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A Further History of Tennyson's Ode on the
Death of the Duke of Wellington: The Manuscript at Trinity College and the
Galley Proof at Lincoln
by
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. and Christopher Ricks
Alfred Tennyson was a consummate and indefatigable craftsman, and the relation of his craftsmanship to his art is superbly evidenced in his first major poem as Poet Laureate, the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. The present writers have previously described the compositional background of the poem and its critical reception, and from manuscripts and proof sheets at Harvard University as well as printed editions spanning twenty years, have offered extensive evidence of Tennyson's care in bringing his work to its finished state.[1] There is now available to scholars the only full and (except for two MS fragments of strophes IV and VI at Harvard) the earliest manuscript of the Ode—that at Trinity College, Cambridge, a manuscript which formerly could be neither copied nor quoted; and cataloguing of the family materials at the Tennyson Research Centre in Lincoln has brought to light a galley proof for the first edition, containing Tennyson's autograph corrections. Since these two new documents make it possible to add considerably to the history of the poem, our enterprise here is to augment, especially from the rich mine of the Trinity MS, the previous account of Tennyson's creative process and to provide a full collation that records the alterations in all manuscripts and the textual variants in existing MSS and printed states.[2] Throughout
The Lincoln galley proof (of which there is a detailed description below in the Bibliographical Note) was pulled from the same type as the uncorrected galley proof for the first edition at Harvard. Its many autograph corrections range from the simple correcting of misprints, through numerous changes of punctuation (particularly important to a poem of which the movement and pace are firmly commanded), to substantial changes in wording. These may be simple but central, as in the justifiably confident assertion that Wellington 'asserts his claim' (70) to his great name—an autograph correction from 'prefers his claim', which had an air either of archaism or of mere predilection. Other corrections to the proof involve a whole sequence, and in particular a self-awareness as to the poem's duty of reverent reticence. Thus in the final lines of the proof, in the final strophe,
Clamorous memories, all too free . . .
Must be with us, watching here
At this, our great solemnity.
Whom we see not we revere.
We revere, & we refrain
From talk of battles loud & vain,
And brawling memories all too free . . . .(242-248)
A detailed description of Tennyson's creation of the poem, folio by folio in the Trinity MS, is given below (see the Bibliographical Note). As a brief introduction to a critical consideration, it is enough to point out here that the manuscript in Trinity Notebook 25 runs from folio 6 to folio 16; and that in the MS Tennyson worked by expanding his drafts on the versos, doing a great deal of re-writing, usually without deleting his earlier drafts, and building up passages and strophes with elaborate care. The final text of the poem in this state consists of 233
There was only one structural decision which Tennyson had not as yet made: the addition of strophe II, on where the Duke was to be buried. The most substantial revisions, involving several drafts, occur—not surprisingly—in the three strophes which together constitute more than half of the poem: VI, VII, and VIII. These are the strophes which are bent imaginatively upon the past and the future (as against the imminent present of the burial ceremony) and which are most compacted of argument and high doctrine—religious, political, and patriotic.
All revisions, however minute, by a poet as scrupulous and gifted as Tennyson are important, but the large-scale points are these: that by the time of the Trinity MS strophes I, III, and IV were substantially shaped for publication; that V did not at this stage prick Tennyson into much revision, but was to be revised and expanded for publication; that VI prompted several re-draftings, was to be further revised for publication, and included in MS six lines which were probably the germ of VII:
Brother Angels bright & strong
If France intend aught but good—& fair
Be Britains guardian angels there
And guard this last free commonweal from wrong
Labour great Ghosts in your old countrys cause . . . [151-191]
One may first ask of the MS what it manifests which is germane to the question of the extent to which, and the spirit in which, Tennyson attended to the reviews. The MS evidence supports the belief that Tennyson was usually prompted by reviews to revision only when he felt a concurrence grounded in his maturing sense of things (pp. 160-163; and Shannon, Tennyson and the Reviewers, 1952). Four main heads were suggested, in 1960, under which Tennyson's published revisions
Apt to the first head (Wellington as soldier and statesman), though not involving such an added emphasis as The Times was to ask for, Tennyson's revisions of strophe IV show that he early understood what was needed here, but he did not, for instance, arrive at once at the right tribute to the statesman: 'O voice from which their omens all men drew' (36). The earliest MS fragment (Harvard MS1) contains the line, but beginning 'Lost voice . . .'. Tennyson saw that this would not do, presumably because 'Lost' is doubly unsatisfactory: first, in too much cutting off the present from the Duke's statesmanlike wisdom, as if it were irrecoverably lost; and second, in the altogether unwanted suggestion—'Lost voice'—of losing one's voice. So Tennyson dropped the line, which does not appear in the Trinity MS. But the line made its rightful appearance in the galley proofs and the published text, with 'Lost voice' replaced by 'O voice'. The misleading suggestions have gone, and moreover there is the dignified and surprisingly unexclamatory sequence of exclamations: four consecutive lines beginning with 'O', the fourth then swelling into the line which crowns them, and all terminating in a single simple exclamation mark:
O voice from which their omens all men drew,
O iron nerve to true occasion true,
O fall'n at length that tower of strength
Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew! (35-39)
Not first, and third, which are a riper first? (65-66)
As for Wellington the soldier, the MS provides ample evidence that Tennyson more and more came to see the need for incorporating a substantial and specific sense of Wellington's character and achievements. Thus strophe VI moved through three drafts [80-150], where the development is clear: the first did not specify Wellington's achievements as 'the greatest soldier'; the second added the victories in Hindustan, in
Under the next head (the addition in 1853 of lines 266-270 on the interment itself), the MS again shows that Tennyson had already moved in the direction in which he may have come to be further influenced. For the appearance in the galley proofs of strophe II, which is not in the MS, is one crucial step towards the factual and final 'committal of the body to the earth' (p. 161). Strophe II begins:
Render thanks to the Giver,
England, for thy son.
Let the bell be toll'd.
Render thanks to the Giver,
And render him to the mould. (43-48)
These lines are apposite to another of the categories where Tennyson may later have been influenced by reviewers though in a direction already estimated and esteemed by him, the 'intensified religious note in the second edition' (pp. 162-163). Thus Tennyson came to hear that the
Render thanks to the Giver,
And render him to the mould.
Strophe V, with its evocation of St. Paul's Cathedral, is particularly compacted of such instances, as Tennyson came to move from his early thoughts in the Trinity MS to his published text. Thus the MS does not have the sombre religious note, as of a deeply discreet half-allusion to 'It is finished', with which Tennyson, paradoxically, was to open V: 'All is over and done'. Nor does the MS have the tolling of the bell—in itself an intensified religious note—which three times rings out 'Let the bell be toll'd' (46, 53, 58), a sound which then merges into another religious note such as was not heard in the MS: 'And the sound of the sorrowing anthem roll'd' (60).
Another revision, from the Trinity MS to the published text, is a parallel of a sort to an instance of a published revision which perhaps owed something to a reviewer. In 1853 Tennyson added thanks to God for 'England's natural strategic advantage' (p. 162):
His Saxon [Briton 1864] in blown seas and
storming showers . . . (154-155)
Not, of course, that every reference to God would be sure to constitute an intensifying of the religious note; Tennyson was right to decide against (and to delete before the poem reached galleys) those lines where the Trinity MS too grandly made play with God on England's side, and which far from deepening the religious note would have shallowly and sententiously polemicized it:
Their Great Napoleons live & die
With rolling echoes by the nations heard.
But shall we count them Gods who break their word
The word is God: thou shalt not lie . . . [173-179]
These lines bring us to the one remaining category of review-spurred revision: the patriotic and the English. Tennyson had a task of delicacy and complexity here. He needed to praise England for begetting the Duke, and the Duke for embodying England. He needed to praise the Duke as unique, belonging to a giant race, and yet as having inculcated a patriotic education and having provided an example such as must live on. It was a moment for national pride, and it was no time for national complacency.
The statement 'The last great Englishman is low' (18) had been followed in 1852 by a necessary and heart-animating qualification, and was to have the qualification clarified in 1853, perhaps because of a reviewer (p. 162). It is clear from the MS that Tennyson was aware of danger here; and the emphasis—at once salutary and a salutation—which grows throughout the growth of the poem is upon Wellington's especial power to teach, to inspire, to instil a like mind, a power which is greater than just the power to win by his own prowess:
What long-enduring hearts could do
In that world-earthquake, Waterloo! (131-133)
The sequence shows Tennyson bent upon doing justice to Wellington's greatness: that he was not only great, but the cause that greatness was in others. There is an analogous revision in line 192, where the Trinity MS 'Victor' became 'leader': 'Lo, the leader in these glorious
Such a sharing of credit in a way which gains a higher credit is evident, too, in the acknowledgment of the Prussians' part at Waterloo. 'Last, the Prussian trumpet blew' (127): there was no such line in the Trinity MS, and the omission was not only an ungrateful historical suppression but might also be bad for the English, of whose national complacency Tennyson was fearful. It was a simple addition, and an important one, yet it cost Tennyson more trouble than one would have expected, going through four slightly-varied versions. Could it be that he felt obliged to make the correction on the Lincoln proof, from 'The trumpet of the Prussian blew', because he suddenly heard and saw Prussian blue?
To turn now to the other class of revisions (pp. 163-166), those which were apparently independent of the reviewers. Here too the published revisions are often anticipated within the MS growth of the poem. The most important such impulse after 1852 was the muting of 'the shrill anti-Gallic note', and Tennyson had felt this impulse (to curb his natural impulses) during the earlier stages of composition. There were printed in 1960 (p. 151,n.7), from the Pierpont Morgan copy of 1852, Tennyson's passionately polemical lines against 'Their Great Napoleons' [173-179]. The lines had taken virtually the same form in the Trinity MS. Tennyson was unquestionably right to expunge them. For one thing, their scorn is too shrill, too little like the high scorn of heaven which Tennyson invokes:
Their Great Napoleons live & die . . . .
For ever; and whatever tempests lour
For ever silent; even if they broke
In thunder, silent; yet remember all
He spoke among you . . . . (174-178)
Tennyson was always wont to sound hysterical when contemplating 'The blind hysterics of the Celt' (In Memoriam, CIX), and the anti-Gallic note is loud and clear in the Trinity MS, as in the fiery lines:
Wellesley fortune's minion here on earth
What is half so blind as wounded pride? [192-231]
Your leader Fortune's minion from his birth . . . .
Or Trade re-frain the Powers
From war with kindly links of gold . . . . (13-14)
We revere, & we refrain
From talk of battles loud and vain,
And brawling memories all too free . . . . (245-249)
Tennyson was right to incorporate into his poem his urgent warning about national security; it was apt, and no derogation from the dignity of the occasion. But he would have been wrong to retain so local a glint as the Trinity MS injunction to Nelson and Wellington to be 'Britains guardian angels' 'If France intend aught but good—& fair' [151-191]. No, gently did it, as when Tennyson, instead of excoriation, was able to use intimation, hinting at a crucial distinction between the political worlds of England and France and speaking of
Betwixt a people and their ancient throne,
That sober freedom out of which there springs
Our loyal passion for our temperate kings . . . . (162-165)
It should be added, though, that the muting of the shrill anti-Gallic note, in revision, was at one with the muting of the note that shrilled against English appeasers. For this note too threatened the dignity of the occasion, and Tennyson became vigilant about protecting his urgent patriotism of national security against any suspicion that it was a polemical opportunism and a manipulation of the Duke's memory. Hence Tennyson's decision not to elaborate, and indeed to expunge for publication, his reference here:
Elaborated a carp'd at war. [118, 118/119]
A similar consideration rescinded the line twice-phrased as 'On men that only seek for power & place', and 'To truckling hearts that only pant
Nor palter'd with Eternal God for power . . . . (179-180)
All these major categories of independent revision in the published text (pp. 163-166)—an increased accuracy, a safe-guarding of the dignity of the Duke's activity, an intensification of the patriotic warnings, an increased emphasis upon work, and a prophetic hope for the universal acceptance of the Duke's life as exemplary—gain antecedent support from the changes both within the Trinity MS and from it. Not all the revisions are incontestably for the better, and there remain some readers who believe, for instance, that the increasing emphasis upon work was a mistake, since no more than the rest of us was Tennyson able to imagine work in Heaven, leave alone work adequate to keep the Duke of Wellington (in Lord Reith's famous phrase) 'fully stretched'. But rather than elaborate with MS findings the established account of the published revisions, it seems best to move now to four further aspects of the poem which the MS illuminates: metaphors, ambiguities, questions, and names.
One concern in revision was to scrutinize metaphors. Tennyson was alert to extinguish any distracting flickers. An example is his deciding against the Trinity MS description of the Napoleonic eagle as 'Clutching fire & crown'd with his star' [120/121], presumably because the metaphors create a Gallic furore—how and why does an eagle clutch fire, and how and why is it crowned with a star, and moreover how do the two fit together? Conversely Tennyson revised to create a fitting metaphorical continuity, as when he changed the MS 'His eighty winters breathe rebuke' [151-191], first by seeing no force in 'breathe' (in relation to either 'winter' or 'rebuke') and so trying to minimize the metaphors in 'winters': 'His eightywintered life is all rebuke' [151-191]; next in the final version of the Trinity MS with 'His eighty winters are but one rebuke' [186]; and last by moving in the opposite direction and intensifying the metaphor: 'His [Whose 1852(a)] eighty winters freeze with one rebuke . . .' (1852). The play of 'glitter'd' and 'sunlight' against 'winters' in the Trinity MS proved a distraction, and Tennyson rejected it [173-179]. The 'race | Of honour' in the early passage [151-191] could not satisfactorily be accommodated to Wellington's old age or to his military prowess, and Tennyson simply dropped it.
A further category of revisions involves ambiguities. It is remarkable how many of them had crept into a poem of such sturdy Wellington-like
Remembering all his greatness in the Past (19-20)
A related revision a few lines later shows Tennyson guarding his reader against what might otherwise trap him into a false sense of parallelism. The Trinity MS has:
Mourn for the man of long-enduring blood . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mourn for the man of long-enduring blood . . . . (24)
With lifted hand the gazer in the street.
Such an instance as 'Mourn . . .' has particular importance because the whole poem is composed of injunction and adjuration, from its opening words: 'Bury the Great Duke' (a simple but inspired revision in 1855) modulating at once into the less imperious 'Let us bury the Great Duke', through to that repeated urging of injunction, 'Peace' (peace in honour of the great warrior), and so to the final adjuration, which is not command but prayer: 'God accept him, Christ receive him'. Such conclusive simplicity had no room for the turn, which the Trinity MS shows Tennyson to have contemplated, of 'leave to' (cease to) against 'leave', in an early Trinity MS draft:
And lay your earthly fancies down
Xt receive him; leave him leave him. [232-281]
Clearly Tennyson did not wish to remove from his poetry all those innumerable delicacies of decision by which a reader experiences the active life of a poem in his own active construing and construction of it. But the revisions make it clear that Tennyson was vigilant about setting limits to such possibilities of flickers of hesitation or misreading. Thus to 'clash with' someone would normally be to conflict with them, with functioning there as opposition and not alliance. But Tennyson used the expression with local successful surprise, so that it did mean alliance:
Against the myriads of Assaye
Clash'd with his fiery few and won . . . . (98-100)
Clashing with his fiery few
On their myriads at Assaye
Charged & shock'd & overthrew . . . . [80-150]
Lifted up the spirits of men
And led them on, with blows on blows . . . .
