In his Prologue to In Memoriam, A.H.H., Lord Alfred Tennyson uses
allusion with light and dark imagery along with repetition and diction to
demonstrate his humble feelings for questioning his faith in God. Within the
second stanza of the Prologue, light and dark help to illustrate God’s power over
all of creation, but this is especially true relative to man; “Thine are these orbs of
light and shade; / Thou madest Life in man and brute; / Thou madest Death; and
lo, thy foot / Is on the skull which thou hast made” (5-8). In line five, Tennyson
uses an allusion to the story of Genesis and the creation of daytime and
nighttime, as God splits the darkness of nothingness and places the sun and the
moon in the heavens providing day and night. Tennyson refers to the orb of light,
the sun, which is light of day, and he refers to the orb of shade, the moon, which
shines in the night. It is this second orb, the moon, which presents the stronger
image as it shines brightly through the “shade” or in direct contrast to the
darkness. The allusion continues with line six when Tennyson notes that all living
things are the result of God’s determination. Tennyson is clear that man does not
have a special right to existence as “man and brute” are equally linked together
in line six with the gift of “Life” which is capitalized for focus and emphasis.
Further, lines seven and eight indicate the true insignificance of man and brute as
God has the position of power with His “foot on the skull which [he] made.” The
highest part of man, the skull, which protects the brain—indicative of man’s
ability to reason—is as much part of the gift to be given as it is to be crushed if
God is displeased with His creation. Certainly, man is lowly and must understand
his life is not his own. Repetition also lends itself to Tennyson’s humble state as
he begs God’s forgiveness and seeks enlightenment in the last stanza of the
Prologue. Stanza eleven, lines forty-one through forty-four, states Tennyson’s
ultimate fault in losing faith in God: “Forgive these wild and wandering cries, /
Confusions of a wasted youth; / Forgive them where they fail in truth,/ And in thy
wisdom make me wise.” Repeating the word “forgive” at the start of two of the
last four lines in the opening sequence, develops humility through continuous
pleas to be allowed back into God’s good graces where He will grant some
portion of “wisdom” and help Tennyson to see the “truth” in God’s power over
man and His plan for mankind. These last lines are where Tennyson labels his
youth as “wasted” as he was suffering from “confusion” which is the cause
behind his “fail[ure]” to recognize the “truth” and his questioning God with “wild
and wandering cries.” These cries define the hurt he felt, but also show how
Tennyson lost faith and control as he “wander[ed]” or strayed from his faith. This
list of Tennyson’s many flaws and weaknesses by contrast to God’s supreme
power firmly place man at the mercy of God’s will and offer a wounded soul for
His healing.
Purple = Topic & Concluding Sentences
Green = Lead-in Material
Blue = Textual Evidence / Quoted Material [note citations]
Red = Analysis to Explain how, why, what about the evidence
supports the stated topic.