It had been a successful stratagem with Spenser in _The Fairy
Queen_, and has served Tennyson equally well in the _Idyls_. It unites the
ages of fable and of chivalry; it gives a noble lineage to heroic deeds.
The best is the last--_Guinevere_--almost the perfection of pathos in
poetry. The picturesqueness of his descriptions is evinced by the fact
that Gustave Dore has chosen these _Idyls_ as a subject for illustration,
and has been eminently successful in his labor.
_Maud_, which appeared in 1855, notwithstanding some charming lyrical
passages, may be considered Tennyson's failure. In 1869 he completed _The
Idyls_ by publishing _The Coming of Arthur_, _The Holy Grail_, and
_Pelleas and Etteare_. He also finished the _Morte d'Arthur_, and put it
in its proper place as _The Passing of Arthur_.
Tennyson was appointed poet-laureate upon the death of Wordsworth, in
1850, and receives besides a pension of L200. He lived for a long time in
great retirement at Farringford, on the Isle of Wight; but has lately
removed to Petersfield, in Hampshire.
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