Tennyson’s ‘Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington’ — Part Two
Not long after the publication of the Ode, it was clear that Tennyson was unhappy with its reception in the press. These reviews, combined with his new experience of the funeral procession, are likely what influenced him to begin reworking of the poem. It is true that what was written about the Ode was mixed in its treatment, however it was certainly not wholly critical. Among the greatest exposure of the poem was the Times’ evaluation on November 15th, the day before the Ode’s official publication. The article, which quoted almost half of Tennyson’s lines in a full column dedicated to it, must have inspired some important interest and may have influenced its sales. The author of the column wrote:
Never has… [the path of duty] been more simply and faithfully drawn than in the following lines.
Such positive reviews were accompanied by highly critical ones, however. A writer for the Guardian was unimpressed by what Tennyson had produced, and stated that the poem was not worthy of his reputation. On November 18th, the day of Wellington’s funeral, the Fife Herald called the poem ‘a failure.’ While the influence of the Fife Herald on the public must have been limited when compared with the readership of the column in the Times, criticism such as this seems to have heavily undermined Tennyson’s opinion of his work.
On November 20th, Tennyson’s Ode was reviewed by eight London Newspapers. Its reception was mixed, however it did receive some very positive appraisals. Below are some examples of what the journalists of the day thought of what Tennyson had produced:
The Court Journal:
…somewhat redeemed by scattered lines of great beauty and power… very far inferior to anything that the poet had written before… Disdaining all rules of rhythm and metre, Mr Tennyson has strung together a series of expressions, which read more like dislocated prose than verse, full of endless repetitions and sing-song rhymes.
The Weekly News and Chronicle:
Why, there is not a provincial newspaper in any of our large cities that has not, within the last three months, received dozens of such lines.
The Leader:
…an intrinsically poor performance.
The Atlas:
This ode will not disappoint the admirers of Mr. Tennyson’s genius.
The Examiner:
Exquisite for grace, pathos, and poetic fire, is the whole passage to Nelson; masterly the rapid and brief description of Wellington’s victories…
The Literary Gazette, which quoted 166 lines of the poem in its review:
…giving voice to the emotions of the nation’s heart, and the matured convictions of its judgement, in strains worthy of the great theme.
As you can see, although the Ode received praise from its readers there was plenty to undermine Tennyson’s pride in his work. He was certainly pessimistic about its future prospects, and was convinced that it would not sell as well as had been expected. On November 6th, Tennyson was offered the sum of 200 pounds by his publisher Mr Edward Moxon for a deal that would see 10,000 copies of his Ode printed. The copies would be sold for one shilling each. Having seen the treatment of his Ode in the press after publication, Tennyson wrote to Moxon and stated that he would not accept the full sum of 200 pounds, should Moxon make a loss on its distribution. It was likely the criticism that he saw in the press that gave him this bleak outlook. Although it is possible that Moxon was still able to turn a profit, Tennyson wrote to his wife in January 1853 that 6,000 of the total 10,000 copies of the Ode had been sold. Unfortunately, the demand was not nearly as great as had been predicted. The reviews of newspapers such as the Times and the Literary Gazette were of little consolation, and Tennyson wrote to a friend James Knowles:
I remember everything that has been said against me, and forget all the rest.
It is clear from reading his ‘Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington’ that Tennyson was a great admirer of the poem’s subject. His reputation as a military hero, and the values of dutiful service to the nation that he came to represent definitely influenced how he was portrayed in this poem. As Tennyson came to terms with a nation without Wellington, such a reputation also influenced the kind of future that the Ode predicted for Britain. Despite Wellington’s undeniable wealth and social status, the message left behind by his life was (for Tennyson) always one of duty. Wellington’s deeds throughout his military career, political office and later as a valued adviser of Queen Victoria displayed the model of a man for whom the goal was not personal aggrandisement but a fulfilment of duty. It is this example provided by Wellington that is held up by Tennyson for his fellow Englishmen as a message for the future towards the end of his poem. This would be Wellington’s legacy; Tennyson writes:
But while the races of mankind endure,
Let his great example stand
Colossal, seen of every land,
And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure;
Till in all lands and thro’ all human story
The path of duty be the way to glory… (219–224)
