THE PRINCESS 9
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eads us by a very sure and direct path to the true theory of mar-riage, “« Different as the two sexes are by nature, and increased as thatdifference is by the diversity which happily exists in their socialposition, each is consequently necessary to the moral develop-ment of the other. In practical energy and in the mental capacityconnected with it, man is evidently superior to woman. Woman’sstrength, on the other hand, lies in feeling. She excels man inlove, as man excels her in all kinds of force. It is impossible toconceive of a closer union than that which binds these two beingsto the mutual service and perfection of each other, saving themfrom all danger of rivalry. The voluntary character, too, of thisunion gives it a still further charm when the choice has been on _ both sidesa happy one. In the Positive theory, then, of marriage, - its principal object is considered to be that of completing and con-‘ firming the education of the heart by calling out the purest and_ strongest of human sympathies.” The Princess, more than any other of Tennyson’s longer poems with the possible exception of In Memoriam, is dependent on- explanatory notes for its proper appreciation and enjoyment, and_ especially is this true in the case of children; the themes which"are its subject are beyond their experience and, to a large degree,their interest, its structure is intricate and unusual, and its beautyas poetry lies largely, as it were, under the surface; but its valueas a field for study rather lies in these characteristics than existsin spite of them. The notes of the present-edition have been rigidly subjected tothe test of the question, ‘Is the pupil likely to find this out forhimself?” and it is believed that they contain nothing which willnot be a distinct help in the understanding and enjoyment of thepoem. On the other hand, more has been sought for than themere ab lity to pass an examination on the subject-matter of thepoem, and an attempt has been made to help the student to anappreciation of the more distinctively artistic features of Tenny-son’s work as such. In preparing the present edition constant use has been made ofthe notes to the edition of Professor Wallace of the Anglo-Indian College, Aligarh (Macmillan).August 16, 1897
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