Back to France her banded swarms,
Back to France with countless blows . . . . (109-111)
Or, still in the same passage, there was the dangerous vagueness of 'When the Godlike portent grew', which was meant as a dark shaft at the French but which sounds at once reverent, sarcastic, and wobbly. (Likewise the word 'Genius' in 'let the tyrant Genius fall' [192-123]. Then, three lines after the 'Godlike portent', there was: 'He taught what hearts of oak can do'. But 'hearts of oak', with its famous naval timbre, makes Wellington too much trespass upon Nelson's realm. Tennyson's revision, 'long-enduring hearts' (132), was magnificently felicitous because the epithet is used of Wellington himself earlier in the poem. The reciprocity of the leader and the led is perfectly joined in their both being 'longenduring', and the reciprocity is further deepened by the relation of Wellington's 'long-enduring blood' (24) to these 'long-enduring hearts'. If Wellington 'taught' all this, he did so—as the taking-up of the epithet (which itself thus means endures) from the earlier line has intimated—by the best means: personal example, itself a matter of that reciprocity
Tennyson in revision was very sensitive to the appositeness of epithets. One which might be right within a certain context—'Worthy of our gorgeous rites' (93)—might sound callously aesthetic elsewhere, even though it was within the same strophe: 'He to such a gorgeous close' [118]. Tennyson's change from this line in the Trinity MS was characteristic not only in expunging the risky epithet, but also in then relying entirely upon 'such'; for the two lines became on publication: 'Such a war had such a close'. Instead of the single 'such', there was now the balanced reciprocity of the two; and 'such' is admirable for Tennyson's purposes in its confident allusiveness to the unmistakably known.[9]
Matters of tone arise with another category of revision which is related to a singular strength of the poem: its way with questions. The poem as published asks only three questions; each is of a different kind, and all three gain force from this and from the fact that they are so few. There is a literal question from the public voice, inaugurating a strophe: 'Where shall we lay the man whom we deplore?' (8). There is a figurative question from the imagined shade of Nelson, again inaugurating a strophe: 'Who is he that cometh, like an honoured guest . . .?' (80). And there is a rhetorical question—deep within the final strophe—from the general human consciousness, except that 'rhetorical' is the wrong word for so strongly undeviating an affirmation: 'What know we greater than the soul?' (265). The Trinity MS lacked the first of these questions, since it did not have strophe II. Tennyson supplied this question, and no less importantly he modified the tone of Nelson's imagined question, a question incidentally ('Who is he . . .?') which, because it opens the strophe, wins some of its value from the reader's not yet knowing that the shade of Nelson speaks, so that the reader is pressed aptly to the same question 'Who is he . . .?'. The first draft of these lines had sounded, not like patriarchal inquiry, but like irritation:
Why the banner & the music & the soldier & the priest?
Who is this? [80-150]
With banner and with music, with soldier and with priest,
With a nation weeping, and breaking on my rest? (80-82)
The poem's third question, 'What know we greater than the soul?', is one of which Tennyson in 1853 increased the just impact by adding lines 259-261—'For tho' the Giant Ages heave the hill . . .' (p. 163); so that the question became the climax to a pageant of historical and cosmic vistas. Yet the clarity of all three of these questions depended upon their having no tawdry or less telling associates, and the MS shows Tennyson at first yielding to and then rejecting the solicitations of interrogative rhetoric. Again it is a matter of a stridency such as detracts from the Duke's dignity even in a moment of praising him, with what is a falsely rhetorical questioning:
Who dodge & shuffle with the truth . . . . [151-191]
To all men's comments till his latest hour)
A man to dodge and shuffle with the Truth
And palter with Eternal God for power? [173-179] (180)
Nor palter'd with Eternal God for power. (179-180)
Who shall doubt it . . . .
Last, the Trinity MS increases our respectful understanding of one of the poem's most striking qualities, striking and yet so discreet and justified as not to be startling: its resolute abstention from names. No-where in this tribute to the Duke of Wellington, except in the title, does his name occur. What could more manifest his intense enduring presence, even in death, than the fact that we are unremittingly conscious of him even while never having to name him? He has earned the tribute, even greater than that of the dukedom of Wellington, of the highest namelessness. His greatness is a matter of his being simply and sublimely 'the Great Duke',[11] from the first line on; and supporting this designation are all the other tributes which function in the poem as names for him, among them: 'the warrior', 'the Man', 'the last great Englishman', 'our chief state-oracle', 'the statesman-warrior', 'our dead captain', 'England's
The imaginative procedure is a courageous one, in that elegiac poetry traditionally felt the duty to blazon forth a name. But Tennyson's Ode intimates that there are some heroes so great as to make us need no reminding of their names. A second aspect of the imaginative decision is that, though the poem says so much about Wellington's great name, the greatness is understood to be that of a name which is true fame and true reputation:
The tyrant, and asserts his claim
In that dread sound to the great name,
Which he has worn so pure of blame,
In praise and in dispraise the same,
A man of well-attemper'd frame.
O civic muse, to such a name,
To such a name for ages long,
To such a name,
Preserve a broad approach of fame,
And ever-echoing avenues of song. (69-79)
The poem concludes with the naming of God and Christ and with the unnamed unmistakable repeated him: 'God accept him, Christ receive him'. And throughout the poem there occurs only one proper name:
Truth-lover was our English Duke . . . . (188-189)
Wellesley fortune's minion here on earth . . . . [192-231]
The muting of the anti-French note is at one with the decision about names in the dropping of the passage about 'Their Great Napoleons' [173-179]. For if, on the highest grounds, Wellington was not to be named, it would have been inappropriate to name his opponents. 'Their Great Napoleons' was therefore abandoned, in accordance with the principle which never named even the greatest Napoleon. Napoleon—and here the unnaming potency works for contempt and not for reverence—remains 'the spoiler':
On that loud sabbath shook the spoiler down . . . . (122-123)[13]
Neither Wellington's adversary is named, nor his mighty peer Nelson, who is joined with him in an honourable emulation. The shade of Nelson is imagined as asking 'Who is he that cometh . . . ?'. The name of Wellington is not supplied in reply, nor is Nelson's name heard when he is then replied to as 'Mighty Seaman', 'thou famous man, | The greatest sailor since our world began' (83-86). But the MS shows that here too Tennyson grew into an understanding of his imaginative process. For the first draft in the Trinity MS had the direct address of 'Noble Nelson' [80-150], which—since Wellington is not named—damaged the equipollence of 'The greatest sailor . . . the greatest soldier' (86, 88).[14]
Similarly, it would have been a mistake for Tennyson to retain the first draft lines of strophe VII which refer to Hampden:
The future world assume
Our work is ours—the single note
Will vibrate till the doom. [151, 153, 156-158]
Nor is it only persons' names to which Tennyson found that he had to be attentive. One of the characteristic reticences is that which alludes to St. Paul's Cathedral without ever naming it, as in
That shines over city and river . . . (49-50)
That lifts above the city her cross of gold . . . . [43-61]
A corollary, only at first surprising, of this refraining from names is that in one respect the poem intensely names. The name of England grew in weight and frequency as the poem grew in Tennyson's under-standing. The 'England' of line 45 and of line 161 is not to be heard in the Trinity MS, and the crucial weight given and taken by the word 'English' in line 97—'Nor ever lost an English gun'—is a revision Tennyson made on the Lincoln proof, from 'He that never lost a gun'. Line 95 is a cognate but a more complicated case. Although the Trinity MS does not have 'England' here, it used the word in this vicinity, in honouring Nelson [80-150]. The revision in the Trinity MS from 'England honours
The greatest sailor since the world began. (85-86)
Truth-lover was our English Duke . . . (188-189)
Tennyson deserves much and various honour for what he does and does not do with names throughout the poem, but perhaps it will suffice finally to make two points. First, there is only one local place-name (as against England, France, and Europe) which appears more than once, and this with the greatest force of aptness: Waterloo. Second, the decision to name London, as Tennyson did when he added strophe II (not in the Trinity MS), was not only a recognition of a needed factual simplicity, but was also a fitting acknowledgment of the centrality of Wellington to English life comparable to that of London itself:
Here, in streaming London's central roar. (8-9)
The reason why it was a lapse of judgment by Tennyson (at once rectified) to interpolate in 1853 between the first and second lines of strophe II the words 'He died on Walmer's lonely shore' is not only that the words 'interfered with the direct antiphonal reply to the question "Where shall we lay the man whom we deplore?"' (p. 165), but also that there is such an imbalance between 'Walmer' and 'London', in a poem where the weight and fate of names is so sensitively and strongly felt.
