Hugo Suarez
Abstract
Alfred Lord Tennyson was perhaps the greatest poet of the nineteenth century Victorian era. While ‘In Memoriam,’ was written in honor of his best friend who died at a young age, some of his other famous works included ‘Ulysses,’ and ‘Morte d’ Arthur,’ which were again written in memory of his fond friend. The tones of these poems are nostalgic and reflect the mood and sentiments of a poet who had witnessed the unceremonious arrival of death from the outside. Emily Dickinson, a contemporary of Tennyson, was born in the United States. Her poem ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ is different in that it is she who is taken by death and has no objection or worry of being taken by it. While Tennyson horrifies death, Dickinson welcomes it. In ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ she reflects on what she thinks of death and how unprepared she was when it came to take her with him. For both of them, they used poetry to express their sentiments and personal views on Death. Tennyson faced severe financial hardship in his life and this did not in anyway come between his loves for writing poems. He expressed his love, sadness and views through his poems. Perhaps, as a way to route his own escapism from reality and the loss of his best friend, Arthur Hallam, through whom he could forget the financial difficulties around him through his sheer presence, made him write about Arthur verse after verse. Emily Dickinson lived a life of isolation and didn’t have many friends. Maybe it was because of this that she showed no remorse in dying and openly showed this through her poem, ‘Because I could Not Wait for Death.’
Keywords: Romanticism, poetry, figurative language, era, sentiments
Being on of the most outstanding poets of the nineteenth century, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Emily Dickinson take highly significant places in contemporary poetry. Students of English Literature read their poems with élan and find their works to be representative of their era. At first sight, these poets don’t seem to be the perfect examples for comparison, but on closer scrutiny, they are indeed worthy of comparison as they represent two different continents. They both represent contrasting stylistic approach and include varying elements of poetic expressions. These differences apart, both these poets more often than not, depict similar thematic subjects. In order to understand their contrasting view and opinions, it is notable that a construed attempt is made to analogically dissect Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam,’ and Dickinson’s ‘Because I could not stop for Death.’ While they delve on death, eternity and divine power, their style and understanding of death, that has personally come back to haunt them, makes for interesting comparison.
Considering the tone and the expressions like ‘Strong Son of God,’ and ‘immortal Love,’ it can be said that the poem is a verse or prayer directed to Jesus, the Son of God. Given the relevance, it can be said that this poem is indeed of exceptional importance to Tennyson. Very personal to Tennyson, ‘In Memoriam’ has a lot of significance; it is a personal note on the poet’s lose, it reflects his abysmal mental state, it goes out with a broken heart to the savior in the form of an invocation, and seeks divine intervention in the form of eternal peace and love to the dead. ‘In Memoriam’ was written after the death of his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. The name takes us back to another of Tennyson’s famous works, ‘Morte d’ Arthur,’ which again is written for Arthur Hallam.
Tennyson met Arthur Hallam in 1829 during a competition. They became good friends and their friendship lasted about 4 years. During this time, Arthur met Emily, Tennyson’s sister and fell in love with her. When Arthur’s father, who was against him marrying Emily, accepted her for his son, Arthur went on a trip with him to Europe, tragedy struck. “In autumn 1833, in what was meant as a gesture of gratitude and reconciliation to his father, Arthur Hallam accompanied him to Europe. During their trip to Vienna Arthur died suddenly of apoplexy resulting from a congenital malformation of the brain” (Poetry Foundation, 2013). There was no denying the fact that both, Tennyson and Arthur Hallam were good friends. Testimonial to this is the number of poems he wrote on Arthur after his death. He was so attached to Arthur that his sudden death shattered Tennyson altogether and when he started to write again; he did so with the fear of being isolated.
Perhaps what one sees from his writing’s after Arthur’s death is that he began to see death more conspicuously. In the words of Robertson (1882), the poem “exhibits the various phases through which the bereaved spirit passes from the first shock of despair, dull, hopeless misery and rebellion, to the dawn of hope, acquiescent trust, and even happiness again.” Robertson clearly reflects the mood of the poet who begins by vituperating the evils of death and how it can hurt the sentiments of their loved ones. Tennyson uses this poem to express his real feelings; how much it hurts him to know that the only true friend he had was unceremoniously snatched from him and because of which he had to suffer despair, dullness, hopelessness and misery. These made him cry out to God why such a tragedy had befallen him. Later, he reconciles himself to the fact that all born on earth would have to die and he wishes that his beloved friend has moved on to a better life and world where he enjoys eternal happiness. What one gets to see through his poems is his explication of quatrains stanzas, precise rhythm, and rich figurative language.
