Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 52, by ALFRED TENNYSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 52, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I cannot love thee as I ought
Last Line: When time hath sunder'd shell from pearl.'
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Subject(s): Hallam, Arthur Henry (1811-1833); Death; Mourning; Friendship


I cannot love thee as I ought,
For love reflects the thing beloved;
My words are only words, and moved
Upon the topmost froth of thought.

'Yet blame not thou thy plaintive song,'
The Spirit of true love replied;
'Thou canst not move me from thy side,
Nor human frailty do me wrong.

'What keeps a spirit wholly true
To that ideal which he bears?
What record? not the sinless years
That breathed beneath the Syrian blue;

'So fret not, like an idle girl,
That life is dash'd with flecks of sin.
Abide; thy wealth is gather'd in,
When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl.'





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