine)
This image is everywherein Tennyson'stapestry-like productions;see, for example,
"The Lady of Shalott"and the Idylls of the King.
JUNE 1966
340 RobertPreyer
so vividthatTennysonis led to ask "AreGod and Naturethenat strife?"

(In Memoriam,LV). The worldof naturalimagesis unstable,shifting,
inextricablyentangledwith seasonal events and processes,with "be-
coming"ratherthan(cosmic) "being."
To-nightthewindsbeginto rise
And roarfromyonderdroppingday;
The lastredleafis whirl'daway,
The rooksare blownabouttheskies;
The forestcrack'd,thewaterscurl'd,
The cattlehuddledon thelea;
And wildlydash'don towerand tree
The sunbeamstrikes alongtheworld:
Andbutforfancies,whichaver
That all thymotionsgentlypass
Athwart a plane ofmoltenglass,
I scarcecouldbrookthestrainand stir
Thatmakesthebarrenbranchesloud;
Andbutforfearitis notso,
The wildunrestthatlivesin woe
Woulddoteand poreon yondercloud
Thatrisesupwardalwayshigher,
And onwarddragsa laboringbreast,
Andtopplesroundthedrearywest,
withfire.
A loomingbastionfringed
(In Memoriam,
XV)
As here given,in isolation,thispoem does notexhibitany special
relatingof naturaland human environments. When we replace it at a
particularpoint in a developing narrativeand emotionalsituationit at
once attainsa dignityand relevanceotherwisenot possible.14Although
naturaland cosmologicalsettingsare verydifferent in kindtheyservea
similarstructuralpurpose in Tennyson'sverse. They tend to dissipate
the urgencyof a human drama and insistentlycall attentionto them-
selves. In the followingpassage from"Oenone,"the reader's attention
is deflectedaway fromthe storyand even fromthe consciousnessof the
speaker:
Theycame,theycutawaymytallestpines,
My talldarkpines,thatplumedthecraggyledge
High overtheblue gorge,and all between
The snowypeak and snow-white cataract
Foster'dthecalloweaglet- frombeneath
of the same order,is quite lack-

14 "Amphion,"an equally experttechnicalperformance
ing in significance.The contextis trivial: it remainsan exercise,one of the things
Tennysonhad learnedto do betterthananyoneelse in his time.
VICTORIAN STUDIES
Whosethickmysterious boughsin thedarkmorn