'Eternal honour to his name', Wellington's and Tennyson's.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Description of the MS in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge
The Trinity MS of the Ode appears in a notebook bound in marbled boards with black imitation calf spine and fore corners, measuring 7⅜” x 9⅛” (press mark O. 15. 25). There are gilt double rules near the top and bottom of the spine. Pasted at the top, below the middle, and at the bottom of the spine are a large capital 'O' under a design (both printed) and the printed numerals '15' and '25'. In approximately the middle of the spine on a white cloth gummed label, is written in ink, vertically with the spine: 'XXXVII. The Duke. Rise Britons | Boadicea. Will.'. The outside front cover has a pasted label, cut from white laid paper, showing scissor marks and measuring approximately 1⅞” x 25/16”, which bears in Hallam Tennyson's hand-writing, 'The Duke [in pencil] | XXXVII [in ink] | Rise Britons | Boadicea | Will [all three in pencil]'. The inside front cover has on the upper left-hand corner in pencil, '2/-' and a blue circular seal pasted in the center, carrying the printed information 'Medical | and other Students' NOTE | and | MANUSCRIPT | Book | Warehouse', ringed by the printed address, 'John Mabley, 9 Wellington Street North, Strand'.
Of the sixty-nine leaves of light greyish blue wove unwatermarked paper that the notebook originally contained, sixteen remain, which, varying slightly in size, average in measurement 7¼” x 9” and are numbered in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of each recto 1 through 16. The MS of the Ode appears on fols. 6-16.
A description of the complete contents of the notebook is as follows:
2-3 a draft of Rise Britons; 3v blank
4 begins a second draft of Rise Britons
5-5v second draft of Rise Britons continues; followed by stubs of 38 leaves torn or scissored out; two carry evidence of words in ink and two others of ink markings, possibly fragments of drawings
6-9v Ode . . . Wellington; followed by 3 stubs
10-16 Ode . . . Wellington continues
16v a draft of Will; followed by 9 stubs
The Trinity MS presents the opening strophes of the poem (though at no point are strophes actually numbered) in substantially the form that they were to take on publication, with the exception of strophe II, which does not appear within the MS. The recto of the initial leaf (fol. 6) contains strophes I, III, and IV; IV then runs over on to fol. 6v, where V follows. (A section [67-79] from this draft of V is later re-drafted on fol. 10). Folio 7 has VI, here concluding with six lines [151-191] which are germane to and possibly the germ of VII—six lines which Tennyson later dropped. (VI is re-drafted on fols. 10, 10v, 11, and 12.) Folio 8 begins VIII (of which there is an alternative draft of some lines [192-231] on the verso opposite, fol. 7v); fol. 8v continues, making a new start from fol. 8, with a revised conclusion to VIII, thus ending the first draft of VIII. (Later drafts of VIII occur on fols. 12v, 13, 13v, 14, and 15). Folio 9 carries a first and second version of some lines [151-191] from VII, a third version of them being at the foot of fol. 8v opposite. Folio 9v has some first jottings [232-281] for IX (which is fully drafted on fols. 14v, 15, 15v and 16). Folio 10 has a second version of the end of V [67-79], followed by a second version of VI [80-150], which continues, first, on fol. 11 (of which some lines are themselves revised on fol. 10v opposite), and then on fol. 12. Folio 12 has a second version of VII [151-191] (the opening lines of which are deleted and re-drafted, 151, 153, 156-158, on fol. 11v opposite); this version continues on fol. 13. Folio 13 has, at its foot, the beginning of a second version of VIII [192-231] (of which the opening four lines plus two on the top of fol. 14 are deleted and re-drafted, 192-197, on fol. 12v); this version of VIII continues on fol. 14 (with a line deleted and two lines [218/219] to be interpolated for it from fol. 13v opposite); and continues on fol. 15. Folio 15 then has the first extended draft of IX (of which there were jottings on fol. 9v [232-281]), which concludes with the poem's last two lines on fol. 16; additional and revised lines [232-281] for the conclusion of IX are on fol. 15v opposite. For the final draft of IX, Tennyson returned to fol. 14v.
Description of the Galley Proof in the Tennyson Research Centre, Lincoln
The Lincoln galley proof with the author's autograph corrections (Item No. 4164, Tennyson in Lincoln: A Catalogue of the Collection in the Research Centre, comp. by Nancie Campbell, 2 vols., 1971-1973, II, 40) is a proof for the first edition of the Ode. Printed in four parallel columns (numbered in type at the right below each column '1', '2', '3', '4' respectively) on a single sheet of white wove unwatermarked paper, 177/16;” x 22½”, this proof now exists in three separate sheets, with columns 1 and 2 appearing on the first, column 3 on the second, and column 4 on the third. The first
COLLATION
In order to compare all the extensive early variants in the MS at Trinity College and in the galley proof at the Lincoln Research Centre with the readings previously collated and, in doing so, to take advantage of the latest methods for recording textual variations, a new collation is provided here, which emends and entirely supersedes that previously printed by Shannon (pp. 170-177). The techniques used are those established by Fredson Bowers, detailed in his article, 'The Transcription of Manuscripts: The Record of Variants', SB (1976), 212-264, and exemplified in his apparatus for the definitive ACLS-Harvard edition of William James's Works (1975- ).
Documents
The documents compared are listed below in chronological order of the state of the development of the poem that each represents. One or both of the authors examined the actual documents and verified the readings of each of the states of the text specified. As a matter of convenience and to save space, Tennyson is referred to as AT and his wife as ET.
- MS1 Fragment of autograph MS, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 167. Lacks ll. 1-27; 43-141; 151-281
- MS2 Fragment of autograph MS, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 167. Lacks ll. 1-141, 151-281
- TC Autograph MS, Trinity College, Cambridge; described above
- MS3 MS in ET's hand with AT's autograph corrections, Harvard; described, Shannon, pp. 167-168. Lacks ll. 85-201. (The inserted version of ll. 53-57 in AT's autograph is later than that in MS4. Hence for these lines MS4 is shown in the Collation as preceding MS3.)
- MS4 Autograph MS, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 168. Lacks the last two words of l. 120, l. 121; ll. 134-139; 170-281. (The inserted version of ll. 53-57 is earlier than that of MS3. For these lines MS3 is shown as following MS4.)
- MS5 Fragment of autograph MS, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 169. Lacks ll. 1-90; 98-281
- 52(p1) Uncorrected galley proof for the first edition, Harvard; described, Shannon, pp. 169-170
- 52(p2) Galley proof, duplicate in size, paper, and
letterpress
of 52(p1), with AT's
autograph corrections, Tennyson Research Centre, Lincoln; described above149
- 52 First edition. (All editions collated are English, are printed in London, and unless otherwise specified are published by Edward Moxon.)
- MS6 Fragment of autograph MS, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 169. Lacks ll. 1-250; 256-281
- 52(a) First edition with AT's autograph corrections, Pierpont Morgan Library; described, Shannon, p. 170. (An early draft related to final lines 171-186 in ET's hand is tipped into this copy. It is a later, slightly variant version of similar lines in TC and appears chronologically in the Collation immediately following TC, identified as ET/52(a).)
- 53(p) Proof copy of the second edition with autograph corrections, Widener Collection, Harvard; described, Shannon, p. 170
- 53 A New Edition [second edition], 1853
- 55 Maud, and Other Poems, 1855
- 56 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [third edition], 1856
- 59 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [sixth edition], 1859
- 62 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [ninth edition], 1862
- 64 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [tenth edition], 1864
- 65 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [eleventh edition], 1865 For dates and descriptions of intervening and later editions of Maud, and Other Poems besides those listed, see Thomas J. Wise, A Bibliography of the Writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 2 vols. (1908; rpt. 1967), I, 124-140. The writers have not been able to examine all of these.
- 65S A Selection from the Works of Alfred Tennyson, 1865
- 70 Maud, and Other Poems. A New Edition [seventeenth edition]. Strahan & Co., 1870
- 70 The Works of Alfred Tennyson, IX, Miniature Edition. Strahan & Co., 1870
- 72 The Works of Alfred Tennyson, III, Library Edition. Strahan & Co., 1872
Variant Readings
This list comprises the substantive readings—the words themselves—in the known manuscripts, proofs, and published editions that vary from the authoritative text of the poem in the Eversley Edition, which Tennyson and his son annotated. Variants in accidentals—punctuation, spelling, capitalization, compound words, hyphenation, and devices of emphasis—are not included, unless they occur along with a substantive change. Variations in accidentals disclose Tennyson's attention to details and his tendency to increase the accuracy and formality of accidentals as he revised. Accidentals are, therefore, sometimes helpful in determining the order of manuscript texts. There is no question here, however, of establishing a copy-text; and since the instances of variation in accidentals without a change in wording are numerous and in the development of the poem not critically important, they do not warrant reproduction in themselves.
