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rawing to a close, and that of Pater, Stevenson, Hardyand Meredith was in its prime. The poem seem properly to belong, however, to the thirdquarter of the century. In 1859, Tennyson published,under the title of “Idylls of the King,” four poems, “Enid,”“Vivien,” “Elaine,” and “Guinevere.” It was a year ofgreat interest. In it De Quincey, Leigh Hunt, and Ma-caulay died; in it “Tale of Two Cities,” “Adam Bede,”and “The Ordeal of Richard Feverel” were published, and“The Virginians” was completed. A new group of writerswas being heard: Swinburne’s “‘Merope” and Morris’“Sir Galahad” and “The Defence of Guinevere” had ap-peared the year before. A new generation was being born:Shaw was three years old, Conrad two, and Oscar Wildeand William Watson one. And in that same year, Darwin’s“Origin of Species,” a book greatly significant for the think-ing of the period, was published. Tennyson continued working on the “‘Idylls”’ for twenty-five years more. In 1862, he published the second editionwith the Dedication to the memory of Prince Albert. In1869, he added “The Coming of Arthur,” “The Holy Grail,”“Pelleas and Ettarre,’ and “The Passing of Arthur.”“The Last Tournament” appeared in 1871, and ‘Garethand Lynette” in 1872. In 1885, he published “Balin andBalan,” and with the division of the original ‘‘Enid” intotwo parts, ‘“The Marriage of Geraint’’ and “Geraint andEnid,” the “Idylls of the King’? was complete. The poemscame before the public in a time of change and conflict,when England was adjusting itself to new industrial con-ditions, when the British mind was being jolted by whatseemed like a conflict between religion and science, spirit-uality and materialism, moral purpose in literature and thecry of “Art for Art’s sake.” Tennyson belonged definitely,as did the large majority of his readers, to the older genera- xvi Introduction tion in literature. Although he kept abreast of the intel-lectual progress of his times and expressed it in his poetry,he believed sincerely that Art was “‘for Art—and Man’s—sake,” and he looked with distrust and dislike at the zstheti-cism of the Pre-Raphaelites and the realism of Zola. Theoriginal Idylls of 1859, though not always well received byprofessional critics, were warmly welcomed by men of let-ters and of public life, who spoke of them with enthusiasmand often with hearty approval of the allegory. And tenthousand copies were sold in the first week after publication;the people liked the romantic story, the poetry, and themoral purpose. Nor did this approval lessen as the succeed-ing editions appeared, with the addition of new Idylls.Tennyson had chosen well for the taste of the time. In-deed, Lounsbury has said that his success and popularitywere largely due to “the fact that he mirrored, as did noother poet of his period, the changing feelings and the vary-ing moods of the generations to which he successively ap-pealed.”? But what of his modern reputation? A recent writeron Tennyson, Mr. Harold Nicolson, omits from his bookanything except incidental reference to the “Tdylls” andthe other poems of the same period on the ground that they“can make no appeal whatever to the modern mind.”’? Themodern young intellectual, past high school age, may re-ject the ‘“Idylls” on two counts: the violence sometimesdone to the medizval story, and the sentimental moraliz-ing of the poem. As for the modification of the story, thathas seemed to be a privilege claimed by every writer whohas used the “matter of Britain” in prose or verse; each 1Lounsbury, Thomas R., “The Life and Times of Tennyson” (NewHaven, Yale University Press, 1915), p- 442. 2 Nicolson, Harold, “Tennyson” (London, Constable & Co., Ltd., 1923);Pp- 230-231.
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