I am Dhruvita Dhameliya, Today i write a blog on the 'In memoriam' one of the best poem of Alfred Tennyson.
Alfred Tennyson :
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the most renowned poet of the Victorian era. His work includes 'In Memoriam,' 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'Idylls of the King.'
Who Was Alfred Tennyson?
Born in England in 1809, Alfred, Lord Tennyson began writing poetry as a boy. He was first published in 1827, but it was not until the 1840s that his work received regular public acclaim. His "In Memoriam" (1850), which contains the line "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," cemented his reputation. Tennyson was Queen Victoria's poet laureate from 1850 until his death in 1892.
In Memoriam A.H.H. :
Tennyson wrote 'In Memoriam A.H.H.' as a tribute to his beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died aged 22. Dr Holly Furneaux explores how the poem uses individual bereavement to grapple with broader questions of faith, meaning and nature.
In Memoriam A.H.H. is the extended, fragmentary elegy that Tennyson wrote for his closest friend Arthur Henry Hallam. Scholars agree that this was the most important event in Tennyson’s life, and the one which most shaped his work. In Memoriam combines the expression of a deeply personal experience of intense male friendship and mourning with discussions of public concerns, including major debates of the day about science and religion.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam AHH explores the cosmic implications of the death of a college friend, his sister’s fiancé poet Arthur Henry Hallam, who died quite unexpectedly in 1833 at the age of 22 most likely from a cerebral hemorrhage. The poem is among the most ambitiously conceived philosophical poems in the English language and a monument to the dynamics of how Christians themselves grapple with the thorny question of mortality. The work stands today among the most respected and the most eloquent expressions of the Victorian epoch’s so-called wisdom literature.
Character Analysis :
Speaker :
The speaker is deeply religious, believing in the Christian God and an eternal afterlife. But his friend's early, tragic death calls his faith into question. He deals with rapidly changing emotions, especially in the beginning of the poem. He also wrestles with new scientific theories in biology and geology, which seem to deny a divine plan for mankind. Adopting an introspective and serious tone, the speaker faces his sorrow and confronts his doubts. Though the poem follows a personal journey of grief, Tennyson intended the speaker's voice to represent the entire human race. His questions about love, loss, and the nature of the soul are universal ones.
Arthur Henry Hallam
Hallam appears in the poem primarily through the speaker's memory. He's described as a brilliant, curious thinker and writer who tackled his own religious doubts. The speaker imagines Hallam in the afterlife as a powerful supernatural being with the ability to transcend space and time. He implies Hallam was an extraordinary person even before his death.
Poem analysis :
The poem opens addressing Jesus, discussing how God made both life and death. He uses the image of Jesus with his foot on a skull to show him as the conqueror of Death. Humanity is humbled in the presence of God, as our “systems” are finite. We are unable to see God’s plan. Tennyson asks for God’s forgiveness for the nature of his words, as he fluctuates between faith and doubt throughout the poem. He says he has “wild and wandering words” as he tries to make sense of the death of his friend. He prays
for wisdom and regrets his wasted youth. Following this prologue, Tennyson describes how he grieved. He once believed that men would slowly rise from death into an eternal state; he once believed in God, but in his grief, he has begun to doubt. Tennyson wishes he could fast forward through time to skip the grieving period. He suggests, “Love clasp Grief
lest both be drown’d,” meaning he would rather combine his love for his friend with his grieving and relish the experience than be “overworn” by the concept of death.
Tennyson addresses a yew tree in a graveyard. He imagines that the roots are wrapped around a body buried beneath. The seasons, and nature, move on in their patterns beating out the “little lives of men.” He then addresses Sorrow, who attempts to convince Tennyson that nature moves on and is purposeless and meaningless. Here he questions the existence of God and an afterlife.
While he sometimes believes he is sinning by writing of his grief, Tennyson thinks, “The sad mechanic exercise” works “like dull narcotics numbing the pain.” He argues that even
though the loss of a loved one is common to the human race, it doesn’t make him less bitter, but more so knowing that every day someone else’s heart is breaking. He imagines
families who are still waiting for their dead family members, like a mother who waits for her son who has drowned at sea. He also uses a house as a metaphor , describing how he goes to a house where he and Arthur used to meet, only to find it dark.