The panther'sroarcamemuffled,whileI sat
Low in the valley.Never,nevermore
Shalllone Oenonesee themorning mist
Sweep thro'them;neversee themoverlaid
Withnarrowmoonlitslipsofsilvercloud,
Betweentheloud streamand thetrembling stars.
("Oenone,"11.204-215)
Herethepossibility ofdeveloping themythintoa psychological drama
of personalloss is minimizedand in its steadwe have a meditative
landscapeidyllwhichconveys,withcontrolled opulence,the stateof
feelingrelevantto the generalconditionof loss.It wouldappearthen
thatthe imageryof natureand cosmosis reguarlyemployedin the
poetry(alongwiththe manystylistic devicesbased on repetition) to
createa uniqueblendofplasticity and generality,ofKeatsand Milton,
as it were.Objectsare seenwithgreatparticularity and yetthereis a
remoteness fromparticularized humanevents.The imageryand tech-
nicalvirtuosityin phrasingand rhythm worktogether to definecon-
cretely of
states being thatare and
typical general.
Whenthe subjectof a poemis a particularsoul,its "state"is
likelytobe rendered intermsofcosmicandnaturalimagery:
A spotofdullstagnation,
withoutlight
Or powerofmovement, seem'dmysoul,
Mid onward-sloping
motionsinfinite
Makingforone suregoal;
A stillsaltpool,lock'din withbarsofsand,
Lefton theshore,thathearsall night
The plungingseas drawbackwardfromtheland
Theirmoon-ledwaterswhite;
A starthatwiththechoralstarry dance
Join'dnot,but stood,and standingsaw
The holloworbofmovingCircumstance
Roll'd roundby one fix'dlaw.
These linesconveya visionoftheisolatedselfby emphasizing
its exclusionfromthe dance of lifein the cosmicand naturalrather
thanthesocialorders.The Keatsianimmediacy of theseascapescon-
trastswiththe generalized(even baroque) rendering of the "choral
starrydance" and thelistener
is leftwithan at
experience onceintense
and remote- with,in brief,theexperience ofBeautyas theVictorians
conceivedit. It is a beautifulvisionofhorror.
Attheotherendoftheexpressive rangewe findbeatitudebeing
renderedas thatstatein whichthelonelyindividualbecomesaware
ofthepresencewithinhimself ofa greaterpowernothisown:
JUNE 1966
342 RobertPreyer
I feltand feel,tho'leftalone,
His beingworking in mineown,
The footsteps ofhis lifein mine;
- to whichthe spiritof Hallam seemsto reply:
'I watchtheefrom
thequietshore;
uptominecanreach;
Thyspirit
Butindearwords
ofhuman speech
Wetwocommunicate nomore.
LXXXV)
(In Memoriam,
The exultation,the heightenedsense of consciousnessresultingfrom
the experienceof being at unitywith a greaterpower than one's own
burstsout in the nextlyric,a sustainedone-sentencecelebration:
Sweetaftershowers,ambrosial air,
Thatrollest fromthegorgeous gloom
Ofevening overbrakeandbloom
Andmeadow, slowlybreathingbare
Theroundofspace,andraptbelow
Thro'allthedewytassell'd
wood,
Andshadowing downthehorned flood
In ripples,fanmybrowsand blow
The feverfrommycheek,and sigh
Thefullnewlifethatfeedsthybreath
Throughout myframe,tillDoubt and Death,
Ill brethren,
let thefancyfly
Frombeltto beltofcrimsonseas
On leaguesofodorstreaming far,
To wherein yonderorientstar
A hundred 'Peace.'
whisper
spirits (LXXXVI)
Here very clearly the poet in his exultationfeels united to both the
cosmic"roundof space" and the wood and water of the naturalworld.
The impactofHallam is felt"no more"in "dear wordsofhumanspeech"
but instead in the heightenedconsciousnessof being a part of a living
universeand the 'living will that shalt endure" (CXXXI). It is an ex-
perience that leads one in safetyfroma frightening, claustrophobic
"innerspace" frequentlydescribedas beset by '"ollow masksof night,"
Cloud-towers masonswrought,
by ghostly
A gulfthatevershutsand gapes,
A handthatpoints,and palled shapes
In shadowythoroughfaresof thought;
And crowdsthatstreamfromyawningdoors,
And shoalsof pucker'dfacesdrive;
Darkbulksthattumble
halfalive,
Andlazylengths
onboundless
shores; (LXX)
VICTORIAN STUDIES
But it is not an escape fromthe isolated ego to a social community, to

relationship. The voyage outward may lead one into an awareness of
nature, or into violentaction (as in Maud), but it is most satisfactorily
envisaged as an excursioninto realmsof mysticalcontemplation.Thus
in the greatninety-fifthlyricof In Memoriamthe "voyage"intopsycho-
logical release occurs when the self makes contactwith a realityim-
pingingupon it froma spiritual,non-human,beyond. The resultsare
evidentbut theprocessby whichtheyare attainedremainsobscure.It is,
we are told,an instantaneouschange of consciousnessthattakesplace:
"And all at once it seem'd at last/ The livingsoul was flash'don mine"
(italicsmine) - and the resultingexperiencecannoteasily be analysed
out into thoughtsand ideas which follow a logical pattern:
Andall at onceit seem'dat last
The livingsoul was flash'don mine,
Andminein thiswas wound,and whirl'd
Aboutempyrealheightsofthought,
And came on thatwhichis, and caught
The deep pulsationsoftheworld,
Aeonianmusicmeasuringout
The stepsofTime- theshocksofChance-
The blowsof Death.
Vague words!but ah, howhardto frame

In matter-mouldedformsofspeech,
Or evenforintellectto reach
Thro'memory thatwhichI became. (XCV)
The kind of knowledgereceived by the temporarilyaugmentedself is

verypuzzling.Its basis is a simultaneousawareness of "thatwhich is"
(Being, the cosmos) and of "the deep pulsationsof the world" (Be-
coming,the lifeof naturalprocess).The intellectcannot"thro'memory"
retain as concept "that which I became." But the artistcan seek to
approximateit: which he proceeds to do in the followingbeautiful
stanzas depicting the coming of light, sound and movementinto a
hushed,dim,and stagnantnaturallandscape.
Till nowthedoubtfulduskreveal'd
The knollsonce morewhere,couch'dat ease,
The whitekineglimmer'd,and thetrees
Laid theirdarkarmsaboutthefield:
And suck'dfromout thedistantgloom
A breezebeganto trembleo'er
The largeleaves ofthesycamore,
Andfluctuateall thestillperfume,
JUNE 1966
344 RobertPreyer
And gathering freshlier

