Page:Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day.djvu/146



No, we believe the whole circle of poetry does not furnish such another instance of enthusiasm for the sights and sounds of the vernal season! The sorrows of a bereaved mother rank after the blossoms of the woodbine, and just before the hummings of the bee; and this is all he has any curiosity about, for he proceeds:

"send my love to my mother;" or "give you some hints about bees, which I have picked up from Aristseus in the Elysian Fields;" or "tell you how I am situated as to my own personal comforts in the world below"? 0, no!

This is tolerably severe. The following lines, however, gave too palpable an opportunity for even the most obtuse critic to let slip:

And this is the commentary,

This doubt is inconsistent with the opening stanza of the piece, and, in fact, too modest. We take upon ourselves to reassure Mr. Tennyson, that, even after he shall be dead and buried, as much "sense" will still remain as he has now the good fortune to possess.'

Take the following again:

'The accumulation of tender images in the following lines appears not less wonderful: