lyrical poetry - OUDL Home

TENNYSON, BROWNING, & SOME OTHERSThen the Temple filled with a cloud,Even the House of the Lord ;Porch bent and pillar bow'd :For the presence of the Lord,In the glory of His cloud,Had fill'd the House of the Lord.As exultant as are the opening cadences so sombre isthat which follows:Cone now ! all gone across the dark so far,Sharpening fast, shuddering ever, shutting still,Dwindling into the distance dies that starWhich came, stood, opened once !Confidence but not exultation returns in the closingtriads:Why, where's the need of Temple, when the wallsO' the world are that ? What use of swells and fallsFrom Levites' choirs, Priests' cries, and trumpet-calls ?That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows,Or decomposes but to recompose,Become my universe that feels and knows.Arraigned as an artist, whether by Professor Jowettor Professor Raleigh, Browning might come into Courtwith that triad of lyrics—and there are others asgood—as confidently as Sophocles with the Coloneuschorus.A new movement or fashion in poetry is sure to callinto being numbers of what I have called " mockingbirds"—poets of greater or less talent who catch upand render with a skill that may for a moment deceiveeven the elect, the note, the sentiment, and the mannerof the more authentic voices. V would be harsh to81 6