Wordsworth，andtheotherpoetsIhavenamed，Byron，Shelley，Keats，andColeridge，madesuchaprotestagainstauthorityinpoetryashadbeenmadeinthe16thcenturyagainstauthorityinreligion；
andforthisauthorityweresubstitutedthesoul-experiencesoftheindividualpoet，whosethisversetothesongthatwaswithinhim，andchosesuchsubjectsaswouldbestembodyandarticulatethatsong。
Butbytheendofthefirstquarterofthepresentcentury，thegreatpoeticalbillow，whichwasnotindeedcausedby，butreceivedanimpulsefrom，thegreatpoliticalbillow，theFrenchRevolutionfortheywerecognateorco-radicalmovements，hadquitespentitself，andEnglishpoetrywasatacomparativelylowebb。ThePoeticalRevolutionhaddoneitswork。
Apoeticalinterregnumofafewyears’durationfollowed，inwhichthereappearedtobeagreatreductionofthespirituallifeofwhichpoetryistheoutgrowth。
Mr。EdmundW。Gosse，inhisarticle`OntheEarlyWritingsofRobertBrowning’，inthe`Century’forDecember，1881，hascharacterizedthisinterregnumalittletoocontemptuously，perhaps。Therewas，indeed，agreatfallinthespiritualtide；
butitwasnotsuchadead-lowtideasMr。Gossewouldmakeit。
Atlength，in1830，appearedavolumeofpoemsbyayoungman，thenbuttwenty-oneyearsofage，whichdistinctlymarkedthesettinginofaneworderofthings。Itborethefollowingtitle：
`Poems，chieflyLyrical。ByAlfredTennyson，London：
EffinghamWilson，RoyalExchange，Cornhill，1830。’pp。154。
Thevolumecomprisedfifty-threepoems，amongwhichwere`ThePoet’
and`ThePoet’sMind’。Thesetwopoemswereemphaticallyindicativeofthehighidealofpoetrywhichhadbeenattained，andtothedevelopmentofwhichthebandofpoetsoftheprecedinggenerationhadlargelycontributed。
Areviewofthevolume，byJohnStuartMill，thenayoungmannotyettwenty-fiveyearsofage，waspublishedin`TheWestminster’
forJanuary，1831。Itbearstestimonytothewriter’sfineinsightandsureforesight；anditbearstestimony，too，tohishighestimateofthefunctionofpoetryinthisworld——anestimate，too，inkindandindegree，notolderthanthispresentcentury。
Thereviewisasimportantalandmarkinthedevelopmentofpoeticalcriticism，asarethetwopoemsIhavementioned，inthedevelopmentofpoeticalideals，inthenineteenthcentury。
Intheconcludingparagraphofthereview，Millsays：”Agenuinepoethasdeepresponsibilitiestohiscountryandtheworld，tothepresentandfuturegenerations，toearthandheaven。He，ofallmen，shouldhavedistinctandworthyobjectsbeforehim，andconsecratehimselftotheirpromotion。Itisthusthathebestconsultsthegloryofhisart，andhisownlastingfame……
Mr。Tennysonknowsthat”thepoet’smindisholyground”；
heknowsthatthepoet’sportionistobe”Dower’dwiththehateofhate，thescornofscorn，Theloveoflove”；
hehasshown，inthelinesfromwhichwequote，hisownjustconceptionofthegrandeurofapoet’sdestiny；
andwelooktohimforitsfulfilment……IfourestimateofMr。Tennysonbecorrect，hetooisapoet；andmanyyearshencemaybereadhisjuveniledescriptionofthatcharacterwiththeproudconsciousnessthatithasbecomethedescriptionandhistoryofhisownworks。”
Twoyearslater，thatis，in1832thevolume，however，isantedated1833，appeared`PoemsbyAlfredTennyson’，pp。163。
Initwerecontained`TheLadyofShalott’，andtheuntitledpoems，knownbytheirfirstlines，`Youaskmewhy，tho’illatease’，`OfoldsatFreedomontheHeights’，and`LovethouthyLand，withLovefarbrought’。
In`TheLadyofShalott’ismysticallyshadowedforththerelationwhichpoeticgeniusshouldsustaintotheworldforwhosespiritualredemptionitlabors，andthefatalconsequencesofitsbeingseducedbytheworld’stemptations，thelustoftheflesh，andthelustoftheeyes，andtheprideoflife。
Theotherpoems，`Youaskmewhy’，`OfoldsatFreedom’，and`Lovethouthyland’，areimportantasexponentsofwhatmaybecalledthepoet’sinstitutionalcreed。Acarefulstudyofhissubsequentpoetrywillshowthatintheseearlypoemsheaccuratelyanddistinctlyrevealedtheattitudetowardoutsidethingswhichhehassincemaintained。Heisagooddealofaninstitutionalpoet，and，ascomparedwithBrowning，aSTRONGLYinstitutionalpoet。Browning’ssupremeandall-absorbinginterestisinindividualsouls。Hecaresbutlittle，evidently，aboutinstitutions。Atanyrate，hegivesthemlittleornoplaceinhispoetry。Tennysonisaverydecidedreactionaryproductoftherevolutionaryspiritwhichinspiredsomeofhispoeticalpredecessorsofthepreviousgeneration。
