In Memoriam A.H.

In Memoriam A.H.H. is a poem by the English poet Alfred, Lord

Tennyson, completed in 1849. It is a requiem for the poet's
Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a
cerebral hemorrhage in Vienna in 1833, but it is also much more.
Because it was written over a period of 17 years, its meditation on
the search for hope after great loss touches upon many of the
most important and deeply-felt concerns of Victorian society. It
contains some of Tennyson's most accomplished lyrical work, and
is an unusually sustained exercise in lyric verse. It is widely
considered to be one of the great poems of the 19th century.

The poem was a great favorite of Queen Victoria, who found it a

source of solace after the death of Prince Albert in 1861: "Next to
the Bible, In Memoriam is my comfort." In 1862, Victoria requested
a meeting with Tennyson because she was so impressed by the
poem.

The original title of the poem was "The Way of the Soul", and this
might give an idea of how the poem is an account of all
Tennyson's thoughts and feelings as he copes with his grief over
such a long period - including wrestling with the big scientific-
philosophical questions of his day. It is perhaps because of this
that the poem is still popular with and of interest to modern
readers. Owing to its length and its arguable breadth of focus, the
poem might not be thought an elegy or a dirge in the strictest
formal sense.
The poem is not arranged exactly in the order in which it was
written. The prologue, for example, is thought to have been one of
the last things written. The earliest material is thought to be that

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which begins "Fair ship, that from the Italian shore | Saileth the
placid ocean-plains" and imagines the return of Hallam's body from
Italy. Critics believe, however, that the poem as a whole is meant
to be chronological in terms of the progression of Tennyson's grief.
The passage of time is marked by the three descriptions of
Christmas at different points in the poem, and the poem ends with
a description of the marriage of Tennyson's sister.

"In Memoriam" is written in four-line ABBA stanzas of iambic

tetrameter; though not metrically unusual, given the length of the
work it creates a definite tonal effect which often divides readers -
is it the natural sound of mourning and grief, or is it just
monotonous? The poem is divided into 133 cantos (including the
prologue and epilogue), and in contrast to its constant and
regulated metrical form, encompasses many different subjects:
profound spiritual experiences, nostalgic reminiscence,
philosophical speculation, Romantic fantasizing and even
occasional verse. The death of Hallam, and Tennyson's attempts
to cope with this, remain the strand that ties all these together.
Form
“In Memoriam” consists of 131 smaller poems of varying length.
Each short poem is comprised of isometric stanzas. The stanzas
are iambic tetrameter quatrains with the rhyme scheme ABBA, a
form that has since become known as the “In Memoriam Stanza.”
(Of course, Tennyson did not invent the form—it appears in earlier
works such as Shakespeare’s “The Phoenix and the Turtle”—but
he did produce an enduring and memorable example of it.) With
the ABBA rhyme scheme, the poem resolves itself in each
quatrain; it cannot propel itself forward: each stanza seems

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complete, closed. Thus to move from one stanza to the next is a
motion that does not come automatically to us by virtue of the
rhyme scheme; rather, we must will it ourselves; this force of will
symbolizes the poet’s difficulty in moving on after the loss of his
beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam.

Commentary
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 fiancé 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.

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 organized 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.

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“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 realizes 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 describes 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:

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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.

In Memorium VII

Like all poems in In Memorium this poem too is written in iambic

tetrameter quatrains with the rhyme scheme ABBA.

The poet says he finds himself standing once again close to the
gloomy house in this long street, which has lost all its charm for
him. This is the house where Hallam lived. Whenever he came to
this house and knocked on the door, his heart used to beat faster
because he expected Hallam to offer his hand to him.

The poet is here referring to Hallam’s death and that he can

therefore no longer hold his hand or shake it. He finds himself
being drawn to the house in the early hours of the morning after a
sleepless night and he approaches the door slowly guilty of having
come so early in the morning.

Hallam is no longer around and is far away in his heavenly abode

and the routine activities of the day can be heard. The depression
that the poet feels is echoed in the last lines of this poem as he
uses pathetic fallacy to bring out his profound unhappiness that he
experiences. He is feeling “ghastly,” deeply bereft without Hallam
and the imagery of the drizzling rain and the “bald” and empty
streets add to his own deep sense of loss. The alliteration of the

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last line with the usage of “bald,” “break” and blank” helps us
understand the depth of feeling and deepening sorrow that he
experiences after the death of his dear friend Arthur Hallam.
Tennyson throughout the first two stanzas and in the opening line
of stanza three, Tennyson's emphasis is on Arthur's absence and
his own inability to act without the presence of this loved one: the
poet's heart 'used to beat / So quickly' whenever he visited this
house, but now that Arthur has gone it does not. In the second line
of the third stanza, however, 'the noise of life begins again'. 'What
revives', 'is not the friend... but the beat of regular iambics and the
"noise of life", the daily round, they represent.' The music of the
poem (its iambic meter) revives, but the 'beat' of the lonely figure's
heart does not.
Despite Hallam’s death the noise of everyday life creeps in
and despite the drizzling rain it reasserts itself and a new day
breaks.

