Tennyson

“In Memoriam” should be taken as the example of Tennyson’s human depth, “Tithonus” and “Oenone” of his half-sensuous perfection, and the “Idylls of the King” of his general poetic decadence. The verse of this latter work is in many places abominable; Tennyson’s fine music of paragraph is often lost, and at times even his melody of line. Tennyson must not be judged by the “Idylls of the King”, or must then be judged unjustly.