第 34 节
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理性的思索 更新:2021-02-21 10:16 字数:9322
sensitive exterior he was thoroughly genial if he was understood。〃
In these points he was unlike his great contemporary; Browning; for
instance; Tennyson never (I think) was the Master's guest at Balliol;
mingling; like Browning; with the undergraduates; to whom the
Master's hospitality was freely extended。 Yet; where he was
familiar; Tennyson was a gay companion; not shunning jest or even
paradox。 〃As Dr Johnson says; every man may be judged of by his
laughter〃: but no Boswell has chronicled the laughters of Tennyson。
〃He never; or hardly ever; made puns or witticisms〃 (though one pun;
at least; endures in tradition); 〃but always lived in an attitude of
humour。〃 Mr Jowett writes (and no description of the poet is better
than his) …
If I were to describe his outward appearance; I should say that he
was certainly unlike any one else whom I ever saw。 A glance at some
of Watts' portraits of him will give; better than any description
which can be expressed in words; a conception of his noble mien and
look。 He was a magnificent man; who stood before you in his native
refinement and strength。 The unconventionality of his manners was in
keeping with the originality of his figure。 He would sometimes say
nothing; or a word or two only; to the stranger who approached him;
out of shyness。 He would sometimes come into the drawing…room
reading a book。 At other times; especially to ladies; he was
singularly gracious and benevolent。 He would talk about the
accidents of his own life with an extraordinary freedom; as at the
moment they appeared to present themselves to his mind; the days of
his boyhood that were passed at Somersby; and the old school of
manners which he came across in his own neighbourhood: the days of
the 〃apostles〃 at Cambridge: the years which he spent in London; the
evenings enjoyed at the Cock Tavern; and elsewhere; when he saw
another side of life; not without a kindly and humorous sense of the
ridiculous in his fellow…creatures。 His repertory of stories was
perfectly inexhaustible; they were often about slight matters that
would scarcely bear repetition; but were told with such lifelike
reality; that they convulsed his hearers with laughter。 Like most
story…tellers; he often repeated his favourites; but; like children;
his audience liked hearing them again and again; and he enjoyed
telling them。 It might be said of him that he told more stories than
any one; but was by no means the regular story…teller。 In the
commonest conversation he showed himself a man of genius。
To this description may be added another by Mr F。 T。 Palgrave:…
Every one will have seen men; distinguished in some line of work;
whose conversation (to take the old figure) either 〃smelt too
strongly of the lamp;〃 or lay quite apart from their art or craft。
What; through all these years; struck me about Tennyson; was that
whilst he never deviated into poetical language as such; whether in
rhetoric or highly coloured phrase; yet throughout the substance of
his talk the same mode of thought; the same imaginative grasp of
nature; the same fineness and gentleness in his view of character;
the same forbearance and toleration; the aurea mediocritas despised
by fools and fanatics; which are stamped on his poetry; were
constantly perceptible: whilst in the easy and as it were unsought
choiceness; the conscientious and truth…loving precision of his
words; the same personal identity revealed itself。 What a strange
charm lay here; how deeply illuminating the whole character; as in
prolonged intercourse it gradually revealed itself! Artist and man;
Tennyson was invariably true to himself; or rather; in Wordsworth's
phrase; he 〃moved altogether〃; his nature and his poetry being
harmonious aspects of the same soul; as botanists tell us that flower
and fruit are but transformations of root and stem and leafage。 We
read how; in mediaeval days; conduits were made to flow with claret。
But this was on great occasions only。 Tennyson's fountain always ran
wine。
Once more: In Mme。 Recamier's salon; I have read; at the time when
conversation was yet a fine art in Paris; guests famous for esprit
would sit in the twilight round the stove; whilst each in turn let
fly some sparkling anecdote or bon…mot; which rose and shone and died
out into silence; till the next of the elect pyrotechnists was ready。
Good things of this kind; as I have said; were plentiful in
Tennyson's repertory。 But what; to pass from the materials to the
method of his conversation; eminently marked it was the continuity of
