Tennysons In Memoriam
In Memoriam is a poem through which Tennyson was trying to make sense of the death of his friend, Arthur Hallam. The consistent and intentional use of imagery throughout the poem helps reveal the inner healing process that Tennyson was experiencing during the seventeen years he composed In Memoriam. One recurring image in the poem is shadow. In the early parts of the poem, Tennyson usually refers to The Shadow, and when he does, he is usually speaking of a personified Death, such as an Angel of Death or Grim Reaper type of figure. After this has been taken to fruition, he uses shadows to represent his memories and thoughts. His purpose in personifying death is twofold. First, a shadow fills a spot with darkness that had before been covered in light. In section 22, we see this when Tennyson takes a stroll down a path he and Arthur had been down together in the past. “There sat the Shadow feared of man:/Who broke our fair companionship,/and spread his mantle dark and cold/”(12-13). His friend is no longer with him; death has replaced him. Tennyson’s second purpose in personifying death as The Shadow is that both can be with us at any time, unnoticed, and unannounced. This too is quite visible in the final l
ines of section 22. Tennyson knows that death waits for him as it had for Hallam. These feelings reach their climax in section 30, where the joy of a Christmas gathering is interrupted by “…an awful sense/ Of one mute Shadow watching all”(7-8). Tennyson and his friends pause, weep over Hallam’s death, then break out in a song, singing, “…They do not die/Nor lose their mortal sympathy,/Nor change to us, although they change;”(22-24). This is a turning point for Tennyson. This song reminds Tennyson that death is only the beginning, so he no longer mentions death as a Shadow after his. In fact, a number of sections after this mention resurrection(i.e. 31,47) a belief Tennyson mostly ignores before stanza 30. By section 82, Tennyson has depersonified Death all together, saying that he ,”blame[s] not Death, because he bare/ The use of virtue out of earth;”(9-10). He is moving toward a much deeper and more spiritually mature understanding of death. Not only have Tennyson’s memories of Arthur faded and shifted, but the world without Arthur has changed. Tennyson has moved from the house he used to live in by section 105, and the world seems very much different. He holds all the “cares that petty shadows cast”(13)
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 867
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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