Examining the Prologue of In Memoriam
Taking a Look at Tennyson’s Elegy for Arthur Hallam
Jul 27, 2009
Alfred Lord Tennyson took seventeen years to compose In Memoriam, an elegiac tribute to his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died in 1833. Published in 1850, the poem is in 131 parts. Some are interlinked but all can stand alone on their own importance. The prologue stands out because Tennyson wrote it in 1849, shortly before the elegies were published. It sums up one of the themes of the poem: trust and faith in God.
“Strong Son of God”
The very first words of the poem address the “Strong Son of God,” whom the speaker of the poem makes appeals to at other sections of In Memoriam, and throughout this prologue. The speaker acknowledges that while he reveres God, he cannot be certain of His existence. He looks to trust and faith to give him that confirmation.
He states that God made life and death and thus God has permission to do whatever He wishes with His own creation, and His children will trust that their creator knows what is best. For humans must trust that they were made for a specific purpose, and not created to die in vain. This is what the speaker clings to in order that he may have strength in his life.
“Our Little Systems”
In lines 17-20, the speaker declares any human knowledge of God is inferior, for any understanding stemming solely from humans is imperfect. Only God can know everything, and thus all human knowledge will come to pass: “Our little systems have their day; / They have their day and cease to be” (17-18). He acknowledges that schools of thought have their time in human days, but they will always fall, and thus do not ultimately matter.
In lines 21-28, the speaker embraces the belief that humans must trust in God in order to live with faith and reverence. He believes that people should take this part of their faith and let it grow “That mind and soul, according well, / May make one music” (27-28). He encourages devout and intellectual thinking, faith and science intertwined. They do not need to be mutually exclusive, he argues.
“Forgive My Grief for One Removed”
The speaker takes a different direction in lines 37-40. He asks God to forgive him his feelings about Arthur Hallam, his much-loved friend whom he lost sixteen years before writing the prologue. He feels weakness in his grief, because he should have faith that he will meet Arthur again one day. He declares regarding Hallam, “I trust he lives in thee, and there / I find him worthier to be loved.” (39-40).
Tennyson is able to find a new hope after the loss of his friend because his friend is worthier now that he is with God. While he regrets his grief and pining, he can rejoice in his trust in God and the goodness and beauty of Arthur. Trust will always overcome grief, it seems, and will always be seen as a more worthy emotion to feel.
“Forgive These Wild and Wandering Cries”
In lines 41-44, the speaker reiterates his plea for forgiveness to God for his excessive grief over the loss of Hallam. He dismisses his feelings as “Confusions of a wasted youth” (42), implying that faith and trust are more important and more true than grief and doubt. Indeed, he describes grief and doubt as “fail[ing] in truth” (43). Not knowing something but still believing makes a person wise, he implies.
In the last two lines of the prologue, the speaker calls on God to help him bear the loss of Arthur, as well as help make him wise. The prevailing theme throughout the poem is about faith and trust and the struggle to keep them at one’s darkest moment. Tennyson’s prayer to God acknowledges human intelligence but reveres faith above all else, which ultimately led him out of the darkness he experienced throughout In Memoriam.
Source:
Tennyson, Alfred Lord, ed. Robert H. Ross, In Memoriam (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1973).
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