Hehasahorroroftherevolutionary。Tohim，theFrenchRevolutionwas”theblindhystericsoftheCelt”，[`InMemoriam’，cix。]，and”theredfool-furyoftheSeine”[`I。M。’，cxxvii。]。
Heattachesgreatimportancetotheoutsidearrangementsofsocietyforupholdingandadvancingtheindividual。Hewould”makeKnowledgecirclewiththewinds”，but”herherald，Reverence”，must”flyBeforehertowhateverskyBearseedofmenandgrowthofminds。”
Hehasagreatregardforprecedents，almostASprecedents。
Heisemphaticallythepoetoflawandorder。Allhissympathiesaredecidedly，butnotnarrowly，conservative。Heis，inshort，achoiceproductofnineteenthcenturyENGLISHcivilization；
andhispoetrymaybesaidtobethemostdistinctexpressionoftherefinementsofEnglishculture——refinements，ratherthantheruderbutmorevitalformsofEnglishstrengthandpower。
Allhisidealsofinstitutionsandthegeneralmachineryoflife，arederivedfromEngland。Sheis”thelandthatfreementill，Thatsober-suitedFreedomchose，Thelandwhere，girtwithfriendsorfoes，Amanmayspeakthethinghewill；
AlandofSETTLEDGOVERNMENT，ALANDOFJUSTANDOLDRENOWN，WHEREFREEDOMBROADENSSLOWLYDOWN
FROMPRECEDENTTOPRECEDENT：
Wherefactionseldomgathershead，Butbydegreestofullnesswrought，ThestrengthofsomediffusivethoughtHathtimeandspacetoworkandspread。”
Buttheanti-revolutionaryandtheinstitutionalfeaturesofTennyson’spoetryarenotthoseofthehighergroundofhispoetry。
Theyarefeatureswhich，thoughprimarilydue，itmaybe，tothepoet’stemperament，areindirectlyduetotheparticularformofcivilizationinwhichhehaslived，andmoved，andhadhisculture，andwhichhereflectsmorethananyofhispoeticalcontemporaries。
Themostemphasizedandmostvitalizedidea，theideawhichglintsfortheverywhereinhispoetry，whichhasthemostimportantbearingonman’shigherlife，andwhichmarkstheheightofthespiritualtidereachedinhispoetry，is，thatthehighestorderofmanhoodisawell-poised，harmoniouslyoperatingdualityoftheactiveorintellectualordiscursive，andthepassiveorspirituallysensitive。ThisistheideawhichINFORMShispoemof`ThePrincess’。Itisprominentin`InMemoriam’andin`TheIdyllsoftheKing’。In`ThePrincess’，thePrince，speakingoftherelationsofthesexes，says：——”inthelongyearslikermusttheygrow；
Themanbemoreofwoman，sheofman；
Hegaininsweetnessandinmoralheight，Norlosethewrestlingthewsthatthrowtheworld；
Shementalbreadth，norfailinchildwardcare，Norlosethechildlikeinthelargermind；
Tillatthelastshesetherselftoman，Likeperfectmusicuntonoblewords；
Andsothesetwain，upontheskirtsofTime，Sitsidebyside，full-summ’dinalltheirpowers，Dispensingharvest，sowingtheTo-be，Self-reverenteachandreverencingeach，Distinctinindividualities，Butlikeeachotherev’nasthosewholove。
ThencomesthestatelierEdenbacktomen：
Thenreigntheworld’sgreatbridals，chasteandcalm：
Thenspringsthecrowningraceofhumankind。”
TostatebrieflythecardinalTennysonianidea，manmustrealizeaWOMANLYMANLINESS，andwomanaMANLYWOMANLINESS。
Tennysonpresentstoushisidealmaninthe109thsectionof`InMemoriam’。Itisdescriptiveofhisfriend，ArthurHenryHallam。AllthatismostcharacteristicofTennyson，evenhisEnglishness，isgatheredupinthispoemofsixstanzas。
Itisinterestingtomeetwithsucharepresentativeandcomprehensivebitinagreatpoet。”HEART-AFFLUENCEindiscursivetalkFromhouseholdfountainsneverdry；
TheCRITICCLEARNESSofaneye，ThatsawthroughalltheMuses’walk；
SERAPHICINTELLECTANDFORCE
TOSEIZEANDTHROWTHEDOUBTSOFMAN；
IMPASSIONEDLOGIC，whichoutranThebearerinitsfierycourse；
HIGHNATUREAMOROUSOFTHEGOOD，BUTTOUCH’DWITHNOASCETICGLOOM；
AndpassionspureinsnowybloomThroughalltheyearsofAprilblood。”
ThefirsttwoversesofthisstanzaalsocharacterizetheKingArthurofthe`IdyllsoftheKing’。*1*Inthenextstanzawehavethepoet’sinstitutionalEnglishness：——”Aloveoffreedomrarelyfelt，OffreedominherregalseatOfEngland；nottheschool-boyheat，TheblindhystericsoftheCelt；
AndMANHOODFUSEDWITHFEMALEGRACE*2*
Insuchasort，thechildwouldtwineAtrustfulhand，unask’d，inthine，Andfindhiscomfortinthyface；
Allthesehavebeen，andtheemineeyesHavelook’don；iftheylook’dinvain，Myshameisgreaterwhoremain，Norletthywisdommakemewise。”——
*1*See`TheHolyGrail’，theconcludingthirty-twoverses，beginning：”AndspakeInottootruly，OmyKnights”，andending”yehaveseenthatyehaveseen”。
*2*Theideaof`ThePrincess’。