TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord (1809-1892). Poet Laureate.
Ballads and Other Poems, London, 1880. Hallam Tennyson's copy signed by him and heavily annotated. Binding a little loose and soiled. A remarkable association copy, probably representing Hallam's first-hand witness of his father's reading aloud.
Of the twenty-three poems in the volume four are extensively annotated in pencil. Three of them have an explanatory addition to the title, e.g The Northern Cobbler 'is supposed to be talking to his sailor brother-in-law' , and all are marked throughout with stresses indicated by underscoring. What are most remarkable, however, are the marginal notes, evidently written in great haste. Although many of these could be indications to Hallam of how he himself might interpret the poem aloud, for instance the frequent repetition of 'high', 'colloquial', 'slow', etc. some appear to indicate that they are first-hand evidence of someone else's performance, and by implication certainly Alfred Tennyson's own. For instance 'shakes head', which occurs two or three times, or 'throwing head back', 'high quivering' Both hands up' etc.
It is reasonable to suppose that Hallam Tennyson made these notes on the spot when his father recited aloud. It is also highly indicative that one or two words have been altered. Hallam Tennyson records his father's notes on these poems in his Memoir (II, pages 249 ff.), providing an expansion to the necessarily more brief annotations in the present volume, but he makes no mention of any recitation at the time of publication. It is quite likely that the annotations were made many years later.
[No: 8182]