Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892 -- Friends and associates
Years went on, and changes came; my father's re-election to Parliament in
1865 made our seasons in London longer and more regular than they had
been, and though there was still constant and delightful intercourse with
Farringford during the autumn and winter, there was necessarily less
during the Session. Some glorious days there were, however, when at Easter
or at Whitsuntide my father went down to Swainston, and I sometimes
accompanied him. We always went over to Farringford either to spend a
night or two, or to drive back through the spring night with its scented
breath and its mad revelry of cuckoos and nightingales vying with each
other as to which could outshout the other, and my father, fresh from
communion with his friend, would open himself out as he rarely did at any
other time or place.
It was about this time that Tennyson and his wife, worried beyond bearing
by the rudeness and vulgarity of the tourists, who considered that they
could best show admiration for the Poet by entirely refusing to respect
his privacy, determined to find another house for themselves during the
summer months, and turned their thoughts to Blackdown and its
neighbourhood. One summer they rented a farm on Blackdown called, I think,
Greyshott, and on a fine morning, April 23, 1868, we stood, a party of
some fifteen friends, to see the foundation-stone laid of Aldworth, the
new home which, to more recent, though not to the older friends, has
become almost as much associated with its owner as Farringford, and
received the sorrowful consecration of having been the scene of his
passing away.
About this time Tennyson took to coming oftener to London. On one occasion
he took me with him to the British Museum, and we did not get beyond the
Elgin Marbles, such was their fascination for him. Another day he came to
our house at luncheon time; most of the family happened to be out, and he
proposed that we should go to the Zoological Gardens. London was at its
fullest, and I feared, though I did not say it, that he would not escape
recognition, which was of all things what he most hated. However, all went
well for some time until we went into the Aquarium, and he became greatly
absorbed in the sea monsters, when I heard a whisper in the crowd, "That's
Tennyson," and knew that in another minute he would be surrounded; so I
suddenly discovered that the heat of the Aquarium was unbearable and
carried him off unwillingly to a quieter part of the gardens--he never
found out my ruse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account