overhead,
Rock'dthefull-foliaged elms,and swung
The heavy-folded rose,and flung
The liliesto and fro,and said,
'The dawn,thedawn,'and died away;
AndEast and West,withouta breath,
Mixttheirdimlights,likelifeand death,
To broadenintoboundlessday. (XCV)
These stanzas enact the instantof illuminationin slow motion,
spreadingout a simultaneousawarenessinto a temporalprocess,artic-
ulatingits parts one afterthe other.The breeze "suck'd fromout the
distantgloom"is thesurrogateforthe"livingsoul" ofHallam. Its action,
slow at firstthen pickingup momentum,spreads throughthe entire
scene. And once again we noticethatthe alteredstructureof conscious-
ness in the renewedprotagonistoccursin solitude.
There is littledirectpsychologicalnotationin Tennyson'spoetry.
Subtle shiftsof attentionand consciousnessare not registeredin his
vocabulary.Instead, what we findare many spatial representations of
events occurringin the mind.15There are, for example, images of
interpenetration, of processes enacted between freshstreamswhich
have theirsourcesin the heightsand salt seas that draw fromout the
gloomyvast. (One thinksof "Flow down,cold rivulet,to the sea,/ Thy
tributewave deliver" ["A Farewell"], and the opposing tidal thrust
which"husheshalfthe babblingWye/ And makesa silencein the hills"
[In Memoriam,XIX].) In manycases the psychologicalequivalentsfor
15 I am aware of themodishuse of space-timecategoriesbut thereis muchevidencewhich

indicatesthatthesetermsare relevanthere. In Hallam Tennyson'sMaterialsfora Life
of AlfredTennyson,Collected for My Children (London, n.d., deposited in British
Museum), p. 213, we findthisstrangeletterwrittento his (then) fianceeEmily Sell-
wood in 1839: "Annihilatewithinyourselfthese two dreamsof Space and Time. To
me oftenthe far offworld seems nearerthan the present,forin the presentis always
somethingunreal and indistinct, but the otherseems a good solid planet rollinground
its greenhills and paradises to the harmonyof more steadfastlaws. There streamup
fromabout one vistas of weakness,or sin, or despondency,and roll between me and
the farplanet,but it is stillthere."
His animisticsense of the naturalworld providesthe familiar"tap root" into his
earliestperceptions,thatEmpson and othershave noticedin so manynineteenth-cen-
turywriters.In anotherletter to Emily Sellwood, he recalls, "I have dim mystic
sympathieswithtree and hill reachingfarback into childhood.A knownlandscape is
to me an old friend,that continuallytalks to me of my own youthand half-forgotten
thingsand does forme morethanmanyan old friendI know" (p. 213). Side by side,
the two passages tell us much about the sensibilityof Tennyson.His "passion forthe
past" may have to do withthe (apparent) clarityof eventsforeshortened in the per-
spective of time, strippedof unessentials.Certainlythe presentseemed to him too
overwhelming, too cluttered,fortherecognition of its essentialsignificancies.
One other
reflection:with impairedeyesight,it was natural for Tennysonalso to thinkof the
distantas clear and the nearbyas fuzzy. (He had a fineeye forwhat was, so to speak,
rightunderhis nose - the flowerin a cranniedwall, or "the filmyshapes/Thathaunt
the dusk, with ermine capes/And woolly breasts and beaded eyes" - i.e. moths
[In Memoriam,XCV].)
VICTORIAN STUDIES
theseprocessesare impliedby the context;in otherstheyare indefinite

or problematic.But again, thereis the curiousfactthatthesealterations
occurin theindividualconsciousnessand are nottheresultofencounters
withotherpeople. Tennysonseemsuninterested in the dramaof human
and releases depictshave no sourcein the
relations;the constrictions he
social realm.
IV
So far,we have been tryingto depict the "world"of Tennyson's

poetry.That world has been described as conventional,unhistorical,
highlyvisible,undialectical,and as a fitsubjectfora graveand general-
ized commentary.I should like now to draw attentionto the role of
"point-of-view" in the constructionof this poetic universe.My con-
tention will be that it has much to do withthe intensity,
impersonality,
and generalityof tone which is such an extraordinary featureof the
creationsof thiswriter.
It is evidentthat the handlingof point-of-view has much to do
with success or failureof tone. Certain "distances" seem adequate to
certainordersof diction,imagery,and rhythm withina poeticstructure;
othersare less so. In "The Kraken,"a veryearlywork,one alreadysees
a magnificent matchingof the various technicalcomponentsto secure
an effectthatis intense,strange,remote,and curiouslysuggestiveand
impersonal.The point-of-view is of greatmomentin thistriumph:
Belowthethunders oftheupperdeep,
Far, farbeneathin theabysmalsea,
His ancient,dreamless,uninvadedsleep
The Krakensleepeth:faintest flee
sunlights
Abouthisshadowysides;abovehimswell
Huge spongesofmillenialgrowthand height;
Andfarawayintothesicklylight,
Frommanya wondrousgrotand secretcell
Unnumber'd and enormous polypi
Winnowwithgiantarmstheslumbering green.
There hathhe lain forages, and will lie
Batteningupon huge sea-wormsin his sleep,
Untilthelatterfireshallheatthedeep;
Thenoncebymanand angelsto be seen,
In roaringhe shallriseand on thesurfacedie.
The poem aspiresto utteritself.It avoids local historicalreferencesor