In Memorium XXIV

The poet is reminiscing about his times spent with Arthur Hallam.
He wonders if his recollection of his time with Arthur Hallam is as
pure and perfect as he thinks it to be. He feels that the happiness
he shared with Arthur Hallam could not have been so perfect in
hindsight, for even the sun which is the source of the light and
warmth that we experience, has its own dark spots which breaks
the uniformity of its light.

If everything was as good and beautiful as it was when we met

(when you were alive) this entire earth will be like paradise. While
thinking about the past he feels that his earth was a paradise when
Hallam was alive. The Sun here is their youth, their happiness and
the time they spent together. This Sun has both risen and set. This
friendship is over. Ever since the Sun first rose and set on this
earth, the earth has never appeared to be such a happy place,
when Arthur Hallam was alive.

He wonders if the current grief that is so all encompassing that his

past happiness seems greater that it actually was in reality. Or if
his current low state or depression that he has sunk into is making
his past seem bright in comparison. Or he wonders if the past
being so far behind seems glorious in comparison to the
dreariness of the present.

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He wonders if the past will always win as it is so far removed from
the present and steeped in history. If for instance we were on the
moon and were to look on the earth it would look perfect and
radiant. The poet is saying that distance from the past adds to the
fondness of memory. He wonders whether their time together was
always so perfect and that if they did not just perceive its
greatness when they experienced it.

In Memorium L

Tennyson urges his friend to be near him when his light is low or
when his life is coming to an end. He creates an eerie image when
he requests him to watch over him when his blood flows slowly or
creeps in old age, when his nerves tingle and prick again a sign of
aging and when his heart is sick (when his heart beats less due to
age or disease) and the entire motions of life or the mechanics of
life which he compares to the “wheels of his being” slows down.
Here “Being” personifies Life (his life). He says be near me when
my life is nearing its end due to old age or sickness.

He requests Hallam to be near him when his sensuous frame or

his body that is open to all sensual reactions is raked with pangs or
doubts that question his trust or his faith. He says stand with me
when Time who is personified as a maniac is seen scattering dust
and life who is personified as “Fury” (a person who seeks revenge)
seems to be throwing flame. The picture here is surreal as Time
and life are personified as individuals throwing dust or fire at all
living things. Everything is turned on its head and its cacophony.

The comparison of people here is to short-lived flies, and the

daring, horrible, and (in the context) understandable suggestion
that the cycle of life and death is pointless. The poem implies that
human children are like insect eggs! He says that human lives are
as short and fruitless as that of flies of the later part of spring when
they lay their eggs, sting, hum, build their tiny home, and perish
without any hope or thought of immortality. These stanzas show
the extent of Tennyson’s depression and how he sees no meaning
in life and both time and life seem as tyrants who haunt him and
they seems to taunt him as he struggles to find meaning in his
existence. The stanza also points to his struggles with Christianity
and the attempts he made to reconcile his faith with the scientific
developments of the age.

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He pleads with Hallam to stay with him even as his life ebbs to the
point when all the strife of life ends and reaches a low. He asks
Hallam to be his guiding light when he is on the verge of death.
The low dark verge emphasizes the nearing end, which is
reinforced by the image of the twilight of the eternal day, which
here means life after death. He says be my guide from this world
to the next. He wants Hallam to give his assurance at the time of
his death and help his cross over to eternity.

The basic hope and despair of this poem are not new to poets or
to humanity in general. This poem, like many others in In
Memoriam, is full of disturbing images and phrases such as, “And
Time, a maniac scattering dust.” In terms of rhetoric, we might first
notice that Tennyson directly addresses his dead friend. The poem
is emotionally raw, but also oddly formal: raw because Tennyson
addresses his inmost, desperate feelings to a beloved friend;
formal because directly addressing dead people is a convention of
poetry and oratory. Probably the most important and obvious
rhetorical device at work here is the repetition of “Be near me
when . . .” This repetition contains a pause, too, between “me” and
“when,” and it becomes more and more portentous as the phrase
repeats, each time introducing new griefs. The pause follows an
odd, unaccented syllable, which checks the rising meter and the
symmetry of the four-beat line. Tennyson also repeats “and” over
and over, so that we feel how overwhelmed he is by despair.

In Memorium LXVII

Tennyson dreams that at night when moon light falls or when the
sunsets and its night time he knows that in his graveside at the
church where he is buried which is bordered on the west side by a
broad river a glorious light appears on the walls. Hallam was
buried in Clevedon church that was located in the banks of River
Severn.

He imagines that this light falls on the marble of his tombstone and
the marble seems to glow in the dark due to this heavenly light.
This almost slivery light makes the letters and the years on his
tombstone glow.

The glorious light of the moon soon floats away, and from his bed
too the moonlight disappears. Suddenly this mystic image goes

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away or disappears and he wearily falls into sleep till the grey
dawn comes.

And then he realizes that the gray light of the dawn has spread like
a transparent veil from coast to coast (from Somersetshire to
Wales). In the dark church where Hallam lies buried, the tomb-
stone on his grave shines dimly in the light of the dawn. He says
despite everything he believes that Hallam will remain a gleaming
and shining light in all his endeavors and will guide him in his life.

