3.08.2016
Alfred, Lord Tennyson is a vivid representative of the Victorian period in the history of England, and particularly, the English literature. Together with the English society he was witnessing the industrial development of the world and together with the Victorian community he felt hostile towards these changes. For these convictions he was highly appreciated by the members of the Victorian society and the Queen herself. We will analyze two of his poems, which reflect his attitude to biological and geological progress – “In Memoriam” and “The Epic”.
The poem “The Epic” tells us about a Christmas Eve and four friends meeting on this holiday and discussing it. One of them is the narrator who shares with us what he hears. After some time, the narrator feels tired and listens to the parson criticizing the new science of geology, which was destructive for religion and faith. Later they argue about poetry and listen to one of them reading his work. They sit until Christmas comes and then the narrator goes to bed and dreams of Arthur. The scientific development is reflected in the poem through the parson and his words – he considers the geology to be one of the main sources of ruining faith and religion in society: “The parson taking wide and wider sweeps, / Now hawking at geology and schism/ settled down / Upon the general decay of faith” (The Epic, including The Morte D'Arthur). Besides, they underline that geology is based on studying the extinct species which don’t exist today, so the whole sphere is useless. This is the way science and geology are echoed in the poem “The Epic” by Tennyson.
Another poem by Lord Tennyson presenting the Victorian attitude to scientific development is “In Memoriam”, which consists of 131 smaller pieces of different length. The work was written after Tennyson learnt about the death of his dear friend Arthur Henry Hallam, which made him think about the essence of life and human existence. The poem includes many pieces, which are not connected to each other, but most of them are devoted to his friend. Along with the memories, “In Memoriam” reflects the poet’s struggle with the development of geological theory and evolutionary approach. During the creation of the poem Sir Charles Lyell published the book “Principles of Geology”, which doubted the biblical creation of the world. According to the poet, we must stay true to our faith and keep believing in God even if we cannot prove his existence: “Strong Son of God, immortal Love / Whom we, that have not seen they face, / By faith, and faith alone, embrace / Believing where we cannot prove” (In Memoriam A.H.H.) However, at the end of the poem he states that biological and scientific evolution is a part of God’s plan and it doesn’t contradicts faith. We can find geological images in the text, which create the image of something changeable and subject to development and evolution – “a thousand types are gone” (In Memoriam A.H.H.). Through these thoughts Tennyson comes to the conclusion that everything is just another step in the evolutionary process and nothing worth worrying about, even life – “I care for nothing, all shall go” (In Memoriam A.H.H.).
So, we can see that the treatment of science and industrial development is slightly different in both poems by Tennyson, although he is a dedicated conservative struggling for the interests of the Victorian society and highly evaluated by Victorian people. According to the second workpiece, he has mixed feelings about science. He felt that nature was a force, which was not created by God, and doubted in his faith, which was reflected in many of his works. In the end, he came to the conclusion that a person should believe in scientific development but not lose faith at the same time.
Works Cited
"In Memoriam A.H.H." The Literature Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2016.
"The Epic, including The Morte D'Arthur. | Robbins Library Digital Projects." The Epic, including The Morte D'Arthur. | Robbins Library Digital Projects. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2016.