any indicationof an informingauthorialmind.The voice whichspeaks
is Delphic, out of time; and evokes a sinisterworld of somnolent
it
JUNE 1966
346 RobertPreyer
apocalypticshapes unseenby the ordinaryperson.These shapesmaybe

referredto eithera mythical'6or a psychologicalgroundof meaning.
Like most"oracles,"the message it conveysis closerto "puremeaning"
thanit is to any specificapplication.All we knowis thatbelow the sur-
face of temporalevents (below the level of ordinaryconsciousness?)
lurkmindlessforcescapable of explodingto the surfacein a burstof
irrationalfrenzythatmarksthe end of itspeculiarlife-in-death,the end
of ordinaryliving,and also the onsetof eternity.
The poem fixesa num-
ber of vivid images but offerslittlerationalizationfortheirpresence.
They are images remotefromactuality;the textureof social and moral
experiencehas been washed away fromthem.The tone is impersonal,
detached; we are not aware of any deep personalurgency.And forall
these reasonsthe timeless,mythicvoice givingutteranceto the oracle
is exactlyright.
In otherpoemsthefocusofconsciousnessis a mythicalpersonage
who also possesses a special insightand a unique relationshipto his-
toricaltime.Mermaidsand Mermen,theLady of Shalott,Tiresias,King
Arthur,and Tithonusbelong to this group. Such creaturesare clearly
at a removefromourselves,inhabitingas theydo a continuumin which
distinctionsbetween past and presentare obviated. The Lotos-Eaters
are temporaryinhabitantsof a non-historicalisland paradise; the
AncientSage (Lao Tzu) has attainedto such a perspective.17 The con-
ditionfortimelessvision is contemplation.It involvesthe exclusionof
all immediate duties and responsibilities.As early as "Timbuctoo"
(1829) Tennysonwritesthatthe Spirit,
The permeating lifewhichcourseththrough
All th'intricate
and labyrinthine
veins
Of the great vine of Fable (11. 219-221)
is irreconcilablewithcontemporary actualities:modem Timbuctoois a

sordid collectionof mud hovels. So long as the action,situation,and
speaker have to do with mythicalevents and personages,gods and
heroes, the reader instinctively
looks for (and usually finds) certain
patternsof feelingsanalogous to his own. He can respond to these
patterns;theyreplace,as thesourceofinterestin theworkthosefeelings
16 Tennysoncame upon the Kraken in a NorwegianBishop's account of a local folk

legend. It is a varianton the Biblical sea-serpentLeviathan (or Rahab) invokedin
Job3:8: "Let themcurse it thatcursethe day, who are readyto raise up Leviathan."
For an extendedtreatmentof thispoem see RobertPreyer,"Tennysonas an Oracular
Poet,"Modern Philology, LV (1958), 240-241.
17 One recallshereTennyson'scomment, "If I were not a ChristianI shouldbe perhapsa
Parsee" (quoted in Elizabeth Cary, Tennyson:His Houses, His Friends,His Works
[New York,1898], p. 286).
VICTORIAN STUDIES
and reflections
normally generated bybelievablecharacters in "authen-
He is aidedin thisby thetraditionalism
tic"situations. oftheauthor-
thereis nothingidiosyncratic or specialin the groundsforOenone's
lamentor thatof Marianaor evenforthe anguishof the SailorBoy
addressedbya mermaid. The patterns enactedbythesecreatures have
to do withresponsesto youth,old age,mutability, love,desertion, re-
pentence,punishment, justice,selfishness, waywardness, sexuality,
pride,and thelike.The characters aresplendidly plastic;theirphysical
movements suggestthe statelyreenactment of pre-ordained rituals.
Likedancersthey fallinto of
patterns repose and movement which are
clearlystylizedand unnatural.They perpetuatethe conventional
stancesassociatedwiththehumanistic traditionofsymbolism, imagery,
and evaluation.
As we moveon to themiddledecadesof thecentury, however,
we see thatTennyson is trying to lessenthedistancebetweenhis art
and his environment, rendering characters and situations accordingto
theconventions ofsocialand psychological naturalism withever-grow-
ingfrequency. Here the ambition is to elucidatecausal linksin genre
narratives rather than compose the meditative mind by passingbefore
ita seriesofperfectly articulated, perfectly conventional imageswhich,
takentogether, constitute a plasticprecisofaccepted,evaluatedexperi-
ences.An artthatwas emblematic and general,havingbehindit the
weightofinnumerable examples, is nowreplacedbytheplasticrender-
ingofmodeminstances - withdevastating results.The speakerofthe
following linesis James, a farmer friend ofa socially-superiorprotagon-
ist.He talkslikethis:
And therehe caughttheyounkerticklingtrout-
- what'stheLatin word?-
Caughtin flagrante
Delicto. totheMail")
("Walking
A picnicat AudleyCourtgivesus thisbitofcolloquialdescription:
There,on a slopeof orchard,Francislaid
A damasknapkinwroughtwithhorseand hound,
Broughtout a duskyloafthatsmeltofhome,
And,half-cut-down, a pastycostly-made
Wherequail and pigeon,larkandleveretlay,
Like fossilsoftherock,withgoldenyolks
Imbeddedand injellied. ("AudleyCourt")
Obviouslytheproblemhas notbeen solved.

