The poem
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy autumn-fields, And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail, That brings our friends up from the underworld, Sad as the last which reddens over one That sinks with all we love below the verge; So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds To dying ears, when unto dying eyes The casement slowly grows a glimmering square; So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remembered kisses after death, And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned On lips that are for others; deep as love, Deep as first love, and wild with all regret; O Death in Life, the days that are no more!
I come to look for some comments on this poem to help me understand it, but it turn out I am the first person submit comment on it. I think this poem is about a person who lost his lover and experienced extreme sadness.
hi jerry,
I think this poem is about more than losing love. to me it is about losing love and living with regret. Regret is so much more enduring than sadness.
candy
this poem is about the death of the authors good friend
and the sadness he experienced becuase of it
I also agree with Jerry and Candy. The loss of a love is what I got out of this poem.
I think that this poem by Tennyson is very sad. The author is in a deep depression having lost the love of his life; his first love. He speaks of her kisses, of the world that he lives in now which is hell compared to what it was when she was with him.
I think this poem is very good. I almost see that the love who he speaks of may not be dead, but just lost. it states this in the last line, "O Death in Life, the days that are no more." I do agree that it is a lost love though. The author also is able to see those days clearly and resh as if they were only yesterday. He says this when he states, "So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more."
This poem is about a lost love but the love is his past. So to is the past his "deep love" who left behind much regret.
According to Tennyson, the poem speaks "Not [of] real woe. It was rather the yearning that [people] occassionally experience for that which seems to have passed away from them forever." Tennyson wrote the poem while he was visiting Tinturn Abbey in the autumn. Tennyson associates this place with Wordsworths poem "Tinturn Abbey." Moreover, Tennyson's best friend is buried across the Bristol Channel from Tinturn and…
Read the whole commentAccording to Tennyson, the poem speaks "Not [of] real woe. It was rather the yearning that [people] occassionally experience for that which seems to have passed away from them forever." Tennyson wrote the poem while he was visiting Tinturn Abbey in the autumn. Tennyson associates this place with Wordsworths poem "Tinturn Abbey." Moreover, Tennyson's best friend is buried across the Bristol Channel from Tinturn and he considers the area "full for [him] of it's bygone memories." - Paraphrased from Dr. R. Glancy
Tennyson refers to this poem as a "passion of the past" and that "it is what [he] has always felt...it is the distance that charms [him] in the landscape, the picture of the past, and not the immediate today in which [he moves]."
This poem is about two very important topics 1 is about his own death, autumn is a strong symbol of death and he is feeling regret about the past all the things he didn't do that he wanted to do but never did just like everybody does before they die or when they are just thinking about it the other is he is morning over the loss of his true love while he is thinking about his own death he wants to go back and relive those moments they had that is what I got out of this poem by Tennyson.
i love this poem, cuz it depicts and decribes lord tennyson's mourning so well it makes me so sad and feel sorry for this man. he has grieved so much in his life.
okay the poem is written about Tennyson's close friend/poet Arthur Hallam as there is evidence backing that up .. if you are wondering which evidence.. try looking up the history of Tennyson's writing of poetry (it is not that hard!) He grieves about the past .. the whole poem speaks of the past it is evidently seen in the last line of each stanza! It also suggests the meaning of "without hope love is falsely represented" and how he mourns the loss of love, thus living with regret. Look at the title of the name .. does that have any significance or meaning to the poem? it sure does!
that is all i am writing
seriously just read the poem properly
it is not that hard!
opinion
This poem is great. I think that Tennyson wrote it to show his abilities and his greatness. I hope all people read it and enjoy it...