For ease in comparing the variant readings, alterations in the manuscripts and variants in each printed text have been combined in a single list. An ampersand, 'wh', or 'ye' in a MS has not been considered a variation from 'and', 'which', and 'the' in a printed text; but when a variant line or phrase in MS includes an ampersand, 'wh', or 'ye', it is reproduced as written. In the same substantive variant from Eversley occurring in two or more states of the text, the accidentals often do not correspond; and where they are different, the accidentals of the reading shown are those in the latest textual state in which the substantive variant appears.
The number introducing each recorded variant is the line number of the Eversley Edition (and Ricks, pp. 1007-1017). Numbers separated by a slanting stroke, for example 8/9, indicate a line or lines, as the case may be, that existed in an antecedent text but not in Eversley. The lemma—the reading to the left of the bracket—is that of the authoritative text. The rejected variants follow in chronological order to the
Since a list of alterations in the manuscripts and elements of a historical collation have been combined in the Collation, the processes of revision are described in square brackets. In descriptions of alterations to the manuscripts, over means a correction by writing over a letter or letters of a word on the original line; interlined (abbreviated intrl.) means added between lines. Above (abbreviated ab.) positions an interlineation with respect to a word or group of words in a line which are usually deleted, but sometimes are not actually crossed out (deleted and undeleted, abbreviated del. and undel.) Inserted (abbreviated insrt.) refers to an addition in the margin or on the verso of a facing leaf. No distinction has been made between interlineations and insertions made with or without a caret or a guideline. In order to reduce the amount of calligraphic detail in the combined collation and to focus as much as possible upon the substantive alteration rather than the means of achieving it, the general description altered from (abbreviated alt. fr.) has been used extensively. Other abbreviations are as follows: aft. for after, bef. for before, final rdg. for final reading, transpd. for transposed.
The quoted text outside a revision in brackets is always the final version in a corrected MS. A number of readings, especially extended passages in the undeleted early drafts of the Trinity MS, are reproduced formulaically. In order to specify the words in the text which are affected by the description in square brackets, an asterisk * appears before the first word to which the description in brackets applies. Thus all the words following the asterisk and before the square brackets are part of the described material. When there is no asterisk, the description in square brackets applies to all the words of a reading preceding the brackets, or the affected word or words are within the square brackets along with the description—usually the record of a deletion. Where no words precede the description of an alteration in a MS or an
- 1 Bury] AT/52(a); Let us bury TC-53
- 5 Mourning when their] AT/52(a); When laurel-garlanded TC-52
- 6 Warriors . . . pall] [intrl.] TC
- 6 Warriors] AT/53(p); And *the [squeezed in] heads of the people TC; And warriors MS3-53(p)
- 6 warrior's] omit TC
- 8-12 Where . . . evermore] omit TC
- 8 Where . . . deplore?] MS3-52, AT/53(p); Soldiers, ye with measured tread | Shall follow now his fallen head | To his last home among the dead. | Your chief shall rest in London's central roar. AT/52(a); The people's friend, the monarch's guide, | The mate of kings, the man who bore | Batons of eight armies, died, 53(p)
- 8/9 He died on Walmer's lonely shore,] 53(p), 53
- 9 Here . . . roar] omit TC-52
- 9 Here] But here 53(p), 53
- 17 music] [aft. del. 'blow'] TC
- 19-20 Mourn . . . Past] [intrl.] TC
- 20 Remembering . . . the] Partial sorrow loves the TC; Our sorrow draws but on the golden MS3-53
- 21-22 No more . . . street] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 23 O friends] Mourn, for TC
- 27 amplest] AT/53(p); largest TC-53(p)
- 28-34 Yet . . . sublime] order of ll. 29, *30 [insrt.], 31, 28, *33 [insrt.], 34, 32 MS1
- 28 Yet clearest of] AT/53(p); Free from all MS1; Yet *freest [alt. fr. 'free'] from TC; Yet freëst from MS3-53(p); Yet *freeest [insrt. for undel. 'freëst'] from AT/52(p2)
- 28 ambitious] AT/52(p2); ['all' del.] ambitious TC; ambition's (printer's error) 52(p1-2)
- 29 yet] man MS1
- 31 Foremost] ['The' del.] MS1
- 32 Rich] And rich MS1
- 34 his] all MS1
- 35-37 O good . . . true] order of ll. reversed MS1
- 36 O voice . . . drew] omit TC
- 36 O voice] Lost voice MS1
- 37 O iron . . . true] [insrt.] MS3; [intrl.] MS4
- 37 1true] each MS1
- 38 fall'n . . . strength] tower of strength fallen at length MS1, TC
- 39 all the winds] every wind MS1, TC
- 40 Such . . . deplore] omit MS1
- 40 Such] For such TC
- 41 The] MS1; But now the TC, MS3; ['But now' del.] *The ['T' over 't'] MS4
- 41 self-sacrifice] devoted patient MS1
- 41 of life is] life is MS1; is TC
- 42 World-victor's] world-victor MS1
- 42 seen] seen be (author's error) TC
- 43-61 All . . . cross;] Give him back to the Giver! | Bury him under the dome. | In the street & on the river | Men will think of him for ever | When they look at the golden cross. Bury him under the dome | That lifts above the city her cross of gold | Lay the warrior there in his latest home TC
- 53 Let . . . toll'd] [insrt.] MS4-3
- 53 bell] [bef. del. 'the'] MS4
- 54 And . . . behold] [insrt.] MS4-3
- 54 a reverent people] MS3, AT/52(p2); a silent city [alt. fr. 'by themselves'] MS4; a silent city 52(p1-2)
- 54 behold] [alt. fr. 'controll'd'] MS4
- 54/55 The host that follows, ye host that leads, | Banner & baton & mourning weeds, [alt. fr. 'Let a silent sea of the people behold | Him that follows & him that leads'] [insrt.] MS4; The host that follows, the host that leads, | Banner and baton and mourning weeds, 52(p1-2), [del.] AT/52(p2)
- 55 The . . . steeds] [insrt.] MS4-3
- 55 the sable] AT/52(p2); & sable [alt. fr. 'the stately'] MS4; & *sable [ab. del. 'stately'] MS3; and sable 52(p1-2)
- 56 Bright . . . deeds] [insrt.] MS4-3
- 56 its] his MS4-56 (final rdg. 59)
- 57 Dark . . . fold] [insrt.] MS4-3
- 57 in its] [alt. fr. 'in it's'] MS4; with it's MS3
- 59 And . . . knoll'd] omit TC-52
- 59 And a] A 53
- 62 And the volleying] Let the TC
- 64 For many] Many TC; [alt. fr. 'many'] MS3-4
- 67-69 When . . . song.] [undel. first draft on fol.
