THE DEATH OF TENNYSON.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2410, 11 October 1892, Page 4

THE DEATH OF TENNYSON.

London, Oct. 7. Lord Tennyson died at 1.30 this morning. Sir Andrew Clarke, M.D., describes the death scene as the most beautiful he had ever witnessed. The deceased'B bed was surrounded by members of his f amily. The room was in darkness, except for the brilliant moonbeams lighting up the face of the dying poet. During his last hours the late Lord Tennyson read " Cymbeline," turning the pages of the book himself. Sir Andrew Clarke states that death was chiefly due to natural decay, but was assisted by influenza and suppressed gout. Only three hours before the final scene, the last moments of the laureate were cheered by a telegram from the Queen, the receipt of which evidently gave him freat pleasure. The remains will be uried in Westminster Abbey close by Browning's grave. The Queen has telegraphed to Lady Tennyson, expressing her deep regret. Messages of condolence were received from a number of Royal personages. Sir Edwin Arnold, Lewis Morris, and Alfred Austin have published poems in memory of the departed laureate. The presß, commenting on Lord Tennyson's death, laments theloss of one of England's sons. The foreign press publish appreciative notices. Mr Hallam Tennyson, son of the late poet, will write his father's biography. Many shutters in the West End of London were closed and church bells tolled. The American press joined in the general outburst of condolence and praise of his genius. It is expected that Mr Algernon Swinburne will be the next laureate. The remains of Lord Tennyson will bo publicly interred next Browning's grave on Wednesday. Tennyson, Alfred (Lord Tennyson), D.C.L., F.R.S., Poet Laureate, third son of the late Rev. G. C. Tennyson, was born in 1809, at his father's parsonage, at Somerby, Lincolnshire; hiis mother, who died in 1865, being a daughter of the Rev. Stephen Fytche. He was educated by hia father, and in due course proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. Tn 1829 he gained the chancellor's medal by a poem in blank verse entitled " Timbuctoo." With the exception of a volume of poems published in conjunction with his brother Charles, when they were boys, and a prize poem, composed whilst an uudergraduate at Cambridge, Mr Tennyson did not publish anything till 1830, when « Poems, Chiefly Lyrical" appeared, and from 1842 the Bteady and rapid growth of his fame may be traced. The two volumes then issued were in part merely a republication, but the most important poems were those added to his fromer productions. It was at once apparent that the author of the " Morte d'Arthur," " Lockesly Hall," the " May Queen," and the " Two Voices " was entitled to take the first rank among English poets, a reputation which was more than sustained by the two great works which followed. So well known and popular, indeed, had Mr Tennyson become after the publication of "In Memoriam," in 1850, that it seemed only a matter of course, upon the death of Wordsworth, in 1850, that the privilege of wearing " the laurel greener from the brows of him who never uttered anything base" should be offered to him. This was also the year of his marriage to Emily, daughter of Mr H. Sellwood and niece of Sir John Franklyn, by whom he had two sons. The " Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington " was published in 1852, on the morning of the funeral; and since that occurrence few events of more than ordinary interest in the eyeß of Englishmen have taken place without eliciting from the laureate some poem worthy of the occasion. He has written "Poems, Chiefly Lyrical," published in 1830 ; " Poems" in 1832 ; " Poems," two volumes, in 1842 ; " The Princess, a Medley," iu 1847 ; " In Memoriam," issued anonymously, in 1850, being a series of elegies —a tribute of affection to the memory of Arthur Hallam, a son of the eminent historian, and the chosen friend of the poet in his earlier days at Cambridge ; " Maud, and Other Poems," in 1855 ; " The Idylls of the King," in 1858 ; " Enoch Arden, and Other Poemp," in 1864; "The Holy Giail, and Other Poems," published December 16, 1869; " The Window, or the Songs of the Wrens," in 1870 j and " Gareth and Lynette," in 1872. At the Commemoration of 1855 the- University of Oxford, giving expression to the Universal feeling of England, conferred on the poet the honorary degree of D.C.L., and the Fellows of his own collage, Trinity, Cambridge, endorsing the judgment of the sister university, subscribed to purchase his bust, which they placed in their library, and in JBO9 they unanimously elect el him an honorary Fellow of the college. Am »ng his dramatic compositions are " Queen Mary," 1875; « Harold," 1870 ; « The Cup," a play which was represented at the Lyceum Theatre, January 3, 1881, Mr Irving taking the principal character (as also was " Queen Mary") ; "The Falcon," produced by Mr and Mrs Kendall; and "The Promise of May," a drama in three acts, brought out at the Globe Theatre, November 11,1882. In December, 1883, Mr Tennyson accepted a peerage as Baron Tennyson of Aldworth, Sussex, and of Freshwater, Isle of Wight. Since then he has published " Beeket," " TiJeaias and Other Poems," and, at the end of 1880, " Lockoaly Hall Sixty Years After." In his 81st year he produced another volumj, " Demeter, and Other Poems."—Men and Women of the 'J ime.