The domesticidylsof thismiddleperiodlaborto imitatecon-
temporaneoussettings In EnochArdenandthelater
and conversations.
dramaticmonologues to intro-
of the 188o'sthereis a laboriouseffort
JUNE 1966
348 Robert Preyer
duce,as well,novelisticplots- whichdoes notimprovethe wobbly

tone.For Tennyson's mostsatisfactory methodis lyrical,notdramatic
or narrative. Essentially his is an art of juxtaposition, ofimages,colors,
and scenesheldtogether byelaboratesimilitudes insoundand toneand
justthe hintof a storyline.Furthermore, his naturalpoeticunitwas
theshortlyricoridyl.His successful attempts toovercome thenakedness
of brevityhave nothingto do withthe introduction of local color,
specifiedspeakers,and novelistic(or rhetorical)plotting. It has to do
withcompacting theverse,providing it witha resonanceand rangeof
suggestivereference throughconstantallusionsand analogiesto the
naturaland cosmicimageryfamiliarfrompreviously shaped literary
experiences. The allusionsare aptto cropup in a phrasehereand there
whichrecallsHomerorVirgil,SpenserorHorace:at times("FraterAve
AtqueVale,"forexample)he willdevelopa continuous parallelwitha
previouspoemon a similartheme.In thesewaysslightlyricsmaycome
to us bearing(as it were) theweightofcenturies ofjudgedand evalu-
ated experience. The resulting experience is neither abstractnorcon-
crete- itis general, spacious. And this explainswhyTennyson is always
betteroffwithprotagonists well-known fromothercontexts(like King
Arthur and Ulysses),whodo notneedto call attention to theirfascinat-
ingpsyches or remarkable adventures. So much is known aboutthese
figures, so manyimplications investthem,thattheycan speakat large,
withoutreference to theirpersonalities, as prophetsor veryold people
are entitledto do. Tennysondiscoveredthata similaranonymity and
suggestivity inheres in the utterance of minor characters (Oenone,
Mariana) who hoveron theedge ofliterary worksin whichmatterof
greatculturalmoment is givenexpression. Andhe knewhowto employ
themixture ofaloofness andpassion,alienation and commitment, mean-
ing and mystery which invests "daemonic" personages with a potent
authority, a distinctive voiceand wisdom.He regularly employsthem:
the AncientSage, Tiresias,Tithonus,the Lady of Shalott,mermaids,
thedyingswan,thelotos-eaters. It is nottheir"story" but rathertheir
peculiarsortofbeingand wisdomthatcompelsattention. In ourtime
thesameinterest has been attachedto thefigure ofthealienatedartist.
As readersof Thomas Mann's Dr. Faustus know,a narrativeof a
daemoniccomposeris inexplicable withoutresortto myth.The mean-
ings,nottheevents,are problematic; theworkcirclesaroundtheavail-
able coreof ascertained factswhichwillnotdeclaretheirsignificance.
Tennyson's procedureis usuallyunivocal,verydifferent fromMann's
complexpoint-of-view. For this reason it could be arguedthatTenny-
son'spoint-of-view is notconstitutive ofthesustainedinterest required
VICTORIAN STUDIES
in a longwork,thatit has notthedramaticinterest

