In Memoriam- Alfred Tennyson

This blog is in response to the blog task given to us by Yesha Ma’am based on the topic of Victorian Poets. In this blog I am discussing a poem of Alfred Tennyson In Memoriam.

In Memoriam

I am apart of all that I have met

-Alfred Tennyson

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in full Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson of Roadworthy and Freshwater, (born August 6, 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England—died October 6, 1892, Roadworthy, Surrey), English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. He was raised to the peerage in 1884. Tennyson possessed a strong poetic power, which his early readers often attributed to his "Englishmen" and his masculinity. Well known among his longer works are Maud and Idylls of the King, the latter arguably the most famous Victorian adaptation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of the most well-loved Victorian poets. Tennyson, the fourth of twelve children, showed an early talent for writing. At the age of twelve he wrote a 6,000-line epic poem. Many of his poems are about the temptation to give up and fall prey to pessimism, but they also extol the virtues of optimism and discuss the importance of struggling on with life. The need to persevere and continue is the central theme of ``In Memoriam '' and “Ulysses” (1833), both written after Hallam's death. In Memoriam was an enormous critical and popular success. It was a favourite of Queen Victoria who was “soothed & pleased” by it after the death of her husband Prince Albert. It is the most famous work of Alfred Lord Tennyson and is considered one of the great poems of the 19th century.

Tennyson wrote “In Memoriam” after he learned that his beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam had died suddenly and unexpectedly of a fever at the age of 22. Hallam was not only the poet’s closest friend and confidante, but also the fiance of his sister. After learning of Hallam’s death, Tennyson was overwhelmed with doubts about the meaning of life and the significance of man’s existence. He composed the short poems that comprise “In Memoriam” over the course of seventeen years (1833-1849) with no intention of weaving them together, though he ultimately published them as a single lengthy poem in 1850.

The poem begins as a tribute to and invocation of the “Strong Son of God.” Since man, never having seen God’s face, has no proof of His existence, he can only reach God through faith. The poet attributes the sun and moon (“these orbs or light and shade”) to God, and acknowledges Him as the creator of life and death in both man and animals. Man cannot understand why he was created, but he must believe that he was not made simply to die

The Son of God seems both human and divine. Man has control of his own will, but this is only so that he might exert himself to do God’s will. All of man’s constructed systems of religion and philosophy seem solid but are merely temporal, in comparison to the eternal God; and yet while man can have knowledge of these systems, he cannot have knowledge of God. The speaker expresses the hope that “knowledge [will] grow from more to more,” but this should also be accompanied by a reverence for that which we cannot know.

The speaker asks that God help foolish people to see His light. He repeatedly asks for God to forgive his grief for “thy [God’s] creature, whom I found so fair.” The speaker has faith that this departed fair friend lives on in God, and asks God to make his friend wise Here the speaker states that he feels no jealousy for the man who is captured and does not know what it means to feel true rage, or for the bird that is born with in a cage and has never spent time outside in the “summer woods.” Likewise, he feels no envy for beasts that have no sense of the passage of time and no conscience to check their behaviour. He also does not envy those who have never felt pain (“the heart that never plighted troth”) or those who complacently enjoy a leisure that they do not rightfully deserve. Even when he is in the greatest pain, he still realises that “ ‘Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all.”After having asserted in Section LV that Nature cares only for the survival of species (“so careful of the type”) and not for the survival of individual lives, the speaker now questions whether Nature even cares for the species. He quotes a personified, feminine Nature asserting that she does not attend to the survival of the species, but arbitrarily bestows life or death on all creatures. For Nature, the notion of the “spirit” does not refer to any divine, unearthly element, but rather to the simple act of breathing.

The poet questions whether Man, who prays and trusts in God’s love in spite of the evidence of Nature’s brutality (“Nature, red in tooth and claw”), will eventually be reduced to dust or end up preserved like fossils in rock: “And he, shall he, Man...Be blown about the desert dust, Or sealed within the iron hills?” The thought of this evokes a notion of the human condition as monstrous, and more terrifying to contemplate than the fate of prehistoric “dragons of the prime.” The speaker declares that life is futile and longs for his departed friend’s voice to soothe him and mitigate the effect of Nature’s callousness.

T.S. Eliot called this poem “the most unapproachable of all his [Tennyson’s] poems,” and indeed, the sheer length of this work encumbers one’s ability to read and study it. Moreover, the poem contains no single unifying theme, and its ideas do not unfold in any particular order. It is loosely organised around three Christmas sections (28, 78, and 104), each of which marks another year that the poet must endure after the loss of Hallam. The climax of the poem is generally considered to be Section 95, which is based on a mystical trance Tennyson had in which he communed with the dead spirit of Hallam late at night on the lawn at his home at Somersby.