6v
reads 'When he with those great voices
wrought | For
Europe saving
realms & kings from shame | Thro' those great voices our dead captain taught | The tyrant & presses his claim | Thor' that dread sound to the great name | Which he has worn so pure of blame | In praise & in dispraise the same | O happy-temper'd human frame! | O civic Muse to such a name | To such a name for ages long | To such a name | Preserve a broad approach of fame | And ringing avenues of song!'; final version on fol. 10] TC152
- 70 asserts] AT/52 (p2); prefers TC-52(p2)
- 74 frame] fame MS3
- 75-79 Cf. O civic Muse, for such a name, | Deep-minded Muse, for ages long | Preserve a broad approach of song | And ringing avenues of fame.—Hail Briton!, ll. 169-172 (Ricks, p. 488)
- 79 ever-echoing] ringing TC; ever-ringing MS3-64 (final rdg. 65, 65S)
- 80-150 Who . . . name.] [undel. first draft ll. 80-90, 135-141 on fol. 7 reads 'Who is this the nation bury breaking in upon my rest | Why the banner & the music & the soldier & the priest? | Who is this? | Sacred shadow | Noble Nelson | Give him welcome. this is he | Was great by land as thou by sea. | Let thine ashes mix with his. | *Thy country loves thee well [intrl.] | England honours thee thou noble man | The greatest sailor since our world began | Now to the roll of muffled drums | To thee the greatest soldier comes | For this is he | Was great by land as thou by sea. | O pure as he from *craven [ab. del. 'taint of coward'] guile | O Saviour of the silvercoasted isle | O shaker of the Baltic & the Nile | If ['any' del.] sense of things that here befall | Can touch a spirit among things divine | If love of country move there at all | Rejoice—his bones are laid by thine'; first draft ll. 98-121, 132-133 on fols. 10, 11 reads '['He that in his early day | Clashing with his fiery few | On their myriads at Assaye | Charged & shock'd & overthrew' del.] [fol. 10 | fol. 11] And when they thought our prowess dead | Lifted up the spirits of men | And led them on, with blows on blows | Beating from the invaded vines | Back to France their bandit swarms | Till their host of eagles fled | Thro' the Pyrenean pines | Follow'd up in valley & glen | With blare of trumpet & clangor of arms | And England pouring on her foes. | Despaird-of war had such a close | With such a leader, & again, | When the Godlike portent grew | Wheel'd on Europe-shadowing wings | And barking for the thrones of kings, | In that earthquake Waterloo | He taught what hearts of oak can do.'; final version (strophe VI) on fols. 10, 10v, 11, 12.] TC
- 80 he] this TC; [alt. fr. 'this'] MS3-4
- 80 cometh like an honour'd guest] cometh [alt. fr. 'comes'] *like an honour'd guest [intrl.] TC
- 81 With banner and with music] With a people mourning [intrl.] TC; With a nation weeping, MS3; With banner & with music, [transpd. with 'With a nation weeping,'] MS4
- 82 With a nation weeping, and] AT/52(p2); With banner & with music, TC, MS3; With a nation weeping, [transpd. with 'With banner & with music,'] MS4; With a nation weeping 52(p1-2)
- 82/83 Weeping &] [intrl. del.] MS4
- 83 Mighty Seaman] Warrior-seaman AT/52(a)
- 85 Thine island] [alt. fr. 'Thy country'] TC
- 85 well, thou famous] AT/52(p2); ['well' del.] thou *far-[intrl.] famous TC; thou far-famous MS4-52(p2)
- 89/90 ['Whose heart & hand | Have kept us free,' del.] TC
- 90 Was] ['Was' over 'And'] TC
- 90 as thou by sea] [insrt.] TC
- 90/91 ['As thou by sea.' del.] TC
- 91 He . . . free] [intrl.] TC
- 91 His foes were thine; he] TC, MS4, AT/53(p); His heart & hand have MS5; His heart and hand here (printer's error) 52(p1-2); His martial wisdom AT/52(p2)-53(p)
- 92-94 O give . . . thee] omit TC, MS4
- 92 O give him welcome] AT/52(a); Warrior-seaman MS5-52(p2); O warrior-seaman AT/52(p2), 52
- 93 rites] AT/52(p2); rite MS5-52(p2)
- 95 For . . . son] omit TC-52(p2); [intrl. preceding l. 93] AT/52(p2); [preceded l. 93] 52; [transpd.] AT/52(a)
- 95 For this] This AT/52(p2), 52
- 96-97 He . . . gun] omit TC, MS4
- 96 gain'd a hundred fights] AT/52(p2); never lost a fight MS5-52(p2)
- 97 Nor ever] AT/52(a); He that never MS5-52(p2); And never AT/52(p2), 52
- 97 an English] AT/52(p2); a MS5-52(p2)
- 98 This . . . away] He that in his earlier day TC-52
- 99 Against . . . of] On . . . at TC
- 101 And underneath] Then beneath [alt. fr. 'And underneath'] MS4
- 101 another] a nearer 53(p), 53
- 102 Warring . . . day] Made the soldier, led him on TC-52
- 103-107 Round . . . anew] omit TC-52
- 109/110 ['Beating back with blows on blows' del.] TC
- 110 Back to France her banded] AT/53(p); All their marshals' bandit TC-52; Back to France her bandit 53(p)
- 111 Back . . . blows] [intrl.] TC
- 112 o'er the hills her] their host of TC-52
- 113 Beyond] Past TC-62 (final rdg. 64)
- 115 clamour] ['&' del.] clamour TC
- 118 Such . . . close] [intrl.] MS4
- 118 Such a war had] ['A car' del. ab. 'He to'] He to TC
- 118 close] gorgeous close TC
- 118/119 Elaborated a carp'd at war. TC; ['Then' del.] he withdrew to brief repose. MS4; He withdrew to brief repose. 52(p1)-53
- 119 their ravening eagle] the bird of ravin TC
- 120 In anger, wheel'd] Wheeld TC; In anger [insrt.] Wheel'd MS4
- 120/121 Clutching fire & crown'd with his star TC
- 122-123 Till . . . down] [followed l. 133] TC
- 122 one] he TC
- 123 the spoiler] him TC
- 123/124 Till he found his fatal day | A day of onsets & of shouting | *A [alt. fr. 'And'] day of rallyings & of routings TC
- 126 Their] The TC, MS4
- 127 Last . . . blew] AT/52(p2); omit TC; Then the Prussian trumpet blew [undel. with alternate reading in margin 'The Prussian trumpet blew'] MS4; The trumpet of the Prussian blew 52(p1-2)
- 128-129 Thro' . . . ray] omit TC
- 130 And . . . overthrew.] omit TC; And down from where they stood at bay | Clothed in light the joyous legions drew | To charge their foes & charged & overthrew [undel. with alternate reading in margin 'We stood no more at bay | We charged & shockd: overthrew.'] MS4
- 131 great] wise TC; wise & great MS4
- 131 soldier] victor TC
- 131 taught us] broke him TC; led them MS4
- 132 What . . . do] omit TC, MS4
- 133 that world-earthquake] the shock of TC; that world's earthquake, MS4-70 (final rdg. 72)
- 138 If aught] If sense TC
- 140 thee] omit TC
- 142-147 And . . . game] But let the people voice in full acclaim | From shore to shore, | The proof & echo of all human fame MS1; Let the people's voice in full acclaim | A people's voice the proof & echo of all human fame MS2; And ever after let the people's voice | In full acclaim | A people's voice when they rejoice | At civic revel & pomp & game | A people's voice | The proof & echo of all human fame TC
- 148 Attest their great commander's] Loudly attest his MS1-2; Attest his TC
- 149 honour, honour, honour, honour to him] honour honour MS1
- 150 Eternal . . . name] Etc MS1
- 151-191 A people's . . . shamed.] [undel. first draft
associated with strophe VII on fol. 7
reads
'Hereafter on the fields of bliss | Brother *[word illegible; just
possibly 'Stars' or 'gdns', abbrev. for
'guardians'] [ab. undel. 'Angels'] bright & strong | If
France
intend aught but good—& fair | Be Britains guardian angels
there |
And guard this last free commonweal from wrong | Labour great Ghosts
in your old countrys cause'; three undel. successive trial drafts
involving ll. 179-191 read '[fol. 9]
Truthlover
was our noble Duke | His eighty winters breathe rebuke | On men that
only seek for power & place | Remember him whose life from early
youth | Down to his eighty winters was a race | Of honour, him who
bruised your foes | And broke their eagle's wings was he of those | Who
dodge & shuffle with the truth | And palter with Eternal God, for
place
| Our archives have a name of might | Truthlover
was our Saxon Alfred named | Truthlover was our English Duke |
Whatever record leap to light | He never shall be shamed';
'[fol. 9] Truthlover was our English Duke | To truckling
hearts
that only pant for place | His eightywin-[tered *life [intrl.]
