"
Tennyson's chanting of his own "Boaedicea" was very remarkable.
"Thine the liberty, thine the glory, thine the deeds to be
celebrated,
Thine the myriad-rolling ocean, light and shadow illimitable."
But nothing could excel the effect of his rendering of "Guinevere,"
his voice at times tremulous with emotion, and his face turned from
the light as he read,
"Let no man dream but that I love thee still,"
and all the noble context glowing with a white heat. It was easy then
to find that his own ideal,
"Flos regum Arthuris,"
was not a legend to him alone, but a vision of the Holy Grail toward
which he aspired.
It were easy, indeed it is a temptation, to record every detail,
stamped as they all are on the memory after several visits at
Farringford and at Aldworth; but the beautiful paper printed only a
few years ago by Mrs. Anne Thackeray Ritchie, now given to the world
in a volume, where Tennyson stands as one of "The Light-Bearers,"
would make any repetition of the history of his family life worse than
unnecessary. Mrs. Ritchie's friendship with the members of that
household, and her familiarity with the houses and scenery which
surrounded them, have given her the opportunity to do what her genius
has executed.
Summer was again here, with a touch of autumn in the air--this autumn
in which we write--when we last saw Lord Tennyson at Aldworth. He was
already unwell and suffering from a cold.
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