“In Memoriam” was intended as an elegy, or a poem in memory and praise of one who has died. As such, it contains all of the elements of a traditional pastoral elegy such as Milton’s “Lycidas,” including ceremonial mourning for the dead, praise of his virtues, and consolation for his loss. Moreover, all statements by the speaker can be understood as personal statements by the poet himself. Like most elegies, the “In Memoriam” poem begins with expressions of sorrow and grief, followed by the poet’s recollection of a happy past spent with the individual he is now mourning. These fond recollections lead the poet to question the powers in the universe that could allow a good person to die, which gives way to more general reflections on the meaning of life. Eventually, the poet’s attitude shifts from grief to resignation. Finally, in the climax, he realises that his friend is not lost forever but survives in another, higher form. The poem closes with a celebration of this transcendent survival.

“In Memoriam '' ends with an epithalamion, or wedding poem, celebrating the marriage of Tennyson’s sister Cecilia to Edmund Lushington in 1842. The poet suggests that their marriage will lead to the birth of a child who will serve as a closer link between Tennyson’s generation and the “crowning race.” This birth also represents new life after the death of Hallam, and hints at a greater, cosmic purpose, which Tennyson vaguely described as “One far-off divine event / To which the whole creation moves.”

Not just an elegy and an epithalamion, the poem is also a deeply philosophical reflection on religion, science, and the promise of immortality. Tennyson was deeply troubled by the proliferation of scientific knowledge about the origins of life and human progress: while he was writing this poem, Sir Charles Lyell published his Principles of Geology, which undermined the biblical creation story, and Robert Chambers published his early evolutionary tract, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. In “In Memoriam,” Tennyson insisted that we hold fast to our faith in a higher power in spite of our inability to prove God’s existence: “Believing where we cannot prove.” He reflects early evolutionary theories in his faith that man, through a process lasting millions of years, is developing into something greater. In the end, Tennyson replaces the doctrine of the immortality of the soul with the immortality of mankind through evolution, thereby achieving a synthesis between his profound religious faith and the new scientific ideas of his day.

“Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.”

I Hope This blog is helpful to you and easily understandable. Thank you for reading. If you have any Queries or suggestions please drop a comment.

[words: 1512]

Assignment 104: Alfred Tennyson

This Blog is an Assignment of paper no.: 4 Literature of Victorians in this assignment I am dealing with the Alfred Tennyson who is representative writer of this age.

Alfred Tennyson

Outline of Tennyson’s Life:

Tennyson was the third of 11 children born to William Hazlitt Tennyson, who would later become the Dean of Westminster, and Elizabeth Hallam, who had been born to a wealthy landowner. His siblings were Ann, Catherine, Fanny, George, Maria, Emily, Elizabeth, Mary, Alfred, and Charles.Tennyson was raised in a conservative household, in spite of his family’s relatively progressive views on politics and religion. As a child, Alfred was taught by a clergyman, and was encouraged to read the Bible for himself. In his youth, he was influenced by the Romantic movement in British culture, and by the French Romantics of the time. He met Wordsworth, and even attended meetings of the Romantic Society. His father, Christopher Tennyson, had been born in Ireland and had moved to Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, in the late eighteenth century. When Alfred was six, his parents moved to Lincolnshire, settling in the village of Alphington near Brigg. In 1818, the family moved to Somersby, where they remained for the rest of his childhood.

Tennyson left Cambridge after three years, never quite finishing his degree. The Cambridge Apostles was a society of upper-class students at Cambridge University in the nineteenth century. It was composed of young men who had shared the same tutors in their youth while attending the prestigious Westminster School, including the poets Robert Browning and Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was one of the greatest poets in the English language. He was known for his blank verse, often referred to as “polarised” because it contained so few adjectives. His poems have a timeless quality, and his approach to poetry can still be inspiring today. He was also the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign, and today he is often quoted and referenced.Tennyson was also a passionate believer in the natural world, and was a vegetarian his whole life, even after he became an alcoholic. In 1836, he published “Locksley Hall,” which was the first part of the four-part poem The Idylls of the King. It was a classic of the Victorian era, and is now the most well-known British poem in all of literature.

In this poem, Tennyson uses a technique called “apodosis.” Apodosis,’ or “negative apodosis,” is a rhetorical device that allows the poet to use a word or phrase in a way that is completely different from how it appears in the sentence, so that the listener or reader is surprised and caught off guard. It is a way to emphasise a word or phrase.

