Study Questions
How did Tennyson's poetry change after he became Poet Laureate in 1850?
Tennyson said that as a child he was haunted by "the passion of the past."
In
what ways can Tennyson be considered a poet of the past?
How did Tennyson respond to the scientific advances of his day?
In what ways was Tennyson an heir to the Romantic generation? In what ways did
he differ from his predecessors?
How did the death of Arthur Henry Hallam impact Tennyson's poetry?
How does the refrain change in the various stanzas of "Mariana"? Do these
changes indicate any sort of development or progression in the poem?
"The Lady of Shalott" has most commonly been interpreted as a poem about the
relationship between art and life. How can the Lady's story be interpreted in
these terms? Do you find this interpretation compelling?
In what way do "Ulysses" and "The Lotos-
Eaters" present conclusions thematically antithetical
to one another? Do these poems speak to one another? What conclusions might both
support?
Several of Tennyson's poems have mythological as well as autobiographical
origins. How do these origins come into play in a poem such as "Ulysses" or
"The Epic"?
Compare the different ways in which Tennyson chooses a classical theme or figure
to symbolically discuss the notion of departing from life's natural course?
Consider specifically the poems "Tithonus," "Ulysses," and "The Lotos-Eaters."
Tennyson uses several Christian images in his poetry, including the three
Christmases that structure time in "In Memoriam" and the image of the Pilot in
"Crossing the Bar." What other such images does Tennyson employ? Is Tennyson
making a statement about Christianity in these references? What might he be
saying?
