Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IDYLLS OF THE KING: DEDICATION, by ALFRED TENNYSON


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IDYLLS OF THE KING: DEDICATION, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: These to his memory -- since he held them dear
Last Line: Till god's love set thee at his side again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Variant Title(s): To The Queen;albert, Prince Consort Of England
Subject(s): Albert Of Saxe-coburg-gotha (1819-1861); Victoria, Queen Of England (1819-1901); Prince Consort Of Queen Victoria


THESE to His Memory -- since he held them dear,
Perchance as finding there unconsciously
Some image of himself -- I dedicate,
I dedicate, I consecrate with tears --
These Idylls.

And indeed he seems to me
Scarce other that my king's ideal knight,
'Who reverenced his conscience as his king;
Whose glory was, redressing human wrong;
Who spake no slander, no, nor listen'd to it;
Who loved one only and who clave to her --'
Her -- over all whose realms to their last isle,
Commingled with the gloom of imminent war,
The shadow of his loss drew like eclipse,
Darkening the world. We have lost him; he is gone.
We know him now; all narrow jealousies
Are silent, and we see him as he moved,
How modest, kindly, all-accomplish'd, wise,
With what sublime repression of himself,
And in what limits, and how tenderly;
Not swaying to this faction or to that;
Not making his high place the lawless perch
Of wing'd ambitions, nor a vantage-ground
For pleasure; but thro' all this tract of years
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life,
Before a thousand peering littlenesses,
In that fierce light which beats upon a throne
And blackens every blot; for where is he
Who dares foreshadow for an only son
A lovelier life, a more unstain'd, than his?
Or how should England dreaming of his sons
Hope more for these than some inheritance
Of such a life, a heart, a mind as thine,
Thou noble Father of her Kings to be,
Laborious for her people and her poor --
Voice in the rich dawn of an ampler day --
Far-sighted summoner of War and Waste
To fruitful strifes and rivalries of peace --
Sweet nature gilded by the gracious gleam
Of letters, dear to Science, dear to Art,
Dear to thy land and ours, a Prince indeed,
Beyond all titles, and a household name,
Hereafter, thro' all times, Albert the Good.

Break not, O woman's - heart, but still endure;
Break not, for thou art royal, but endure,
Remembering all the beauty of that star
Which shone so close beside thee that ye made
One light together, but has past and leaves
The Crown a lonely splendor.

May all love,
His love, unseen but felt, o'ershadow thee,
The love of all thy sons encompass thee,
The love of all thy daughters cherish thee,
The love of all thy people comfort thee,
Till God's love set thee at his side again!







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