On deeper introspection of ‘In Memoriam,’ there is a vivid pattern of events written by the poet that reflects something like an epithet of the poet’s inner conscience, where he fights against a personal loss, is grieved by it, fights to seek the reason for this before finally accepting it as the will of God. Gradually it sinks in him that whatever has happened was for a reason and that his friend, Arthur, would have been sent to another life of more happiness and calm. He takes solace of this fact and bids his friend goodbye and says that he will forever remain his friend and wishes him a better life in the new world. Using lofty words and phrases, Tennyson attributes accolades on Arthur. The use of the phrase ‘my bosom-friend and half of life” (Tennyson, 2012) and “Dear friend, far off, my lost desire, So far, so near in woe and weal, O loved the most, when most I feel” (Tennyson, 2012), reveals the intrinsic relationship the poet had with his departed friend, Arthur Hallam. These citations clearly show the importance Tennyson gave Arthur in this poem in which he was undoubtedly, the protagonist.
Analyzing some other important details of the poem, ‘In Memoriam,’ there is also the element of highly religious character. Bloom (2010), writing on Tennyson says, “Tennyson expresses the overcoming of doubt, the power of love, and the ultimate hope in things divine.” Being a Romantic poet, Alfred Tennyson substantiates the power of technical progress within the strength of religious faith in all his works. Pertinent to his thinking that is friend is now in a place far more comfortable, Tennyson uses capacious expressions like “He is not here, but far away” (Tennyson, 2012). As his friend is no more with him, Tennyson says that his life has lost all its brightness of colors and sense after Arthur’s death.
In using phrases like ‘here and now,’ and ‘there,’ Tennyson is apparently referring to two worlds; one that is here and now, which is the world those alive live in, and the other world of there, where Arthur has gone after his death. The two worlds are poles apart and the world where Tennyson is filled with deep melancholy, darkness and sorrow, while the other world offers love and brightness and hope. This distinction between two worlds was one of the most important characteristics of the Romanticists. This was there way of expressing their idea as a symbolic connection between the external world and the inner one. It is into the external one that Arthur has gone. “Sphere all your lights around, above, Sleep, gentle heavens, below the prow; Sleep, gentle winds, as he sleeps now, my friend” (Tennyson, 2012) There is a tinge of sadness in the tone. While Tennyson has accepted the fact that his friend is no more and life must go on, he prays to the heavens to show mercy to his friend and allow him to sleep without any disturbances. It’s truly heart-rending to read this poem which can be paralleled to an elegy in many ways. This is so because the poem, while it reflects on the death of his dearest friend, it does seek the divine intervention of God in comforting the dead.
While so much has been written about the poem, one must not forget that the poem is also representational of the era in which it was written. Arthur, according to Tennyson, died of a sickness that came abruptly. Wasn’t there any form of medical treatment that could have abdicated the medical condition of Arthur at that time? Weren’t there sufficient medical practitioners available who could have diagnosed Arthur’s medical condition and advised or administered medicines to assist in his recovery? These are questions that seek explanation of the medical science in the Victorian era in Europe and England.
In the end, Tennyson reconciles to the fact that death is inevitable and irreparable as he ends, “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Tennyson, 2012). He further adds that, “My pulses therefore beat again for other friends that once I met” (Tennyson, 2012). ‘In Memoriam’ is a truly remarkable poem by the great Victorian period Romantic poet. The more one reads the poem, the more he/she becomes immersed in the body and soul of the poet. It is as though Tennyson wants us to experience what it is like to feel being lonely and pained.
