In memoriam

1- Interconnectedness grief, peace and essential

The ideas of grief, peace and essential are interconnected with each other. Our human lives
revolve around these. We can’t deny the existence and necessity of any of these. In order to have
peace we must go through grief first. Without grief, we can’t realize the longing for peace.
Through the poem” In Memoriam”, the poet has expressed his feelings towards the
interconnectedness among the ideas of grief, peace and essential. First of all, he thinks we should
be sorrowful so that we can cherish the moment of the sorrow. That’s going to be a totally
different kind of emotion and that emotion should be well cherished. Our emotion leads us to
have both happiness and sadness. When we love someone, we love wholeheartedly. Both
happiness and sadness make our love complete and true, that’s why it’s alright to grief and be
sorrowful. In “In Memoriam”, the poet asserts that keeping grief fresh is better, and is the more
loving act, than allowing time to lessen one’s grief. Being loving means continuing to grieve,
even if that experience pains the griever. Our poet deals with his sorrows through his writings.
He writes down all his emotions which remain buried deep inside his heart. Writing the poem
allowed the poet, over many years, to continue to merge grief with peace. He seeks no fame or
money, all he wants that people, the readers, the audiences can connect to his inner feelings of
his past 18years. Our poet is following his heart by writing down something very close to him
that are full of his unforgettable but unspoken inner emotions. He’s saying that by following our
heart we can do things which can make us immortal in everyone’s memories. He’s not aimed to
write any masterpiece or any kind of extra ordinary poetry, rather he just wants to share his true
emotion and feelings with other people, his readers. By reading his poem, the readers can totally
understand what he has been bearing for the last past 18years and how much he loves and misses
his late friend. He’s happy, calm and peaceful because now the readers can connect with his true
inner emotions. That’s the success of his poetry which is his essential of work that guarantees his
inner peace. That’s how the ideas of grief, peace and essential are interconnected to each other.

2- Pre-phase and epilogue

In the first part, god is shown as the muse of the poem. That’s why, the poet is praising god. He
thinks that without god’s direction he wouldn’t have come to his present stage of life. Behind the
success of his life he thinks that there is god’s mercy and love. God is omnipresent who knows
about everything in this world. So that’s why he is totally aware of when and how to guide
humans in their lives. But in the second section, he’s saying that there are some people who
don’t have faith on god. But, the poet himself is very much devoted to god. He knows even
though we can’t see god, his presence in this universe is true and essential. Whatever we do or
whatever god’s doing to us it’s only for the betterment of us.
In the prephase, he’s saying that knowledge is a gift of god. He is pouring knowledge upon us
and that’s why knowledge is passed from men to men not men to God. Knowledge is the
ultimate power which can help us to be successful in our lives. So basically, he’s praising god in
different ways everywhere in the pre phase. In epilogue, he saying that god has bestowed us his
divine virtues and knowledge but we are the one who got to decide how to use those virtues in
our lives. If we walk through path of the lord, we’ll be able to create something valuable that is
worth of remembering from generation to generation. So, in epilogue the poet is focusing on the
types of action humans need to engaged with and how humans should drive their intuition to the
good side. Though we humans can’t relate our lives to other animals or beings but we can live
over our past experiences and learn many things from those. In the process of experiencing our
lives we all become well aware of god’s existence in this universe which makes us totally
different from other animals. God’s only given us “the humans” the divine knowledge that we all
aware of what’s happening surrounding us. We can write down our experiences and the events
we’ve encountered with and pass our wisdom to others from generation to generation. This is
what makes humans different form the brutes. So, we must use the divine gifts of god to create
and do something worth remembering even after our demise. Remembering his dearest friend,
Edmund Lushington is well aware that his friend is now in better place with God. It is our duty to
understand the very law which is- god has created this world and everything is evolving around
him according to his will. We mustn’t grief or even feel sorry for our lost ones instead we should
embrace the truth, we should devote ourselves to god and follow his divine wisdom and virtues.
In the epilogue its clearly seen that the poet is totally devoting himself to the almighty and his
will without any hesitation or any kind of doubt.
So, in the prephase the poet is focusing mostly on the divine power and will of the almighty, but
in the epilogue is more concerned of how we “humans” can use the divine blessings of god to
make our existence reach beyond eternity. In the prephase, he thinks that human systems
(philosophy, knowledge, etc.) pale in comparison to the divine light of God, which is so much
greater than human things. The poet suggests that humans need to increase their knowledge, but
they also need to be reverent. But, in the epilogue, he’s basically contrasting on the deeds that
humans do or in a simple way- the effects of “the karma”. This final hope combines the theory of
evolution with the speaker's confidence in a divine plan. He trusts life and death are part of a
greater purpose he can't yet comprehend.

