"The Voyage" the thought is put in figure, but it is his thought none the less: But, blind or lame or sick or sound, We follow that which flies before; 93 The spirit of the Christ flies before, and those who follow will leave behind the selfishness which degrades, and ever approach the love which exalts and purifies and frees the individual and the world. 93 Poems, p. 118. CHAPTER VII SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: THE STATE, THE CHURCH As society comes to self-consciousness, certain ideas which are held in common by members of the social group find expression in institutions. These are of great service in registering the thought-progress of a people, and in making prominent and efficient the ideas which might otherwise lie buried in the minds of men. Institutions are the hands with which ideas do their work. These are the bodies of which ideas are the spirit and life. They deserve reverence because of the work they do and the spirit they enshrine. They have no power in themselves. They are the channels through which ideas flow to act upon the world. By their very nature institutions are subject to change. Truth is constant and unchanging, but the individual and social apprehension of truth grows and develops. Falsehoods are removed. Useless or outworn theories are discarded. An institution can express only that part or phase of truth which those who create or sustain it have apprehended. As the ideas of people grow, the form of their expression must change. Likewise, as the needs which an institution exists to meet vary, there must be a corresponding change in that which was created to meet the needs. When the idea or the need entirely passes away, the institution must decay or be abolished. These great social truths Tennyson has expressed with clearness and beauty. "Morte D'Arthur" has the same meaning essentially as the "Passing of Arthur." Arthur, the pure soul of man, passes, while the Round Table, with its knights and tournaments and quests, the institutions of men, decay and disappear. In these great poems Bedivere represents the conservative spirit so in love with the sword Excalibur, a mere instrument for the conquest of Arthur's foes, that it is exceedingly hard for him to part with it even at the command of the king. He looks upon its wondrous beauty, thinks of all it has wrought through the might of the king, and cannot bear to have it lost to the world. After two fruitless attempts to hurl it into the sea, as Arthur commanded, the third time he succeeds, closing his eyes lest the glittering gems should again conquer his purpose to obey the dying king. "Sea Dreams" is akin to this in thought. The swelling wave represents essential, absolute truth. CHAPTER VII SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: THE STATE, THE CHURCH As society comes to self-consciousness, certain ideas which are held in common by members of the social group find expression in institutions. These are of great service in registering the thought-progress of a people, and in making prominent and efficient the ideas which might otherwise lie buried in the minds of men. Institutions are the hands with which ideas do their work. These are the bodies of which ideas are the spirit and life. They deserve reverence because of the work they do and the spirit they enshrine. They have no power in themselves. They are the channels through which ideas flow to act upon the world. By their very nature institutions are subject to change. Truth is constant and unchanging, but the individual and social apprehension of truth grows and develops. Falsehoods are removed. Useless or outworn theories are discarded. An institution can express only that part or phase of truth which those who create or sustain it have apprehended. As the ideas of people grow, the form of their expression must change. Likewise, as the needs which an institution exists to meet vary, there must be a corresponding change in that which was created to meet the needs. When the idea or the need entirely passes away, the institution must decay or be abolished. These great social truths Tennyson has expressed with clearness and beauty. "Morte D'Arthur" has the same meaning essentially as the "Passing of Arthur." Arthur, the pure soul of man, passes, while the Round Table, with its knights and tournaments and quests, the institutions of men, decay and disappear. In these great poems Bedivere represents the conservative spirit so in love with the sword Excalibur, a mere instrument for the conquest of Arthur's foes, that it is exceedingly hard for him to part with it even at the command of the king. He looks upon its wondrous beauty, thinks of all it has wrought through the might of the king, and cannot bear to have it lost to the world. After two fruitless attempts to hurl it into the sea, as Arthur commanded, the third time he succeeds, closing his eyes lest the glittering gems should again conquer his purpose to obey the dying king. "Sea Dreams" is akin to this in thought. The swelling wave represents essential, absolute truth. |