Emily Dickinson’s, ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ in contrast, is quite different not in theme, but in style and subject. Dickinson presents unconventional attitude toward death and creates surprising images of death. Some of her poems for example, ‘Death Sets a Thing,’ ‘I Died for Beauty,’ ‘I’ve known a Heaven like a Tent,’ and ‘I went to Heaven,’ clearly shows Dickinson’s personal attitude toward death. Her frivolous attitude toward death indicates she was never concerned about facing death. There are many reasons for this, but some critics believe that it was because of her affinity for a certain “Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she met on a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home in 1860, and this departure gave rise to the heartsick flow of verse from Dickinson in the years that followed” (Academy of American Poets, 2013). This view has a lot of substance as it could have made her depressed and with it the urge to live.
‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ is a small poem that reveals the poetess’ inner feelings. Set in a serene village, Dickinson seems not to be overawed by the sudden events that in fact take her life most abruptly. What makes it different from ‘In Memoriam’ is that she is the subject in her poem that is affected by Death while it is Tennyson’s friend who is taken by Death. Never has she expressed her fear or apprehension of being taken or escorted by Death. She instead welcomes it, but for the fact that she was not dressed for the occasion.
For Dickinson, Death comes to her as a suitor, who stops abruptly to pick her up, giving her no time to dress for the occasion. Further reading of the poem shows that the suitor, well-dressed and traveling by a horse-drawn carriage takes her through the village where there were children playing in a ring, through fields under the setting sun (Could this be a clear illustration of the surroundings in which Emily spent most of her life?). She says she could feel her gown getting wet as it rubbed against the dews. Written in very simple language, it doesn’t need a genius to interpret her writing. This is very different from the style of Tennyson. Dickinson is calm and collective while Tennyson immerses himself in sorrow and deceit. It could be called deceit, because that was what he thought of Death for snatching his only friend from him. Right through her poem, Dickinson never showed any remorse or worry that she was being taken by Death. In fact she says, “We slowly drove - He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and leisure too, For His Civility -.” She clearly defines the state in which she is when Death takes her with him. She has put herself at his mercy and didn’t seem troubled by what was happening to her. It was as though she welcomed Death.
What is intriguing about this poem is that Dickinson is in reality talking about her journey to her burial in the calmest way; something not many would ideally explore. Her mindset and attitude to death could be because of her past. She was never a happy person and never experienced pleasure or happiness in her life time. All this made her think of death as a way to freedom and she welcomed it. In describing her pretty relaxed pace at which she was moving in the carriage with the gentleman and passing through the town, seeing the children play, the fields and the setting sun, she consciously summarizes her route to the burial ground where she will sleep for eternity.
Emily crafted her poem in such a way that it was easy for anyone to understand her state of mind. She didn’t hide behind the fear of death and was very happy to describe her journey from the materialistic world to the world of eternity. This speaks of her trauma and personal sufferings she faced as an individual in life. She spent most of her time at home and sat and wrote poems. What clearly distinguishes her from most other poets of her time is that her poems were centered on her and they talked of Death as a welcome guest. In describing her eventual meeting with Death, she says she was unprepared for her impromptu date with Death.
The second last stanza reveals that her journey ended when they reached the church; “We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground - The Roof was scarcely visible - The Cornice - in the Ground” She goes on to describe the church and the place where she says she will lie for eternity. There is no mention of weeping people around that suggests that she was sure that she wouldn’t have too many friends around during her burial. All these reflect her loneliness and reclusive lifestyle. In the final stanza, Dickinson springs a surprise by saying that all this took place centuries ago.
Conclusion
Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam,’ and Dickinson’s, ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ talks about death in different forms. While Dickinson welcomes Death, Tennyson found it hard to believe death could be so cruel. Tennyson’s poem is more of an elegy where he prays to God for his friend’s safety in heaven while Dickinson is profoundly happy that Death had come looking for her. ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ is more self-centered while ‘In Memoriam’ is about the fallacies of death and an invocation to God for peace and happiness.
References
Academy of American Poets, The, 2013, Emily Dickinson, Web, Retrieved October 25, 2013 from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155
Barton, A, (2012), Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’: A Reading Guide, Edinburgh,
Edinburgh University Press
Bloom, H, (2010), Alfred Lord Tennyson, New York, Infobase Publishing
Poetry Foundation, (2013), Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Biography, Web, Retrieved October 25, 2013, from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/alfred-tennyson
Robertson, F, W, (1882), Analysis of Mr. Tennyson's “In Memoriam,” K. Paul, Trench, & Company, Eleventh Edition, Princeton University Library
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