Poetry for Students

Volume 19 209

In the poem’s last stanza, the speaker of the

poem subjugates himself completely to God, dis-

missing his own poetry as “wild and wandering

cries” and “confusions of a wasted youth.” Al-

though the poem shows a disciplined attempt to

make sense out of matters that go beyond human

capacity, the poet still asks God’s forgiveness, for

fear that any of the things said in the poem might

be wrong or might offend Him.

Mourning

Although death is mentioned frequently in

“Proem,” Tennyson does not mention the loss of

any specific person until the tenth stanza, in which

he asks God to “forgive my grief for one removed.”

Up to that point, death is discussed in terms of the

human condition, as a way to show the contrast be-

tween the fleeting nature of human life and God’s

eternal existence, in order to give a context to hu-

mankind’s limited knowledge. Death is referred to

in the second stanza as a tool which God made and

controls; in the fifth stanza it is mentioned to show

how insignificant human life is; and in the eighth

stanza there is a hint it is the fear of death that

causes humans to turn from God.

When the idea of mourning is added to the

poem, the discussion about God becomes more per-

sonalized. For most of the poem, Tennyson analyzes

the fact that God cannot be known, but can only be

experienced through blind faith. By noting his de-

parted friend, “I trust he lives with Thee,” Tennyson

creates a connection between God’s omnipotence

and the limited capacity of humans. The fear and

mocking of death explored earlier in the poem be-

comes irrelevant once Tennyson acknowledges

death leads somewhere, and the meaningless void

that follows death has meaning in this context. Al-

though it is only mentioned late in the poem, the

belief that Tennyson’s friend’s death is not mean-

ingless, that death has led his friend to God, gives

this poem a reason to tilt toward faith in God even

when evidence and knowledge of God is lacking.

Style

Iambic Tetrameter

“Proem” is written in quatrains, which are four-

line stanzas. It follows the rhyme scheme abba: the

word at the end of the first line of each stanza rhymes

with the word ending the last line, making the “a”

rhyme, and the two middle lines end with the “b”

rhyme. The lines follow an iambic tetrameter pat-

tern. Iambic is a pattern of one unstressed syllable

followed by a stressed syllable, as in “forgive” and

“embrace.” This pattern is obviously subject to vari-

ation, especially at the beginnings of stanzas: out-

side of the context of the poem, the natural tendency

for reading such phrases as “strong son” and “thine

are” would be to put the stress on the first syllable,

not the second. Tetrameter contains the Greek pre-

fix “tetra,” meaning “four”: there are four iambs in

each line. This metrical form is so strongly associ-

ated with Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam A. H. H.,

for which “Proem” is a preface, that it has been re-

ferred to as the In Memoriamstanza.

Monologue

In this poem, the speaker talks directly to God,

asking for God’s understanding and forgiveness and

taking every possible opportunity to praise God. It

Proem

Topics for

Further

Study

• In 1850, the year that “Proem” was published,
  Tennyson became the poet laureate of England,
  replacing William Wordsworth. Research and
  report on how the differences in the two men’s
  styles affected British literature.


• Research the seven stages of grief that have been
  outlined by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and other
  psychiatrists. See which parts of the poem can
  be traced to each stage.


• The poem refers to the night and day as “orbs
  of light and shade.” Look up the ancient theory
  that held that the sun and planets were held in
  spheres that surrounded the Earth and create a
  three-dimensional model to present this idea to
  your class.


• Near the end of the poem, Tennyson, one of
  Britain’s most famous poets, asks God to for-
  give his “wild and wandering cries.” Many of
  today’s most popular musicians, by contrast,
  tend to brag about their achievements. Write a
  poem or essay that outlines your position on the
  importance of humility.

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