of a worksplitup
to theproblem-
intoseveralvoices.He seemsto have been sensitive
afterall he wrotesix plays-but Tennysonhad no feelfordramatic
presentationof a narrative.
ThePrincess,as we haveseen,withsevennarrators,
a mixture
of
medievalandmodemsettings, and a "medley"
oftones,fails:
What stylecould suit?
I moved as in a strangediagonal,
And maybeneitherpleasedmyselfnorthem.
("Conclusion")
ButwithIn Memoriam and Maud Tennysonfoundan alternative solu-
problemofthelongpoem.By theaggrandizement
tionto theformal of
a groupof shorter
poemshe createda situation
"inwhichtheseveral
itemscan lendeach othercontext, and resonance,
reference, in which
thisshortpoemwillbe somethingmorethanit wouldbe in isolationby
belongingto a whole."18
In Memoriamconsistsofa sequence ofshortpoemscirclingabout
an establishednarrativecontextand a developingseriesofideas. Certain
occasional poems markoffthe seasons (birthdates,Christmas,the New
Year,etc.) so thata temporalornarrativedevelopmentis implied.There
is not,however,a "storyline" in the usual sense. As ProfessorCunning-
ham notes, a similar procedure was followed (with less success) in
Maud-"a fictionalnarrative with primary attentionto the emo-
tional aspects, in which the narrativeis implicitin the sequence of
lyrics."19
There is, too, the furtherpossibility- in poets like Tennyson,
Blake, and Yeats - that individual,apparentlyisolated poems tend to
clustertogetherin the memory,becomingso manycontextsforthe dis-
play of a relatedimageryor a continuingpreoccupation.Thus the unit
of criticalconsiderationmight,with justification, be considered con-
geriesof poems associatedthroughtheirparticipationin some aspect of
a centralcoreofvision.Tennysonhas toldus,forexample,that"Ulysses"
and "The Lotos-Eaters"are so related;manyotherexamplescan be es-
tablished.But enoughhas been said, perhaps,to refutethe glib critical
cliche we were all broughtup on - thatTennysonwas a superbstylist
18 J. V. Cunningham,"Several Kinds of Short Poem," Poets on Poetry,ed. Howard

Nemerov(New York, 1966), p. 43.
19 Cunningham,p. 43. T. S. Eliot has notedthe same organization:"It is unique: it is a
long poem made by puttingtogetherlyrics,whichhave only the unityand continuity
of a diary,the concentrateddiaryof a man confessinghimself.It is a diaryof which
we have to read everyword" (Selected Essays [New York,1950], p. 291).
JUNE 1966
350 RobertPreyer
cursedwithan infantile notionof poeticstructure. true

It is certainly
thathe neversatisfactorily
solvedtheproblemofwriting a kindofpoem
thatwas alientohismajorinterests andpreoccupations - thedramatic
occasionalpoemwitha contemporary setting. But"St.SimeonStylites"
is an interesting
dramatic monologue with a settingin thepast- and it
evenshowsthatTennyson couldprovidea closepsychological studyof
a uniquepersonality if he wereso inclined.But thiswas Browning's
metier. Tennyson waswellawareofthefactthathispoeticconcerns and
formal problemscouldnotbe solvedbypursuing thisparticular lineof
endeavor.
We havecomea longwayfromourinitialconsideration ofTen-

nyson'srathervulgar,snobbish, and reactionaryopinions.We haveleft
themas a surface an occasionalexpression
froth, - sometimes hysterical
and shrill,at othertimeswheedling - thatescapedthe
and self-pitying
poetwhenhis centralvisionofexperience was momentarily shakenor
had begunto appearto himas in somesenseirrelevant orincidentalto
thequalityofcontemporary living.There were times- and the poetry
recordssomeofthem- whenthevisionseemedsimplyinsufficient in
thefaceofcontemporary life,without solaceandincapableofarousing
thevitalenergies - spontaneity offeelingandmasterful will.
Perhaps his most distinguished achievements are thosewhich
recordthesituation ofa manwhocannotbe surethathisvisionis ade-
quate to his experience- and yet knowsof no othersourcesfrom
whichto replenish thatvision.At timesit musthave appearedto him
that,suchas itwas,thisvisionwoulddiewithhisgeneration, thatitwas
becomingincreasingly to transmit
difficult it withconviction and emo-
tionalvigorintotheheartsandmindsofthenewgeneration growing up
in a secularindustrial society.Hence the blusterand hence,too,the
clericalbleat- and perhapsthegreatbodyofquietoccasionalpoetry
addressedto old friends who had sharedhis visionand been equally
savaged and battered the
by bruising windsofchange.
The vision- to emergeat all - requireda deep senseoftimeless-
It required,giventheraw nervesand thepounding
ness,of eternity.
of
pace events, hypnoticrhythms andtrancedcontemplations,a slowing
downof timeso thatexperience couldbe immersed, interpenetrated,
withtheimmemorial significancies associatedwithman's
traditionally
cosmologicalandnaturalenvironments.It wastheexperience
ofmoder
VICTORIAN STUDIES
social chaos,thefragmentary merelyphenomenaland randomqualityof

