Tears Idle Tears by Alfred

As a result of the author’s use of blank lines throughout the poem, the poem initially appeared to be a Shakespearean adaptation. Although the poem made extensive use of metaphors, his use of both ominous and tender terms gave the impression that it had been taken from the poetry of medieval Europe. Nothing seemed to alter this sensation as I thought about the concepts that underpinned the writings from the beginning. All the same, the painful and regretful tone of the poem from the beginning to the end makes its one of the best writings in the Victorian era.

2).

The one aspect of the poem that interests me most was the application of words of terror throughout the poem. From the very beginning, the author used vocabularies like Idle tears, divine despair, sad, sinks, death and even divine ears and hapless (Batool et al., 2015). These words strike fear to anyone reading the poem for the first time in their life. But after going through the poem, the reader gets to understand the plot and the application of such words for the main theme of the author to be expressed.

B)

1).

The poem was written during the Victorian period of England. According to Poetry foundation.org (2017) the poem as made during the Victorian time and was dedicated to Tennyson who felt that he had an obligation to rural nature of England despite the country’s rising influence from both the mercantile and industrial England. Batool et al., (2015) says that, the writer was born in 1809 and his friends paved his way into poetry in which the name Hallen was prominent among them at that time. A chancellor award was granted after Timbuctoo was composed in 1829. The poem forms part of a song from the poem called the Prince. From his many accolades, it can be said that Victorian England appreciated poets and poetry were seen as a mirror of society then, more than, now. It was a time when European countries were experiencing industrial growth in manufacturing and science. The monarch controlled all political decisions while entertainment and literature education was mainly through reading and writing of poems.

2.

The author’s biography defines him as a man who enjoyed peace from rural England and despised the promises that industrial and mercantile urban centers provided. His love for nature transcends his love for nature. He talks of death for life and loss of friends. One can only imagine that, his pain for losing his friends in poetry such as Hallen, who inspired his growth and love of poetry before 1829 as a young man living in Victorian England. Elixir of Memories (2013), talks of tears for the loss of a loved one are what the author was lamenting about throughout the poem. But in all these, what is evident is that he remembered his friends who died and believes this form of reflection is either sad or a glittering beam, depending on how one may look at it within the second stanza. “That brings our friends up from the underworld”(Poetry foundation, 2017). Also, he talks about a young man on his deathbed, who was reminiscing about the beauty of nature of birds singing and twittering. In this approach, one can only locate meaning to how he loved rural England to urban because of the beauty nature filled his heart with gladness even when he even thought of death.

3.

The work explores a certain theme that was meticulous in Victorian England poetry. According to Victorian era.org (2017), writers such as Alfred Lord Tennyson explored the moral truth in society by showing the world a direction they were supposed to follow since there were so much pessimism and confusion at that time in England. Although some of his immature works shows doubtful and despairing stains, this work explores the hope after despair from the loss of friends and loved ones when he says death in life. In this episodic classical writing, Alfred explores the manner in which the thought of a transcend world can bring hope even for a person who is about to die. His love for nature shows that a painful death cannot deny the man on deathbed, the hope presented by remembering nature and the afterlife.

Although many authors explored their writing using unrhymed iambic pentameter, there are several sentences that conform to what most Victorian authors used to do to express their love for poetry. The last sentence of each stanza shows some form of conformity to this style of rhyme where the words ”the days are no more” is explored almost inexplicably.

4.

Today’s audiences are captured by the love of modern life forms and the mere thought of death brings shivers and fears within their spines. The work gives them some hope that, even on their deathbeds, they should never concentrate on their past but focus on what is ahead of them and what nature can offer them even in times of despair. Lamentations and regrets of past failures cannot increase their stay on earth rather they will only add more heart aches and pains to their lives here on earth and even in their afterlives.

C)

After going through the work, there is that deep consensus to me that, the author explored the life of literature and poetry from a very different perspective which was humanly divine. Regardless of his lack of rhyme scheme, the work brings into perspective some form of entertainment which can only be said to be artistry and legendary. He brings the thought of terror at the same time with hope for a despaired soul so that, the reader can deduce a very critical understanding of how life used to be at that time in England.

References

Batool, A., Naheed, R., Khalid, A., & Khan, BA et al. (2015). Stylistic analysis of Alfred Tennyson’s poem tears ideal tears. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 2(3):194-196.

Elixir of Memories (2013). Analysis of Song: Tears, Idle tears. Word Press. https://elixirofmemories.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/analysis-of-song-tears-idle-tears/

Poetry Foundation (2017). From the princess: Tears, idle tears by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45384#poem

Victorian-era.org (2017). Victorian era literature characteristics. Retrieved from: http://www.victorian-era.org/victorian-era-literature-characteristics.html