In Memoriam A.H.H. - Wikipedia In Memoriam A.H.H. Bust of Arthur Henry Hallam by Francis Leggatt Chantrey `` In Memoriam A.H.H. '' is a poem by the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, completed in 1849. It is a requiem for the poet 's beloved Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833. It contains some of Tennyson 's most accomplished lyrical work, and is an unusually sustained exercise in lyric verse. It is widely considered to be one of the great poems of the 19th century. The original title of the poem was `` The Way of the Soul '', and this might give an idea of how the poem is an account of all Tennyson 's thoughts and emotions as he grieves over the death of a close friend. He views the cruelty of nature and mortality in light of materialist science and faith. Owing to its length and its arguable breadth of focus, the poem might not be thought an elegy or a dirge in the strictest formal sense. Contents 1 Form 2 Quotation 3 Nature, red in tooth and claw 4 Queen Victoria and `` In Memoriam '' 5 Other themes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Form The poem is not arranged exactly in the order in which it was written. The prologue, for example, is thought to have been one of the last things written. The earliest material is thought to be that which begins `` Fair ship, that from the Italian shore Saileth the placid ocean - plains '' and imagines the return of Hallam 's body from Italy. Critics believe, however, that the poem as a whole is meant to be chronological in terms of the progression of Tennyson 's grief. The passage of time is marked by the three descriptions of Christmas at different points in the poem, and the poem ends with a description of the marriage of Tennyson 's sister. `` In Memoriam '' is written in four - line ABBA stanzas of iambic tetrameter, and such stanzas are now called In Memoriam Stanzas. Though not metrically unusual, given the length of the work, the metre creates a tonal effect that often divides readers -- is it the natural sound of mourning and grief, or merely monotonous ? The poem is divided into 133 cantos ( including the prologue and epilogue ), and in contrast to its constant and regulated metrical form, encompasses many different subjects : profound spiritual experiences, nostalgic reminiscence, philosophical speculation, Romantic fantasizing and even occasional verse. The death of Hallam, and Tennyson 's attempts to cope with this, remain the strand that ties all these together. Quotation The most frequently quoted lines in the poem are perhaps I hold it true, whate'er befall ; I feel it when I sorrow most ; ' Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. This stanza is to be found in Canto 27. The last two lines are usually taken as offering a meditation on the dissolution of a romantic relationship. However, the lines originally referred to the death of the poet 's beloved friend. They are reminiscent of a line from William Congreve 's popular 1700 play, The Way of the World : `` ' tis better to be left than never to have been loved. '' Another much - quoted phrase from the poem is `` nature, red in tooth and claw, '' found in Canto 56, referring to humanity : Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation 's final law Tho ' Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek 'd against his creed Also, the following are found in Canto 54 So runs my dream, but what am I ? An infant crying in the night An infant crying for the light And with no language but a cry. Also occasionally quoted are these lines from Canto 123 The hills are shadows, and they flow From form to form, and nothing stands ; They melt like mist, the solid lands, Like clouds they shape themselves and go. This references the recent discovery by geologists of Earth 's great age and mutability, a scientific wonder that underlay emerging ideas of nature and evolution. Nature, red in tooth and claw In writing the poem, Tennyson was influenced by the evolutionary ideas of transmutation of species presented in Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation which had been published in 1844, and had caused a storm of controversy about the theological implications of impersonal nature functioning without direct divine intervention. An Evangelical focus on unquestioning belief in revealed truth taken from a literal interpretation of the Bible was already coming into conflict with emerging findings of science. Tennyson expressed the difficulties evolution raised for faith in `` the truths that never can be proved '', while still believing the older idea that reason would eventually harmonise science and religion, as there could be no real contradiction. Are God and Nature then at strife, That Nature lends such evil dreams ? So careful of the type she seems, So careless of the single life ; That I, considering everywhere Her secret meaning in her deeds, And finding that of fifty seeds She often brings but one to bear, I falter where I firmly trod, And falling with my weight of cares Upon the great world 's altar - stairs That slope thro ' darkness up to God, I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope, And gather dust and chaff, and call To what I feel is Lord of all, And faintly trust the larger hope. Although this phrase is commonly ascribed to