Poet Laureate and some works: 

In 1850, after William Wordsworth’s death and Samuel Rogers’ refusal, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate, a position he would hold for the rest of his life. He was the third person to hold the position, following Wordsworth and Rogers. He was also the first poet to hold the position. During his time as Poet Laureate, he travelled around England giving poetry readings and lectures, and was also responsible for writing the poetry for the National Gallery in London.

He moved to London in 1850, finding work as a journalist and also writing poems and articles for publication. In 1853, at the age of 26, he was named Poet Laureate, a position previously held by the great Romantic poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The following year, he published the first part of his most famous poem, The Idylls of the King.

In 1850, after the death of William Wordsworth and the refusal of Samuel Rogers to take the position of Poet Laureate, Tennyson was appointed to the position. He was forty years old, and was the first man from a middle-class background to hold the position.

He returned to Lincolnshire and began writing, first poetry and then plays. In 1850, after the death of William Wordsworth and the refusal of Samuel Rogers to take on the role of Poet Laureate, Tennyson was appointed to the position.

He understood that the Poet Laureate was expected to write poems for major national occasions, and he began to write poems for important events such as the opening of Parliament, the coronation of Queen Victoria, and the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. He also began to write poems for the general public, which were published in magazines and newspapers. During his time as Poet Laureate, Tennyson continued to write both poetry and plays. In 1853, he published the first part of his most famous poem, The Idylls of the King.

His first major public poem was The Lady of Shallot, which was published in 1851 and is about the doomed love affair between the Lady of Shallot and Sir Lancelot. As his official duties as Poet Laureate expanded, so did his responsibilities as a poet. He continued to write poems about the subjects that interested him most: the natural world, the human heart, and the Divine.

In this way, he hoped to help spread the popularity of poetry among a wider audience.

His first publication as Poet Laureate was a long poem, The Princess, which was published in 1853.

Poems by Two Brothers:

In 1826 two brothers, Frederick and Charles Tennyson, jointly published a small collection of poems, Select Sentence. Dated 1827 on the title page, these poems were mostly written by Charles, with some co-written with Frederick. The poems in Select Sentence provide us with an early glimpse at the two brothers' writing styles and their literary influences.

In 1826, two poems were published, which would become the first two published poems by two brothers. These two poems were written by Alfred, with the help of his brother Charles. They were published together on the same title page, but the poems themselves were dated 1827 on the title page. These poems, called Poems by Two Brothers, are considered to be the first published works of Alfred, who would go on to become one of the best-known poets in the English language.

In July 1826, two poems by the sons of the Earl of Tennyson were published. One was written by Charles, the older brother, while the other was written by Lionel, the younger. The poems were printed without a title page, so it is impossible to know which poem was written by which brother.

The poems of Two Brothers are a fascinating insight into the writing process of the young poet A.E. Much of what we know of the poems today is thanks to the efforts of his older brother, Charles, who published the poems in 1826 under the title Poems by Two Brothers. The poems were actually written by A.E. Tennyson with the help of Charles, who provided some of the final touches. It is clear that A.E. Tennyson had a large input into the final text, as evidenced by the unique style that he went on to develop as an author.

On a summer’s evening, when the moon was bright, Beneath the shades of a deep forest's night, Two brothers met, who had long been estranged; Their purpose was to combine their skill; To find a way to earn a living.

In Memoriam:

The distance, the years, the silence, in the end it all seems a lie. It is a story, a poem, a song that lives on, for the man who was my father. For the man who was my father is no more, and he has left me in a world without him. He has left me to live in this world without any knowledge of what it meant to have him, without any knowledge of what it meant to be his daughter.

A.H.H. was one of the first poets to use artificial intelligence in his work. His poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” was a work of poetry written in honour of his beloved and passed-on Anya. Short and concise, the poem was written using a complex text generation system. The system used deep learning algorithms to learn how to generate text in a style similar to that of A.H.H. The system was also “trained” by A.H.H. himself, by feeding it large amounts of his poetry.

In memoriam A.H.H. was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson as a memorial for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died at the young age of twenty-eight. Hallam was the son of a bishop, and the two had a close, platonic friendship. The poem is mostly an expression of Tennyson's grief and his desperate attempt to come to terms with the permanence of death. It is also a meditation on the nature of time, and on the ways in which our lives are shaped by our experiences.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the Victorian era's most celebrated poet, was known for his melancholy, introspective verse. In 1849, he published "In Memoriam A.H.H.

In memoriam A.H.H., whose name was Latinized as "Deceased Husband, A.H.H.

As to Tennyson's attitude towards the deepest problems of human concern, it is only needful to say that it comes out chiefly in that poem In Memoriam on his dead friend, which so many delicate and loving souls know almost by heart, and which in the last resort gives the hopeful answer of faith to the terrible questions it propounds.

Thank you