1056 Tennyson, Lord Alfred
survives and is a part of his life, albeit in a new and
different form.
The loss of his young friend devastated Ten-
nyson and caused him to experience a protracted
period of grief and mourning that led him to ques-
tion his own spirituality. In Memoriam describes
the poet’s quest to understand why his friend died as
well as the poet’s quest to ascertain whether or not
his friend’s life was merely an ephemeral moment in
the long term or whether Hallam’s life continues in
some altered fashion—either in the repository of the
poet’s memory or upon a spiritual plane far above
the level of ordinary human spiritual and intellectual
perception.
The poem follows a general structure in which
the poet initially exhibits overwhelming grief at the
loss of his friend. Despair dominates the first 27
stanzas, and the poet’s thoughts and the imagery
are dark, gloomy, and generally foreboding until the
first of three Christmas celebrations is referenced.
The next section of the poem (stanzas 28–77)
moves into the realm of doubt as the poet considers
whether the universe has any interest in the well-
being of humankind. Indeed, in conjunction with
the scientific discoveries of the mid-19th century,
the poet can only conclude that human existence
is essentially one of futility. Indeed, in stanza 55,
the narrator concludes that nature is only concerned
with the propagation of the species (“So careful of
the type she seems”) that a single human life is of
little significance (“So careless of the single life”).
In stanza 56, the poet extrapolates his thoughts
about the insignificance of a single human life to
the survival of the species as a whole. As contempo-
rary paleontological evidence demonstrated, many
creatures had existed on the earth in its past, and
an untold number had become extinct. Thus, with
regard to human survival, the poet can only conclude
that “Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair” will be
“No more.”
Despite the seeming finality of the poet’s con-
clusions, the tone of the work begins to change.
The narrator begins to develop a transcendent faith
that stresses the function of love as the spiritual
force that guides the biological processes. Stanzas
78–102 indicate the poet’s renewed hopefulness
and changing faith. Though the religious creeds of
old may no longer be sufficient for a man of his era,
he realizes that there is a need for greater under-
standing, communication, and spirituality, which all
point to the human spirit’s logical role as the core
of the next stage in human development. While
the human species may one day become extinct,
the poet believes that humanity will transform into
a wholly spiritual creature whose example is none
other than the poet’s late friend Hallam. While the
poet must live in a world of doubts and fears, he
may take solace that Hallam now exists in the next
stage of human evolution, which will be a purely
spiritual existence of which Christ is the first and
prime example.
The final portion of the poem, stanzas 103–131,
describes the poet’s renewed faith as he realizes
that both individual and human survival are predi-
cated on spiritual rather than physical terms. Faith
emerges as the poet accepts that personal survival
after death is a matter that can only be addressed
in philosophical rather than empirical terms. Since
there is no way to prove the existence of an immor-
tal soul, humanity must rely on faith that there is a
continuance of the human spirit beyond the physical
realm. The speaker indicates his hope in the spirit’s
survival in stanza 131, where he states: “With faith
that comes of self-control, / The truths that never
can be proved / Until we close with all we loved, /
And all flow from, soul in soul.” The poem’s final
sections demonstrate that Tennyson does not reject
the findings of empirical science, but he does reject
the nihilistic attitude that many of his contempo-
raries have adopted with regard to religious faith. If
humanity is a purely physical entity, then its survival
is not guaranteed, and the actions of most individu-
als are apt to be short-lived and unmemorable. Ten-
nyson’s poem rejects this conception of the universe
and instead asserts that if there is to be any meaning
beyond the stark facts of existence (birth, growth,
and death), then the survival of the human spirit is
the only possible method by which the universe can
hold any meaning. The fact that love, friendship, and
faith exist is, to the poet, ample evidence that there
is survival beyond the end of life, and this concept
renews the poet’s belief in an ultimately benevolent
and meaningful universe.
Joseph Becker