private lives,thatTennysonsoughtto rectify.
We evaluate a controllingmythor visionby consideringthe ex-
tentand the depth of the penetrationof actualityit makes possible for
those who have employedit. The highesttest- thatby which Tenny-
son wished to be judged - can be givenin a nineteenth-century formu-
lation. "The last and hardest task of the artist,"Nietzsche wrote in
Human,All Too Human (VII, ii,177)"is thepresentment ofwhatremains
thesame,reposesin itself,is loftyand simpleand freefromthebizarre."
Blake meets this test in the Songs of Innocence; Wordsworth's
most powerfulimages- the Leech Gatherer,the Blind Beggar, Mar-
guerite- perhapstakeus beyondNietzsche'sconceptionintosomething
grander.Tennyson,time and again, attains to such a representation
as Nietzsche was attemptingto describe. But his artisticrepresenta-
tion differsfromthat of Blake or Wordsworthin that we occasionally
feelthatit does nothave itsoriginin actual experience.We can approach
the problemby way of a letterGerard Manley Hopkins wrote on 27
February1879. It beginswitha well-knownpassage: "To me his poetry
appears 'chrysselephantine'; always of preciousmaterialand each verse
a workof art,no botchyplaces not onlyso but no half-wrought or low-
tonedones,no drab,no brown-holland; but theform,thoughfine,notthe
perfectartist'sform,not equal to the material."Exceptionsare made-
notablyforIn Memoriamwhere"theinspirationis genuine,arisingfrom
personalfeeling"- but the Idylls are described as "unrealin motive."
Hopkinscontinues:"He [Tennyson]shouldhave called themCharades
fromtheMiddle Ages (dedicated by permissionto H.R.H., etc.)... each
scene is a triumphof language and of lightpicturesque,but just like a
charade - wherereal lace and good silksand real jewelryare used, be-
cause the actorsare privatepersonsand wealthy,but it is actingall the
same."20
Hopkinsdoes notfurtherspecifythe sourceof thisfeelingof un-
realitybut perhapsit is evident.Tennyson's"twilight"vision- reminis-
cent of what we oftenfindin Virgil,in early Yeats, and in Wagner-
requires,to be experienced,thatthe real world and the real selfbe dis-
tanced,theircontourssoftenedand hazed over.Twilightis thatindeter-
minatestatebetweenlightand darknessand its psychologicalanalogue
is the state of tranceor possiblythe wakingdreammarkingthe transi-
tionbetween sleep and wakefulness.An artistcan induce such a condi-
tion in his auditor throughvarious devices of narcotic rhythmsand
20 The Correspondenceof GerardManley Hopkinsand RichardWatson Dixon, ed. C. C.

Abbott (London, 1935), pp. 24-25.
JUNE 1966
352 RobertPreyer
repetitions- and in thiscondition one maywellhavefanciesand vis-

ions.But the conditionforsuch experiences is a partialparalysisof
consciousness and a withdrawal fromexternalconcerns.One can,in
thisfashion, attainto vastness, to anotherand possiblymorevaluable
orderofsignificance thanthatcustomarily present inroutineconscious-
ness.But the elementof thebogus,of disjunction fromthe actual,is
uneasilypresent.
Whywas thisso? I can onlysuggestthefollowing lineofreflec-
tion.Tennyson reliedforhis significancies, forplacingexperience, on
the traditional and inheritedstructure of meaningssymbolizedand
made manifest in the recognizedcountersof the Christian humanist
poetictradition. Yet this of
greatbody explicit and ordered significancies,
ofexperiences judgedand valued,givenformin mythandfable,could
notjustbe "applied"tocontemporary living,ithad tobe feltas existing
in a livingtensionwithit. The failurelies somewhere in thisarea.
Moder conditionsresistedformulation in terms of the humanistic
mythology; itno longerconstituted a widelyavailablewisdom.Tenny-
son couldneverquiteestablishitsrelevanceand applicability to con-
temporary experience - nor have his successors. Is the content of mod-
ernlifesuchas is capableofbeingportrayed according tothesystem of
symbols evolved by the humanistic vision?We do not know. And that
ignorance is thebeginning ofwhatwisdomwe haveaccumulated inour
effortsto comprehend thewaywe livenow.
Thereare insights in Rilkeand othermodernpoetsthatwere
clearlyunavailable to Tennyson - suchas thisone:"Onlythosesorrows
aredangerous andbad whichwe carryaboutamongourfellows inorder
to drownthem;like diseaseswhichare superficially and foolishly
treated,thenonlyrecedeandbreakoutaftera shortinterval allthemore
and
frightfully; gather themselves in ourinwards,and are life,are un-
lived,disdained, lostlife,ofwhichonecan die"(Rilke,p. 35). Butthere
are greaterosionsofsignificance as well.Rilke,afterall,couldproduce
no workoutsidetheconfines ofa palace ofart.Eventually we are left
witha somewhat heroicimageof thebaffled nineteenth-century poet
determined to struggle on withwhattradition and equipment he had
inherited, suppressing doubtsand fears,"Made weakbytimeand fate,
in
butstrong will/To strive, to seek,tofind, andnottoyield."
BrandeisUniversity
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Alfred Tennyson: The Poetry and Politics of Conservative Vision