Arthur’s body was returned to England from Italy by ship, and Tennyson experienced “calm,” the word that begins every stanza in Canto 11. He spends a lot of time addressing and describing the ship that brought his friend’s body. By winter, Tennyson’s woe is causing “wild unrest” in him. He confronts this change in Canto 16, wondering that sorrow could cause him to feel both wild and calm. Only the Bible comforts him as he considers that his friend has gained everlasting life as a Christian. He struggles, however, with the idea that a good God would allow humanity to suffer. As he questions the meaning of death and life, he concludes that humans have souls allowing them to live on after death and that their purpose on earth is to gain knowledge. As Arthur was a good and intelligent man (whom he often compares to
Jesus), he believes that Arthur’s soul must be alive somewhere. He imagines meeting with him again.
The epilogue finds Tennyson at his sister’s wedding. While he has lost a close friend, he has gained a brother-in-law. One of the more well-known lines in the poem is in Canto 56 where Tennyson refers to “Nature, red in tooth and claw.” This line points to ideas of evolution
that first appeared in Vestiges of the Natural History of Creationin 1844. The struggle between literal Biblical interpretations and new scientific findings is evident in “In Memoriam,” but Tennyson seems to decide that the two ideas will eventually merge.Another phrase often quoted is “‘Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all,” which appears in Canto 27.
Arthur Hallam and Tennyson became friends in 1829 at Cambridge. Hallam met Tennyson’s sister, Emily, and the two were soon engaged. Hallam also wrote poetry, and he and Tennyson planned to one day publish a collection together. Hallam was a significant force in getting Tennyson’s work published. He died of a brain hemorrhage while visiting Vienna with his father at age twenty-two. Emily would later marry and name her first son after Hallam.Queen Victoria met with Tennyson in 1883 to tell him the poem had been a comfort to her following the death of her husband, Prince Albert.
Prologue :
The poem's speaker addresses the Christian figure of the Son of God. He declares his faith in God despite a lack of evidence. The speaker then expresses hope that humanity will grow in both knowledge and reverence for the Divine.
Grief (Cantos 1–27)
After the death of his best friend Arthur Henry Hallam, the speaker gives in to sorrow and sleep. His writing seems like a feeble antidote for despair. Awaiting the ship bringing Hallam's body home, the speaker struggles with strong and often contradictory emotions. He imagines himself as a piper in a pastoral elegy recalling the friends' joyful times together. Despite his anguish, he wants to prove his love will outlast time.
Doubt and Despair (Cantos 28–77)
The family's Christmas celebration is shadowed by grief. The speaker imagines the superior celestial form his friend occupies in eternity. He wonders if he and Hallam will communicate again and what their reunion will be like. Contemplating humanity's fate as a biological species bound for extinction, the speaker struggles to believe in a higher purpose for mankind.
Rising Hope (Cantos 78–103)
A second Christmas holiday is somber but more hopeful. Slowly the speaker sees the wisdom and insight his sorrow has given him. Though doubt and fear still linger, Hallam's memory brings comfort and consolation. One night during a memorable trance, the speaker feels connected to a larger divine spirit. He later prepares to move to a new home with his family, leaving the places he shared with Hallam behind.
Final Affirmation (Cantos 104–131)
The family holds a solemn Christmas celebration honoring Hallam. As bells ring in the New Year, the speaker looks forward to renewed joy and progress for all mankind. He describes Hallam as a brilliant, kindhearted man who sought wisdom as well as knowledge. Since Hallam is now "mix'd with God and Nature," the speaker loves and reveres his friend even more.
Looking to the future, the speaker renews his faith in a divine plan for human existence. He encourages humanity to grow wiser and nobler.
Epilogue :
Nine years after Hallam's death, the speaker attends the wedding of his sister Cecilia. The celebration is full of joy. The speaker says his love for Hallam and his own faith have grown over the years. He anticipates that the superior descendants of the human race will have Hallam's extraordinary virtue and insight.
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