since no human goodness can be counted as merit in the sight of God.
SUPPLEMENTARY POEM.
The Epithalamium, or marriage lay, which is added to the great Poem, refers to the wedding of a younger sister, Cecilia Tennyson, who, about the year 1842, married Edmund Law Lushington, sometime Professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow.
The strong domestic affections of the Poet are prominently shown throughout In Memoriam, and his pleasure at this bridal is very charming. He just recalls that Hallam had appreciated the Bride in her childhood:
“O when her life was yet in bud,
He too foretold the perfect rose.”
The worth of the Bridegroom is acknowledged in this address:
“And thou art worthy; full of power;
As gentle; liberal-minded, great,
Consistent; wearing all that weight
Of learning[90] lightly like a flower.”
The whole Poem is pleasant and jocund and was meant to be a kind of Divina Commedia—ending cheerfully—but it scarcely harmonizes with the lofty solemnity of In Memoriam, whose Author might rejoice in the thought, that he would leave behind him a rich legacy of comfort to all future generations of mourners.
CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO.,
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.