Tennyson, it already was in use. For example, The Hagerstown Mail in March 1837 : `` Hereupon, the beasts, enraged at the humbug, fell upon him tooth and claw. '' This poem was published before Charles Darwin made his theory public in 1859. However, the phrase `` Nature, red in tooth and claw '' in canto 56 quickly was adopted by others as a phrase that evokes the process of natural selection. It was and is used by both those opposed to and in favour of the theory of evolution. However, at the end of the poem, Tennyson emerges with his Christian faith reaffirmed, progressing from doubt and despair to faith and hope, a dominant theme also seen in his poem `` Ulysses ''. If e'er when faith had fallen asleep, I hear a voice ' believe no more ' And heard an ever - breaking shore That tumbled in the Godless deep ; A warmth within the breast would melt The freezing reason 's colder part, And like a man in wrath the heart Stood up and answer 'd ' I have felt. ' No, like a child in doubt and fear : But that blind clamour made me wise ; Then was I as a child that cries, But, crying knows his father near ; Queen Victoria and `` In Memoriam '' The poem was a great favourite of Queen Victoria, who after the death of Prince Albert wrote that she was `` soothed & pleased '' by it. In 1862 Victoria requested a meeting with Tennyson because she was so impressed by the poem, and when she met him again in 1883 she told him what a comfort it had been. Other themes The British literary scholar Christopher Ricks relates the following lines to Tennyson 's childhood home at Somersby Rectory in Somersby, Lincolnshire, particularly the poet 's departure after the death of his father. Unwatched, the garden bough shall sway, The tender blossom flutter down, Unloved, that beech will gather brown, This maple burn itself away. References Jump up ^ Andrew Hass ; David Jasper ; Elisabeth Jay ( 2007 ). The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology. Oxford University Press. p. 607. ISBN 0 - 19 - 927197 - 6. Jump up ^ Josef L. Altholz, Professor of History, University of Minnesota ( 1976 ). `` The Warfare of Conscience with Theology ''. The Mind and Art of Victorian England. Victorian Web. Retrieved 6 November 2007. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Charles Darwin - A Short Biography, Coe College Biology Department, 1999. Jump up ^ Red in Tooth and Claw, Gary Martin, Phrases, Sayings and Idioms at The Phrase Finder, 1996. Jump up ^ Start of preface to 1976 edition, Excerpt from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. ( 2nd Edition 1989 ) Oxford : Oxford University Press. Jump up ^ 4. The Evolutionary Implications of Living with the Ice Age, William James Burroughts, Climate Change in Prehistory : The End of the Reign of Chaos, Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0 - 521 - 82409 - 5 Jump up ^ AQA A AS English Literature : Victorian Literature : Student 's Book Jump up ^ http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/home.do 5 January 1862 Jump up ^ http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/home.do 7 August 1883 Jump up ^ Ricks, Christopher ( 1989 ). Tennyson. University of California Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780520067844. Further reading A.C. Bradley, A Commentary on Tennyson 's In Memoriam. London, Macmillan and Co. 1901. External links Text of `` In Memoriam A.H.H. '' from The Literature Network. Find more aboutIn Memoriam A.H.H. at Wikipedia 's sister projects Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Data from Wikidata In Memoriam A.H.H. public domain audiobook at LibriVox Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson Early poetry `` The Deserted House '' `` The Lady of Shalott '' `` The Lotos - Eaters '' `` Mariana '' `` Oenone '' Poetry `` Break, Break, Break '' `` The Charge of the Light Brigade '' `` The Day - Dream '' `` Godiva '' Idylls of the King `` In Memoriam A.H.H. '' `` Lady Clara Vere de Vere '' `` Locksley Hall '' `` Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal '' Poems ( 1842 ) `` The Palace of Art '' The Princess `` Sir Galahad '' `` St. Simeon Stylites '' `` Tears, Idle Tears '' `` The Two Voices '' `` Ulysses '' Late poetry `` Crossing the Bar '' `` The Eagle '' `` Enoch Arden '' `` Flower in the crannied wall '' Maud `` Ring Out, Wild Bells '' `` Tithonus '' Other works The Foresters ( play ) The Window ( song cycle ) Related Chapel House, Twickenham Farringford House Blackdown, West Sussex People Arthur Hallam ( friend ) Emily Tennyson ( wife ) Hallam Tennyson ( son ) Lionel Tennyson ( grandson ) Charles Tennyson ( grandson ) Emilia Tennyson ( sister ) Charles Tennyson Turner ( brother ) Frederick Tennyson ( brother ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_Memoriam_A.H.H.&oldid=805817485 '' Categories : Poetry by Alfred Tennyson British poems 1849 poems Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list EngvarB from September 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Articles with LibriVox links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Español Polski Português West - Vlams Edit links This page was last edited on 17 October 2017, at 20 : 37. 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Question: who said it's better to have loved and lost
Answer: Alfred, Lord Tennyson