![]() ![]() … how true are these beautiful words of Tennyson'sĪfter tea, we all, excepting Vicky, went to St. He thought he ought not to continue writing, as he outwrote himself, & his plays were not successes. Speaking of his strange shyness & eccentricity, Mr Gladstone said he was "a spoilt child", & that his shyness was much to be regretted as well as his fancifulness. But Mr Gladstone does not know, what title he will take. Talked on many subjects: - the alarming state of France, which was very low down in the scale of Govts, - of the very dangerous state of tension between France & China, though he hoped still, that it might come right, - of Mr Tennyson, & his accepting a Peerage. Currie's, & has started for Norway & Denmark. Mr Gladstone, without saying a word to me, has gone on a cruise with a party, including Tennyson! in a large steamer of Sir D. Then sat at the Cottage, where I remained writing till 1. Went in the pony chair, Beatrice walking, to Dr Profeit's, walking part of the way down. I have only a year of two more, to live, but I am happy to do anything for you I can." Incredible! When I took leave of him, I thanked him for his kindness, & said how much I appreciated it, for I had gone through much, to which he replied "You are so alone on that terrible height. I told him what a comfort "In memoriam" had always been to me, which seemed to please him but he said, I could not believe the numbers of shameful letters of abuse he had received about it. "I am afraid I think the world is darkened but I dare say it will be brighter again." He asked after my grandchildren, & spoke of the state of Ireland with abhorrence, & the wickedness of ill-using, & maiming poor animals. He quoted some well-known lives of Goethe, whom he so much admirers. ![]() ![]() We agreed, that were such a thing possible, God, Who is Love, would be far more cruel than a human being. He spoke of the many friends he had lost, & what it would be, if we did not feel & know, that there was another world, where there would be no partings, - of his horror of unbelievers & philosophers, who would try to make one believe there was no other world, no immortality, - who tried to explain every-thing away, in a miserable manner. But he was very kind, & his conversation was most agreeable. He is grown very old, his eyesight, much impaired, & he is very shaky on his legs. Week after week passes & the days seem to vanish from my mind … Much soothed & pleased with Tennyson's "In Memoriam." Only those who have suffered, as I do, can understand these beautiful poems.Īfter luncheon, saw the great Poet Tennyson, who remained nearly an hour, & most interesting it was. Tennyson lives there & wrote his "Idylls" of the King in a summer house in a valley. We got out & walked up to the small Battery & Fort lately finished, which ought to command a most extensive view, but the fog thickened, & we could see but very little excepting the sea. The position of Freshwater, with its beautiful sands & splendid cliffs, is quite charming. Here, in chronological order, are most of those entries, omitting only those of little significance, so you can decide for yourself. It is clear that the Queen held Tennyson in very high regard, though whether it was entirely a meeting of minds is not perhaps so clear. The poet was received at Osborne, however, and these occasions are mentioned in the diary. Although Victoria's husband, Albert, the Prince Consort, visited Tennyson on at least one occasion before his (Albert's) untimely death in 1861, the Queen - as far as we know - did not. ![]()
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