ardent admirers, who discover a crystal tear of genuine
emotion in every stanza.

IDYLS OF THE KING.--The fragment on the death of Arthur, already
mentioned, foreshadowed a purpose of the poet's mind to make the legends
of that almost fabulous monarch a vehicle for modern philosophy in English
verse. In 1859 appeared a volume containing the _Idyls of the King_. They
are rather minor epics than idyls. The simple materials are taken from the
Welsh and French chronicles, and are chiefly of importance in that they
cater to that English taste which finds national greatness typified in
Arthur. It had been a successful stratagem with Spenser in _The Fairy
Queen_, and has served Tennyson equally well in the _Idyls_. It unites the
ages of fable and of chivalry; it gives a noble lineage to heroic deeds.
The best is the last--_Guinevere_--almost the perfection of pathos in
poetry. The picturesqueness of his descriptions is evinced by the fact
that Gustave Dore has chosen these _Idyls_ as a subject for illustration,
and has been eminently successful in his labor.

_Maud_, which appeared in 1855, notwithstanding some charming lyrical
passages, may be considered Tennyson's failure. In 1869 he completed _The
Idyls_ by publishing _The Coming of Arthur_, _The Holy Grail_, and
_Pelleas and Etteare_. He also finished the _Morte d'Arthur_, and put it
in its proper place as _The Passing of Arthur_.

Tennyson was appointed poet-laureate upon the death of Wordsworth, in
1850, and receives besides a pension of L200. He lived for a long time in
great retirement at Farringford, on the Isle of Wight; but has lately
removed to Petersfield, in Hampshire. It may be reasonably doubted whether
this hermit-life has not injured his poetical powers; whether, great as he
really is, a little inhalation of the air of busy every-day life would not
have infused more of nature and freshness into his verse. Among his few
_Odes_ are that on the death of the Duke of Wellington, the dedication of
his poems to the Queen, and his welcome to Alexandra, Princess of Wales,
all of which are of great excellence. His _Charge of the Light Brigade_,
at Balaclava, while it gave undue currency to that stupid military
blunder, must rank as one of the finest battle-lyrics in the language.

The poetry of Tennyson is eminently representative of the Victorian age.
He has written little; but that little marks a distinct era in
versification--great harmony untrammelled by artif