is
all rebuke | His life that up from early youth
| To crowning hoariness w[a]s all a race | Of honour—O the man who bruised your foes | And broke their Eagle wings was he of those'; [fol. 8v] He ['th' del.] whose life from early youth | Was honour till his latest hour | He ['the' del.] beloved of crowds & kings | He that ever bruised his foes | And ever broke their eagles wings | Statesmen was he one of those | Who dodge & shuffle with the truth | And palter with Eternal God for power'; final version (strophe VII) on fols. 12, 13] TC154
- 151, 153, 156-158 For these lines del. fol. 12, cf. Whatever harmonies of law | The growing world assume, | Thy work is thine—The single note | From that deep chord which Hampden smote | Will vibrate to the doom.—England and America in 1782, ll. 16-20 (Ricks, p. 619)
- 151 A people's . . . yet] [alt. fr. 'Whatever harmonies of law'] TC; [ab. del. 'Thanks to the high hand of that God who set' | *This ['Our' del.] land apart, [intrl.] | A people's voice! we are a people yet.'] MS4
- 152 Tho' . . . forget] omit TC
- 153 Confused . . . Powers] [alt. fr. 'The future world assume'] TC
- 153 Confused by brainless mobs and law-less] AT/52(p2); Not gagg'd & cramp'd by silent-working TC; Confused by brainless mobs & tyrant [ab. del. 'Gagg'd into shameful peace by shameless'] MS4; Confused by brainless mobs and tyrant 52(p1-2)
- 154-155 Thank . . . showers] omit TC-52
- 155 Briton] Saxon 53(p)-62 (final rdg. 64)
- 156 We . . . debt] [alt. fr. 'Our work is ours—the single note'] TC
- 156 have] have TC-53(p)
- 157 Of . . . regret] [alt. fr. 'On that strong chord which Hampden smote'] TC
- 157 Of boundless love and] Of boundless TC-52(p2), 53(p), 53; Of most unbounded AT/52(p2), 52
- 158 To . . . ours] [alt. fr. 'Will vibrate till the doom'] TC
- 159 And . . . control] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 159 ours, O God,] ours AT/52(a)
- 160 O Statesmen . . . soul] omit TC; [insrt.] MS4
- 160 O Statesmen,] But MS4-52(p2); And AT/52(a)
- 160 the soul] the light, the soul MS4-52(p2)
- 161 Of . . . whole] omit TC; [insrt.] MS4
- 162 And save] But [', statesmen,' del.] guard TC; O save [alt. fr. 'But guard'] MS4; O save 52(p1-2)
- 162 one true] [ab. 'seed'] TC
- 163 a] the TC
- 163 their ancient] the TC
- 164 That] The TC
- 165 loyal] Britains loyal TC; ['Britain's' del.] loyal MS4
- 165 our temperate] her TC; [alt. fr. 'her'] MS4
- 166 For,] For *statesmen [intrl.] TC; For, statesmen, MS4-52(p2); O Statesmen, AT/52(a)
- 166 help to save] save TC-52
- 167 Till . . . dust] [transpd. with l. 168 by '1' insrt. bef. 'Till'; 'public' intrl.] TC
- 168 And . . . mind] [transpd. with l. 167 by '2' insrt. bef. 'And'] TC
- 168 drill the raw world for] aid TC; help MS4-52
- 168 mind] human mind TC-52
- 169 Till] [alt. fr. 'And'] TC
- 169 at length] omit TC-53
- 169 crowns] kings TC
- 170 wink no more] do not wink TC
- 170 wink] AT/52(p2); work (printer's error) 52(p1-2)
- 170 slothful] omit TC-52(p2)
- 170/171 Perchance, our greatness will increase. | Perchance a thundrous future yields | *Some reverse from worse to worse [intrl.] | The blood of men *in [alt. fr. 'on'] quiet fields | And sprinkled oer the sheaves of peace TC; Perchance our greatness will increase; | Perchance a darkening future yields | Some reverse from worse to worse, | The blood of men in quiet fields, | And sprinkled on the sheaves of peace. 52(p1)-52. Cf. For who may frame his thought at ease | Mid sights that civil contest yields— | The blood of men in quiet fields | And sprinkled on the sheaves of peace.—Hail Briton!, ll. 121-124 (Ricks, p. 486)
- 171 Remember] But O remember ET/52(a); And O remember 52(p1)-52
- 171/172 And take his counsel ere too late. | There sits a silent man beyond the strait TC, ET/52(a)
- 172 He bad you guard the sacred] Guard
guard guard your TC, ET/52(a); Respect his sacred warning; guard your 52(p1)-52; Revere his warning; guard your 53(p), 53155
- 173-179 Your . . . hour] His ['are' del.] the powers of the State | ['And' del.] *His ['H' alt. fr. 'h'] *are all [intrl.] the passions of the rabble | A man of silence in a world of babble. | Sudden blows are strokes of fate. | Yet to be true is more than half of great. | *By the hollow fickle cry | Half godded underneath a scornful sky [intrl.] | *Their [insrt.] Great Napoleons live & die | With rolling echoes by the nations heard. | *But shall we count them Gods who break their word [intrl.] | ['Had they honour for their word.' del.] | The word is God: thou shalt not lie | Was he, ['our warrior, he' del.] whose *has glitter'd bare [ab. del. 'life'] from youth | *To public comment [ab. del. 'Had sunlight on it'] till his latest hour | A man to dodge & shuffle with the truth TC; His are all the powers of the state | His are all the passions of the rabble | A man of silence in a world of babble. | Sudden blows are strokes of fate | Yet to be true is more than half of great. | By the hollow blatant cry | Half-godded underneath a scornful sky | Their great Napoleons live & die | With rolling echoes by the nations heard | But shall we count them Gods who break their word | The word is God: thou shalt not lie. | Was our great Chief (his life is bare from youth | To all men's comment till his latest hour) | A man to dodge and shuffle with the Truth ET/52(a)
- 173 Your . . . wall] omit TC, ET/52(a), 52(p1)-52
- 174-175 His . . . lour] omit TC, ET/52(a)
- 175 lour] lower 52(p1)-53(p)
- 176-177 For . . . all] omit TC, ET/52(a)
- 177 thunder, silent] ruining thunders 53(p)
- 178 He . . . spoke] omit TC, ET/52(a)
- 180 Nor palter'd] And palter TC, ET/52(a)
- 181-182 Who . . . low] omit TC, ET/52(a), 52(p1)-52
- 183-184 Whose . . . life] AT/52(a); omit TC, ET/52(a), 52(p1)-52
- 185 Who . . . foe] omit TC, ET/52(a), 52(p1)-52
- 186 Whose] AT/52(a); His TC, ET/52(a), 52(p1)-52
- 186 freeze with] are but TC
- 186 freeze with one rebuke] &c ET/52(a)
- 187 All great self-seekers trampling on] To low self-seekers careless of TC
- 192-231 Lo . . . name.] [undel. first draft ll.
192-231
on fols. 8-8v
reads 'Care not
tho' the fiery
Frenchman call | Wellesley fortune's minion here on earth | What is half
so blind as wounded pride? | Care not: let the tyrant Genius fall | And
happy fortune follow worth | And him whose duties are his guide. | Not
once nor twice in our rough islandstory | The path of duty was the way to
glory. | He ['walk' del.] that walks it only thirsting | For his
country's weal & learns to *deaden ['n' over 'd'] | Love
of
self & live for larger ends | Finds at length a world of friends | Ere
the
work of duty closes | Finds at length her stubborn thistle bursting | Into
glossy purples wh outredden | All voluptuous garden
roses. | Not once
or twice in our fair island story | The path of duty was the way to glory.
| He that only following her commands | Up with toil of heart &
knees
& hands | Thro' the long gorge to the far light has won | His
pathway skyward & prevailed | Shall find the toppling crags of duty
scaled | *Are close akin [intrl.] | To wh the
Lord himself
is moon & sun. | He has prevaild he has not faild | He sought not
glory
but obtaind it | Loved not clamour but disdaind it | Hath he glory before
the Lord | Who shall doubt it [fol. 8 | fol.
