Tennyson's In Memoriam: some notes
In Memoriam is a long poem, unified by a common theme, a shared stanza
form, and some repeated images. Consider as you read the relevance of the yew tree,
the veil, the hand, the leaf, and the bells. Does each mean the same thing each
time it appears? What function does its repetition seem to serve?
Of course the central unifying tactic of the poem is the verse form itself. Tennyson frequently raises the question of poetic form and poetic purpose in the poem, characterizing the verses as "short swallow-flights of song, that dip/their wings in tears, and skim away" (sec. 48). At other points in the poem the poet feels he has "no language but a cry" (54), seeming to lose confidence in his poetic mission altogether. Consider the purpose of poetry as expressed in the poem: what is it for, how does it work?
For further discussion:
Elizabeth Helsinger, writing of In Memoriam, says that "the most frightening consequence of the death [of Hallam] is not Tennyson's loss of faith in a fatherly God and a benign Nature, but his sense of a dissolving self, the return of what he sees as the infant's terror that he and the rest of his world will cease to exist when the lights go out." Do you agree that this is the central fear motivating the poem? If so, how does the poet combat that fear? What (new) model of selfhood does he propose, and how can he achieve it? (Does he?) Are there gender implications to his struggle--is he, for example, struggling to "be a man" about his grief?