In Memorium CVI

In this poem Tennyson begins to resolve his feelings about life and
death. This poem sounds almost like an anthem with the “Ring out”
being repeated several times. This use of anaphora with ring out
being repeated creates an almost liturgical effect emphasizing the
anthem like quality of the poem.

He says ring out the wild bells probably referring to the church
bells that ring out at New Year. The clouds flying out in the sky
mute the moonlight making it look frosty or frosted and muted. The
light could look frosty also pointing out to the wintertime when it is
very cold. He says the winter is dying in the night as the year ends
at 12 midnight so he urges the bells to let the year-end. Him here
signifies the year. Year is personified as a person. The old year is
passing away. The church bells are ringing aloud to announce the
coming of the New Year. He says let the bells ring wildly to mark
the death of the old year and the birth of the New Year.

He urges everyone to ring out the old - to let go of the old and to
ring in the new and to ring happy bells despite the winter snow. He
again says the year is ending so let him (year) go and let go of the
false and ring in true/genuine aspirations and thoughts for the new
year.

Sorrow weakens the human mind. So he also asks people to let go

of the grief that they feel for people who are dead as he is willing to
let go of the sorrow he feels over the death of Hallam. He says that
disputes between capitalist and laborers that characterized his
times should end. He wants the New Year to bring justice to all
mankind.

Another aspect he wants to highlight is that old dying causes, silly

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arguments should be shunned and that we should accept and
embrace nobler and more lofty modes of life. Be more benign and
understanding and move away from petty and old grudges. He is
here referring to old party system in politics that is slowly coming to
an end. He wants all party politics to cease with the passing of the
old year. He wants people to be sweeter or gentle natured and
devise purer laws that will govern all mankind.

He says that the time has come to ring out or leave behind want,
worry and the sin of being faithless which he says, reflects the
coldness of his times. This is a reference to the scientific
discoveries that were prevalent during his times and the conflict
between this new knowledge and the Bible, which characterized
his times. He says it is time to let go of the mournful (sorrowful)
rhymes (nature/philosophy) of the faithless and bring in or usher in
faith and Godliness (fuller minstrel). He does not want to write any
more sad or elegiac poetry. He is here reaffirming his faith in God
and towards the end of his life he had found a way to balance his
faith and his interest in the scientific discoveries of his time. He
wants to feel happy so that he will write only happy and joyous
poems in the New Year.

He also wants to do away with false pride in position and in

bloodlines. This is again a reference to the importance pedigree
and class had in his times. He says it is time to move away from
social norms and also avoid being spiteful and slandering one
another in public. He says let’s all echo and bring in truthfulness
and righteousness and the love for all things good and right, in the
New Year. He says, that the New Year should bring with it a love
of truth and justice, and a universal love of goodness.

Some of the other things he wants us to discard are old diseases.

He wants everyone to be healthy and happy. He also talks about
the need to give up our desire for gold and to let go of old wars,
prejudices and petty battles from the past. He says the time has
come for a thousand years of peace.

He wants the New Year, to be a time for the new valiant and free
man. He wants the new age man to be larger hearted and be more
kind spirited. He says let us remove the darkness (all the evil that
clouds the spirit of the people) and bring in Christ and faith that is
the natural order of things. Another aspect that he wants changed
in the New Year is the ignorance and superstition. He wants true

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Christian faith to prevail upon the earth. He says let the true
Christian faith prevail upon the earth. In this anthem of resurgence
of faith and hope he sees a possibility of a better and happier life
as he reconciles himself to the death of his friend and reaffirms his
faith in Christianity and God.

In Memorium CVI

The poem exhibits interplay of sound (aural imagery) and

color/light (visual imagery) in the stanzas. Stanzas 1, 3 and 5 all
relate to color/light and the 2 and 4th stanza are related to sounds.

This is a hopeful poem that begins with the last streak of snow
fading. Everything is growing in abundance in the flower patches
and the violets are in bloom even besides the roots of the Ash tree.
This is a sign of regeneration.

Life seems to ringing and booming through the length and breadth
of the woodland. Looking from the distance everything looks fairer
and more beautiful. The scenery looks vibrant and verdant. In the
yonder gleaming blue sky the skylark that is flying faraway is heard
but not seen (sightless song).

In the meadows and the lawns everything is resplendent, and

shining with the abundance and brightness of spring. The white
flocks of sheep seem brighter in the valley. Far away in the river or
in the sea the white sails are bellowing and are gleaming white and
bright.

The seamew or seagull sings or dives in the sea, which looks

green. The happy birds are flying in the sky and they have
migrated from other places to build their nests and raise their
young.

These birds migrate from one country to another according to the

change in seasons. All over the land and in his heart spring
wakens and his regret over the loss of Arthur Hallam also fades
and like an April violet and hope flowers and blossoms in his heart.
We see through the entire pastoral elegy form used here that he
has come to terms with his loss and is looking forward to a better
life.

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