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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 3 by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: OLD SORROW, CRUEL FELLOWSHIP
Last Line: UPON THE THRESHOLD OF THE MIND?
Subject(s): HALLAM, ARTHUR HENRY (1811-1833); DEATH; MOURNING; FRIENDSHIP;

O Sorrow, cruel fellowship,
O Priestess in the vaults of Death,
O sweet and bitter in a breath,
What whispers from thy lying lip?

'The stars,' she whispers, 'blindly run;
A web is woven across the sky;
From out waste places comes a cry,
And murmurs from the dying sun;

'And all the phantom, Nature, stands --
With all the music in her tone,
A hollow echo of my own, --
A hollow form with empty hands.'

And shall I take a thing so blind,
Embrace her as my natural good;
Or crush her, like a vice of blood,
Upon the threshold of the mind?



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