The rich
measure of praise elsewhere bestowed upon the volume would leave us no
alternative but the conclusion that Tennyson was childish enough to
maintain his silence for a decade because Lockhart took liberties with
his poems instead of joining the chorus of adulation. We know that there
were other and stronger reasons for Tennyson's silence and we also know
that the effect of Lockhart's article was decidedly salutary. When the
next collection of _Poems_ (1842) did appear, the shorter pieces
ridiculed by Lockhart were omitted, and the derided passages in the
longer poems were altered.

We may, without conscientious scruples, take Mr. Andrew Lang's advice,
and enjoy a laugh over Lockhart's performance. Its mock appreciations
are, perhaps, far-fetched at times; but there are enough effective
passages to give zest to the article. It has been said in all
seriousness that Lockhart failed to appreciate the beauty of most of
Tennyson's lines, and that he confined his remarks to the most
assailable passages. Surely, when a critic undertakes to write a
mock-appreciation, he will not quote the best verses, to the detriment
of his plan. The poet must see to it that his volume does not contain
enough absurdities to form a sufficient basis for such an article. There
is a striking contrast to the humor of Lockhart in the little-known
review of the same volume by the _Literary Gazette_, 1833, pp.
(772-774). The latter seized upon some crudities that had escaped the
_Quarterly's_ notice, and, with characteristic brutality, decided that
the poet was insane and needed a low diet and a cell.

Although the reception accorded to _Poems_ (1842) was generally
favorable, the publication of _The Princess_ in 1847 afforded the
critics another opportunity to lament Tennyson's inequalities. The
spirit of the review of _The Princess_ here reprinted from the _Literary
Gazette_ of August 8, 1848, is practically identical with that of the
_Athenaeum_ on January 6, 1848, but specifies more clearly the critic's
objections to the medley. It is noteworthy that Lord Tennyson made
extensive changes in subsequent editions of _The Princess_, but left
unaltered all of the passages to which the _Literary Gazette_ took
exception. The beautiful threnody _In Memoriam_ (1850) and Tennyson's
elevation to the laureateship in the same year established his position
as the leading poet of the time; but the appearance of _Maud_ in 1856
proved to be a temporary chec