The Structure of In Memoriam 23

the contents of some of the final sections imply

a greater distance of time from the opening, of
the series than is suggested by the chronological
scheme.
II.If we describe in the most general terms
the movement of thought and feeling in In
Memoriam, the description will be found to apply
also to Lycidas or Adonais. In each case the

grief of the opening has passed at the close into \j

triumph : at first the singer thinks only of loss
and death, and at last his eyes are fixed upon the
vision of a new and life. But in '
greater Lycidas
Adonais this change is
expressed in one con-
tinuous strain, and is therefore felt by the reader
to occupy but a few hours of concentrated experi-
ence^^ and in Adonais especially f He "impression of
passionate rapidity in the transition from gloom
to glory is essential to the effect. In In Memoriam
a similar change is
supposed to fill a period of
some years, and the impression of a very gradual
and difficult advance is no less essential. It is

'conveyed, of course, not only by the indications of

time which have just been considered, but by the

mere fact that each of the 131 sections is, in a
sense, a poem complete in itself and accordingly
felt to be the expression of the thought of

particular time.
24 In Memoriam
In many cases, however, we soon observe that
a single section not really thus independent
is

of its predecessor and successor. On the contrary, v

some are scarcely intelligible if taken in isolation ;

and again and again we discover groups which

have one subject, and in which the single sections
are devoted to various aspects of this one subject.
The poet in his progress has come upon a certain

thought, which occupies him for a time and is

developed through a series of stages or contrasted

with a number of other thoughts. And even in
cases where we cannot trace such a close connec-
tion in thought we often find that several con-
secutive sections are bound together, and separated
from the poems that surround them, by a common
tone of feeling. These groups or clusters corre-
spond with single paragraphs of Lycidas^ or with

single stanzas or groups of stanzas in Adonais \

and presence forms a second

their means by
which a certain amount of structure is given to
the poem.
There are many readers of In Memoriam who
have never read the poem through, but probably
everyone who has done so has recognised to some
extent the existence of groups. Everyone remarks,
for instance, that near the beginning there are a

number of sections referring to the coming of the

 The Structure of In Memoriam 25

ship! and that there are other consecutive poems

deal with Christmastide. But perhaps few
readers are aware of the large part played by these
groups. The fact that, taken together, they
is

account for considerably more than one-half of

the poem ;
and in this estimate no notice has

been taken of mere pairs of connected sections,

such as xix., xx. XLVIIL, XLIX. LVII., LVIII.
; ; ;

CXV., CXVI. ;
or of parts of the poem where the

sections, though not so closely connected as to

form a distinct group, are yet manifestly united in
*"
a looser way. If these additions are made to our

estimate,it will be found to include nearly 100

poems out of the total of 131.
Of the remaining sections (a) a small number
may properly be called oocasional^oems, though
the positions which they occupy in the whole are

always more or less significant. Such are LXXXVIL,

which describes the visit to Cambridge xcvill., ;

on the brother's tour to Vienna ; the long retro-

spective poem, LXXXV. ;
or the poem on Hallam's
birthday, CVII. () Others at once remind us of
preceding sections suggested by a like occasion,
and in this way bring home to us the change ^
which has taken place in the poet's mind during
the interval.The Christmas poems are the most
prominent instance ;
the later spring poems recall
26 In Memoriam
' '
the earlier ;
the second Risest thou thus brings
back the first ;
the two sections beginning, *
Dark
house,' and the two poems on the Yew-tree, form
similar pairs. -
(V) Lastly, we find that the sections

which immediately follow connected groups are

often of one and the same kind. The subject
which has occupied the poet's thoughts being dis-

missed, there follows a kind of reaction. He looks

inward, and becomes more keenly conscious of the

feeling from which his attention had been for the

time diverted (e.g. XXXVIII.), or of the feeling in

which thoughts have culminated (e.g. LVII.).
his

Not seldom this feeling suggests to him some

reflection on his own songs : his singing comforts

him on his dreary way, or he feels that it is of no

avail, or that itexpresses nothing of his deepest

grief. And not only thus at the close of

groups, but at various other points throughout

In Memoriam there occur sections in which the
poet's songs form the subject, pointing backwards
and forwards to one another, and showing the
change which passes over his mind as time goes
on (e.g. V., XXI., LVIII., CXXV.). In these various

ways, as well as by the presence of definite groups,

some kind of connection is established between
section and section almost throughout the whole
of the poem.
 The Structure of In Memoriam ^27

III. We are now in a position to observe the

structure of this whole, reserving for the Com-
mentary the fuller characterisation of particular

parts.
The 'Way of the Soul' we find to be a
journey from the first stupor and confusion of

grie f, through a growing acquiescence often dis-

turbed by the recurrence of pain, to an almost

unclouded peace and joy. The anguish of
wounded love passes into the triumph of love
over sorrow, time and death. The soul, at firsr
almost sunk in the feeling of loss, finds itself at
last freed from regret and yet strengthened in

affection. It pines no longer for the vanished

hand and silent voice ;
it is filled with the con-
sciousness of union with the spirit. The world,
which once seemed to it a mere echo of its
J

^sorrow, has become the abode of that

lat immortal I

Love, at once divine and human, which

ich includes I

the living and the dead.

J
-J
'
Is it possible to find in this Way any turning-
point where grief begins to yield to jov. such" a

turning-point asoccurs in Adonais when indig-

nation rouses the poet from his sorrow, and
T:he strain suddenly rises

mation,

Peace, peace ! he is not dead, he doth not sleep.'

u-