the electric current。 He spoke; and was silent; and spoke again:
but the circuit was unbroken; there was no effort in taking up the
thread; no sense of disjunction。 Often I thought; had he never
written a line of the poems so dear to us; his conversation alone
would have made him the most interesting companion known to me。 From
this great and gracious student of humanity; what less; indeed; could
be expected? And if; as a converser; I were to compare him with
Socrates; as figured for us in the dialogues of his great disciple; I
think that I should have the assent of that eminently valued friend
of Tennyson's; whose long labour of love has conferred English
citizenship upon Plato。
We have called him shy and sensitive in daily intercourse with
strangers; and as to criticism; he freely confessed that a midge of
dispraise could sting; while applause gave him little pleasure。 Yet
no poet altered his verses so much in obedience to censure unjustly
or irritatingly stated; yet in essence just。 He readily rejected
some of his 〃Juvenilia〃 on Mr Palgrave's suggestion。 The same friend
tells how well he took a rather fierce attack on an unpublished
piece; when Mr Palgrave 〃owned that he could not find one good line
in it。〃 Very few poets; or even versifiers (fiercer they than poets
are); would have continued to show their virgin numbers to a friend
so candid; as Tennyson did。 Perhaps most of the genus irritabile
will grant that spoken criticism; if unfavourable; somehow annoys and
stirs opposition in an author; probably because it confirms his own
suspicions about his work。 Such criticism is almost invariably just。
But Campbell; when Rogers offered a correction; 〃bounced out of the
room; with a 'Hang it! I should like to see the man who would dare
to correct me。'〃
Mr Jowett justly recognised in the life of Tennyson two circumstances
which made him other than; but for these; he would have been。 He had
intended to do with the Arthurian subject what he never did; 〃in some
way or other to have represented in it the great religions of the
world。 。 。 。 It is a proof of Tennyson's genius that he should have
thus early grasped the great historical aspect of religion。〃 His
intention was foiled; his early dream was broken; by the death of
Arthur Hallam; and by the coldness and contempt with which; at the
same period; his early poems were received。
Mr Jowett (who had a firm belief in the 〃great work〃) regretted the
change of plan as to the Arthurian topic; regretted it the more from
his own interest in the History of Religion。 But we need not share
the regrets。 The early plan for the Arthur (which Mr Jowett never
saw) has been published; and certainly the scheme could not have been
executed on these lines。 {18} Moreover; as the Master observed; the
work would have been premature in Tennyson's youth; and; indeed; it
would still be premature。 The comparative science of religious
evolution is even now very tentative; and does not yield materials of
sufficient stability for an epic; even if such an epic could be
forced into the mould of the Arthur legends; a feat perhaps
impossible; and certainly undesirable。 A truly fantastic allegory
must have been the result; and it is fortunate that the poet
abandoned the idea in favour of more human themes。 Moreover; he
recognised very early that his was not a Muse de longue haleine; that
he must be 〃short。〃 We may therefore feel certain that his early
sorrow and discouragement were salutary to him as a poet; and as a
man。 He became more sympathetic; more tender; and was obliged to put
forth that stoical self…control; and strenuous courage and endurance;
through which alone his poetic career was rendered possible。 〃He had
the susceptibility of a child or a woman;〃 says his friend; 〃he had
also〃 (it was a strange combination) 〃the strength of a giant or of a
god。〃 Without these qualities he must have broken down between 1833
and 1842 into a hypochondriac; or a morose; if majestic; failure。
Poor; obscure; and unhappy; he overcame the world; and passed from
darkness into light。 The 〃poetic temperament〃 in another not gifted
with his endurance and persistent strength would have achieved ruin。
Most of us remember Taine's parallel between Tennyson and Alfred de
Musset。 The French critic has no high approval of Tennyson's
〃respectability〃 and long peaceful life; as compared with the wrecked
life and genius of Musset; l'enfant perdu of love; wine; and song。
This is a theory like another; and is perhaps attractive to the
young。 The poet must have strong passions; or how can he sing of
them: h