Tithonus
Burden of immortality
Tithonus is exhausted by the truth that his love, the goddess “Aurora”, will keep coming to him
but he won’t be able to be convinced by her beauty anymore. He can barely see anything; he has
reached at the last stage of his life. Unfortunately, there is no end in his life. He’s like a soul
drowning under the sea of never-ending misery and sorrows. Its like he’s trapped under a dark
loophole of life. He’s already killed by his age but he’s still alive like a mere shadow in this
world. He can’t walk and move anymore like the way he wants; he’s infected with his never-
ending old age and its miseries. He just wants his gifts taken by the gods which is immortality.
His old age has made him incapable to enjoy the pure beauty of the goddess. What he can
experience of the beautiful goddess “Aurora” is just the tiniest bit of her existence. He’s the
threshold who can’t get to the center of his lover rather just revolve around her for iternity. Even
though he’s immortal, his visage and constitution are no longer what they were. He does not feel
for Aurora the same way as he used to. Her light feels to him like a cold bath that “wrinkle” his
feet. Now, he just begs to gods for taking back their gift of immortality or grant him the gift of
youth as well which he has forgot to wish at first. Unfortunately, none of these wishes can’t be
granted or rewind or lifted.

He will have to live on forever by being a mere structureless shadow with no stamina to stand
and walk and no sight to see and enjoy the beauty of her beloved. He has lost all his enthusiasms
towards his beloved – Aurora as he’s stricken by the thunder of aging. More unfortunately, he
can’t even die no matter how much he wishes. He’s a soul that has been granted a gift of
immortality which turns out to be the ultimate curse in his life that can’t be lifted. He has to bear
the burden of immortality for eternity with never-ending sorrows and miseries.

Gods short comings

Tithonus fell in love with the goddess “aurora” who loved him as well. There was no fault in
their love story, until Tithonus wished for a gift from Aurora. That wish was Immortality which
was granted by the king of Olympus, the god of all gods – Zeus. Though immortality was
granted, perpetual youth was not bestowed upon him. Thus, Tithonus in his old age withered
away to a decrepit and shriveled old man. Neither he could live like a living being nor he could
die like a simple man. He was stuck in eternity of pain and sufferings. When he wished for
taking back his gift to the gods, they just ignored it and mocked him like a mere joke. This is the
shortcoming of God, that he can’t take back any wish or blessing which is once granted. Another
shortcoming of God is that he doesn’t actually care for his children, us, the humans because if he
did, he could’ve warned Tithonus or even granted him the forever youth with the blessings of
immortality. Although he’s the one who is aware of all the events surrounding us, he barely
interferes with any of these, he turns blind, deaf and dumb.

Epicurean gods

Contradicting
In these two poems two different human ideologies have been expressed. Though Ulysses is the
common hero in both of the poems, the readers hardly find any common characteristics of him.
Here two characters represent two different spirits, thoughts, messages and moods. Though he is
the protagonist of each poem, his characteristics and traits defined by the poet in both the poems
are totally contradicting and different.
In “Ulysses” the hero is curious and adventurous, of human soul, while in “The Lotos Eaters” the
protagonist argues for the necessity of rest and contemplation for all moving and suffering souls.
The way madness is presented in both the poems is also different. In Ulysses as an old king the
protagonist was supposed to just look after his kingdom with his family. But, he’s just excited for
adventure regardless of his aging. It may look like a madness but somehow, it’s on the positive
side as he’s thirsty of knowledge, wisdom and new experiences. On the other hand, in “lotos
Eaters”, he and his crew are totally against the life they led before. Years of war and struggle just
vanished after eating the mysterious lotus flower. It just felt like madness how the soldiers who
won the battle of troy just lost interest in war and forgot their motto of war in their life.
Another distinctive view of life is regarding the old age. In “Ulysses” the poet expresses that old
age has his honor and toil and there is no time to seek a newer world; in contrast in “The Lotos
Eaters” it is expressed that old age is a period of rest that can’t take the burden of new adventure
and challenge.
In “Ulysses” the sailors prepare themselves to face the unpredictable dangers in life during their
upcoming voyage in sea but in “The Lotos-Eaters” the crew dream and plan for a passive, calm
and lethargic life in the isolated Lotos Land.
In “Ulysses” it is on automatic force of human soul which is by nature inquisitive and
exploratory, while in “The Lotos-Eaters” it is the subconscious tendency of human soul
searching for exemption from the duties of life and ready to embrace eternal peace in isolation.
Alfred Lord Tennyson’s two mythical poems - “Ulysses” and “The Lotos-Eaters” present two
contradictory states of human nature. In “Ulysses” the hero represents the mood of restlessness
and action; on the other hand, in “The Lotos-Eaters” the same hero along with his sailors are
tired in life and willing to enjoy rest forgetting the weariness of past life.