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ALFRED TENNYSON: THE POETRY AND POLITICS

N 1959 ARTHURCAR CONCLUDEDa discussion of Tennyson by

1 ArthurJ. Carr, VictorianPoetry:Clough to Kipling (New York, 1959), p. ix. An in-

tionswhichwere,apparently, irrelevantor inadequateto thesenseof

2 F. R. Leavis, Educationand the University(New York,1948), p. 119.

The HeathMS of"HailBriton!"

Only"menofSaxonpithand nerve"wereto be trusted in 1831,it ap-

Duke of Wellington"(1852; revised version,1855), perhaps the last

6 Sir Charles Tennysonoffersnumerousexamples of the poet's anti-Gallicanfrenzyin

From Punch, XXIII (September 1852), 149.

social sphere,he notonlydrewback,he did notunderstand whatit

8 Hallam Tennyson,Alfred,Lord Tennyson:A Memoir(London, 1898), I, 189, 194n.

plightof a survivor who can findno authority to fillthevoidthatthe

Arthur repliesby citingtheGreatChainofBeing ("For so thewhole

anomalous.God, in short,is equated withtheunknown,theunknowable,

This instabilityof feeling and attitudeshows up, of course, in The

associatewithMiltonand otherChristianhumanists.It is onlyin a group

9 A list of these occasional poems would include "To ProfessorJebb," "Prologue To

We havebeentrying, thusfar,to exemplify Tennyson's inability

historyhas its limitations.It cannot demonstratein any detail how a

forcesof permanenceand change. Traditionally,"duty"was a function

Tennyson'straditionprovidedthe basis fora readyreplyto such

Deep dreadand loathingofhersolitude

Horrorslurkedin "the abysmaldeeps of personality":

The theorizing, innerexploration,

Drops flat,and afterthe great waters break

We can make a beginningby notinghow the visionis fleshedout

admirerswere preciselythe sortof people he loathed. W. J. Fox

changing and directlyrelated to feeling.For this reason the cosmos

Innumerable, pitiless,passionless eyes,

13 See also, in the precedingSection (II):

so vividthatTennysonis led to ask "AreGod and Naturethenat strife?"

of the same order,is quite lack-

Whosethickmysterious boughsin thedarkmorn

But it is not an escape fromthe isolated ego to a social community, to

Vague words!but ah, howhardto frame

The kind of knowledgereceived by the temporarilyaugmentedself is

And gathering freshlier

15 I am aware of themodishuse of space-timecategoriesbut thereis muchevidencewhich

theseprocessesare impliedby the context;in otherstheyare indefinite

So far,we have been tryingto depict the "world"of Tennyson's

The poem aspiresto utteritself.It avoids local historicalreferencesor

apocalypticshapes unseenby the ordinaryperson.These shapesmaybe

is irreconcilablewithcontemporary actualities:modem Timbuctoois a

16 Tennysoncame upon the Kraken in a NorwegianBishop's account of a local folk

Obviouslytheproblemhas notbeen solved.

duce,as well,novelisticplots- whichdoes notimprovethe wobbly

in a longwork,thatit has notthedramaticinterest

18 J. V. Cunningham,"Several Kinds of Short Poem," Poets on Poetry,ed. Howard

cursedwithan infantile notionof poeticstructure. true

We havecomea longwayfromourinitialconsideration ofTen-

social chaos,thefragmentary merelyphenomenaland randomqualityof

20 The Correspondenceof GerardManley Hopkinsand RichardWatson Dixon, ed. C. C.

repetitions- and in thiscondition one maywellhavefanciesand vis-

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