8v]
He was true in deed in word | And sought not glory here but gaind it | Not
once or twice in our true island story | The path of duty is the way to glory
| So let the gather'd people's voice proclaim | *With ever echoing echoes
aye [intrl.] | From age to rolling age the same | At civic
revel
& festal game | Or when the long-illumined cities flame | Our
ironnatured loyal leader's fame | With honour honour honour to him |
Eternal honour to his name.'; undel. later draft ll. 203-207
on fol. 7v
reads 'Singlehearted
men who walk
it thirsting | Only for their country's weal & deaded | Love of self
&
live for
larger ends | Find their former partyfoes their friends | Ere the walk of
duty closes | Find *at [over 'h'] length her stubborn
thistle bursting | Into glossy purple'; final version (strophe VIII) on fols. 12v, 14, 13v, 15.] TC156
- 192 Lo . . . wars] [alt. fr. 'And care not ye tho' Frenchmen call'] TC
- 192 leader in these] Victor in those TC
- 193 Now . . . borne] [alt. fr. 'Your leader Fortune's minion from his birth'] TC
- 194 Follow'd . . . lands] [alt. fr. 'These are blind with wounded pride'] TC
- 195 He . . . hands] [alt. fr. 'Care not let the tyrant fall'] TC
- 196 Lavish . . . stars] [alt. fr. 'And happy Fortune follow worth'] TC
- 197 affluent . . . horn] [alt. fr. 'him whose duties are his guide'] TC
- 198-200 Yea . . . state] omit TC
- 198 await] AT/52(p2); attend 52(p1-2)
- 199 cares . . . great,] AT/52(p2); serves no private end 52(p1-2)
- 200 as . . . state.] AT52(p2); loves his country as his dearest friend! MS3; loves his duty more than dearest friend! 52(p1-2)
- 205 Love of self] Self TC
- 206 He shall find the] Find her TC
- 211 ever] only TC
- 217 our God] the Lord TC
- 218 Such . . . done.] AT/52(a); He hath prevail'd, he has not fail'd. TC; He hath prevail'd; howe'er assail'd | At home abroad, he has not fail'd. MS3; He hath not fail'd: he has prevail'd: 52(p1-2); He has not fail'd: he hath prevail'd: AT/52(p2), 52, [followed l. 224] 53(p), [del.] AT/53(p)
- 218/219 *He loved, not clamour he disdaind it [insrt. for undel. 'He loved not clamour, he disdaind it' | *And if against him he ['disd' del.] sustaind it [insrt. for del. 'He sought not wealth but he obtaind it'] | Nor fought for glory tho' he gaind it. TC; He loved not clamour, he disdain'd it; | If against him, he sustain'd it, | Nor. . . . MS3; He . . . glory, yet. . . . 52(p1-2), del. AT/52(p2)
- 219-222 But . . . pure] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 223 Till . . . story] TC, AT/52(a); omit MS3-52
- 223 Till in all lands and thro' all human] AT/52(a); Not once or twice in our true island TC
- 224 The . . . glory] AT/52(a); omit MS3-52
- 224 be] was TC
- 225 And] AT/52(a); So TC-52
- 225 land] AT/52(a); men TC-52
- 226 For many and many an age] For ever & for evermore TC; Thro' many and many an age MS3-53(p)
- 228 And when] When TC
- 230 4honour] [intrl.] MS3
- 232-281 Peace . . . him.] [early jottings for strophe IX on fol. 9v read 'Leave him | Peace Peace our thoughts are all too loud | *And [insrt.] Our fancies all too free | For the wise humility | wh befits the solemn fane | Tho he be removed from | Victor he must ever be | There [space several words long] *&c [?] | There is higher work to do | Than when he fought at Waterloo'; first draft ll. 232-281 on fols. 15, 16 reads 'O peace we clamour with a blatant tongue | Yet it is a day of pain | For one upon whose hand & brain | Once the fate of Europe hung | And our thoughts are loud & vain | Earthly fancies all too free | For the wise humility | Wh befits a solemn fane | Yet solemn too this day are we. | Lo! we doubt not that for one so true | In some region out of view | There must be other nobler work to do | Than when we fought at Waterloo | And victor he must ever be. | Something greater we believe him | And wearing some diviner crown | Than any wreath that we can weave him | But leave to speak of his renown | And lay your earthly fancies down [fol. 15 | fol. 16] Xt receive him; leave him leave him | God accept him Xt receive him'; later draft ll. 262-265, 271-281 on fol. 15v reads 'Worlds on worlds in myriad myriads roll | With myriad forms of life wh are not ours | What know we greater than the soul. | He is gone. we must believe | A wielder of uncalculated powers | And wearing some serener crown | Than any wreath that man can weave him | But speak no more of his renown | Lay your earthly fancies down | And in the vast Cathedral leave him. | God accept him. Christ receive him'; final version (strophe IX) on fol. 14v.] TC
- 233 unmoulded] [aft. del. 'umo'] TC
- 238 O peace . . . pain] [followed l. 240] TC; [del. following l. 240 and intrl.] MS3
- 241 Ours . . . gain] omit TC-52
- 242-246 More . . . refrain] AT/52(p2); omit TC-52(p2)
- 247 From talk of battles] AT/52(p2); And our thoughts are TC; Yet our thoughts are MS3-52(p2)
- 247 vain] AT/52(p2); rain (printer's error) 52(p1-2)
- 248 And brawling] AT/52(p2); Clamorous TC-52(p2)
- 250 a] the TC
- 251-253 We . . . eternity] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 251/252 Falls & flows of harmony MS6
- 252 The tides] Tides MS6
- 253 Setting toward] Breaking on MS6
- 254 Uplifted high in heart and hope] Yet solemn too this day TC; But solemn, too, this day MS3-52(p2); For solemn, too, this day AT/52(p2), 52; Uplifted on those waves MS6; Lifted up in heart AT/52(a)-53
- 255 Until] MS6, AT/52(a); Friends TC-52(p2); O friends AT/52(p2), 52
- 255 doubt . . . true] &c MS6
- 255 for] to TC
- 259-261 For . . . will] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 262 world on world] the worlds, TC; worlds on worlds MS3-55 (final rdg. 56)
- 262 in myriad myriads] a million myriads, TC; a myriad [ab. del. 'million'] myriads MS3
- 263 Round] TC; [alt. fr. 'Around'] MS3, AT/52(p2); Around 52(p1-2)
- 263 different] diverse TC
- 266-270 On . . . dust] AT/52(a); omit TC-52
- 267 wails] beats AT/52(a); sounds 53(p), 53
- 271 He] AT/52(a); and he TC; The man [alt. fr. 'He'] MS3; The man 52(p1)-52
- 272 but] & TC
- 273 force] fame TC; [ab. del. 'fame'] MS3
- 276 truer] AT/52(p2); purer TC; finer 52(p1-2)
- 278 Speak] But speak TC, MS3, 52-62; Bnt (printer's error) speak 52(p1-2) (final rdg. 64)
Notes
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr., 'The History of a Poem: Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington', Studies in Bibliography, 13(1960), 149-177, hereafter cited parenthetically in the text by page numbers; Christopher Ricks, 'A Note on Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington', SB, 18(1965), 282, and The Poems of Tennyson (1969), pp. 1007-1017.
For permission to print from the Trinity MS and the Lincoln galley proof, we are grateful to the Lord Tennyson and to the Master and Fellows of Trinity College.
The Works of Tennyson, annotated Alfred Tennyson, ed. Hallam Tennyson, 9 vols. (1907; rpt. 1908), II, 210-221.
Repetitions are of particular importance in a poem which twice makes use of the phrase 'Not once or twice . . .'; the phrase had occurred not once or twice but thrice in the first draft [223].
It may have been some sense of a possible interference with the needed simplicity of 'leader', obtruding from 'follows' and 'leads', which caused Tennyson to delete on the Lincoln proof the lines:
Banner and baton and mourning weeds . . . . [54/55]
Many of Tennyson's revisions were a response to the slipperiness of prepositions. Thus he deleted on the Lincoln proof a line found in the Trinity MS which equivocated with 'for' (in the service of / in order to gain): 'Nor fought for glory tho' he gain'd it' [218/219]. Tennyson likewise re-worded the unsteady lines in the Trinity MS on Wellington's life as having honourably
To public comment till his latest hour . . . .
[173-179; also 151-191]
Contrast the clarifying change reflected in the printed text of the Lincoln proof, from 'the'—which might have applied to the British—to 'their', in 'Their surging charges foam'd themselves away' (126).
For some other significant revisions involving 'true', see Collation 162, [173-179], [192-231], [232-281], 276.
On the Lincoln proof, Tennyson added the word 'and' ('With a nation weeping, and breaking on my rest'), and this too gave a less intensively interrupting rhythm.
An intermediate draft in the Trinity MS had a nudging introduction here: 'Our archives have a name of might | Truthlover was our Saxon Alfred named' [151-191].
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