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Joseph Jordan

Tennyson and Hallam: A Symphony of Love

The life and work of Tennyson can be viewed as a Bildungsroman, with the

single, most important life event being the death of Arthur Henry Hallam. Hallam’s

early death marks the formation of Tennyson’s matriculation as a poet. Outside of his

relationship with Tennyson and his own craft as a poet, Hallam was also an incredibly

perceptive thinker. His article, “On Some of the Characteristics of Modern Poetry, and

on the Lyrical Poems of Alfred Tennyson” provides a guide to understanding Tennyson’s

greater work. When originally published, Hallam had two goals. Firstly, the article

introduces Tennyson to the reading public. It is one of the first and most flattering

review of Tennyson’s work. In the article, Hallam presents a rather hilarious

introduction of his friend:

“ In presenting this young poet to the public, as one not studious to instant popularity, nor likely

to obtain it, we may be thought to play the part of a fashionable lady, who deludes her refractory mate into

doing what she chooses” (Hallam 138).

Considering Tennyson’s success, Hallam would have been pleasantly surprised in his

error.

The second, and perhaps more important goal, of Hallam’s article is to lay the

foundation for the immediate needs of a “new kind of poet” (Johnson 20) that

represents a moralistic, sympathetic aesthetic to a reading public. Hallam’s article

suggests a deep concern with the state of poetry in his day, and his article highlights his

(and Tennyson’s) direct influence from Shelley and Keats. In doing so, Hallam

articulates the language of Wordsworth, develops two distinctive and unique categories

of poet, and then lastly explores Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.

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I will argue that Hallam’s concept of the poet of sensation in precisely the type of

poet that Tennyson would be become. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part

examines Hallam’s understanding of poetry and the craft of Tennyson’s early work. The

second highlights selections from In Memoriam to better understand Hallam’s

influence on Tennyson. The last section will also briefly review “Ulysses” and “The

Charge of the Light Brigade” in order to fully reflect the nature of Tennyson’s

development as Hallam’s poetry of sensation.

I.

Hallam’s review of Tennyson was published in Morton’s Englishman’s Magazine

in 1831, roughly a year after the publication of Poems, Chiefly Lyrical (Johnson 1).

While the article probably seemed of little significance at the time, it is hugely important

today in understanding Tennyson’s work as a whole. Hallam presents an understanding

of what the responsibilities of a poet are. His article first reflects on the current state of

poetry, drawing from the influence of Wordsworth and others of the “reflective”

category of poetry” (Hallam 89). The poetry of reflection was a movement begun by the

followers of Wordsworth and Hallam noted that the influence of the Wordsworthians

stretch far beyond the confines of poetry, and entered the perception of the reading

public, forcing down upon everyone a grandiose and publically unchallenged notion of

the purpose of poetry, leaving only the free mind to consider possible different methods.

Hallam is quick in identifying that he is not a Wordsworthian, and he writes:

“It is not true, as his [Wordsworth’s] exclusive admirers would have it, that the highest series of poetry is

the reflective: it is a gross fallacy, that, because certain opinions are acute or profound, the expression of

them by the imagination must be eminently beautiful” (90).

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Fundamentally, Hallam’s refusal to join the Wordsworthian movement lie at the heart of

his concern about the contemporary state of 19th century poetry. For Hallam, there is a

lack of discernment regarding the nature of craft and poetry’s ability to be read as

shared experience with a sympathetic imagination.

In turning away from Wordsworth, Hallam examines the work of Shelley and

Keats. Wordsworth’s poetry represents the flawed, poetry of reflection. His

[Wordsworth] poetry is deeply introspective and relies on philosophy and the

inwardness of the mind, rather than an outwardly and shared experience. Hallam

remarks that:

“For a man, who reveries take a reasoning turn, and who is accustomed to measure his ideas by their

logical relations rather than the congruity of the sentiments to switch they refer, will be apt to mistake the

pleasure he has in knowing a thing to be true, for the pleasure he has in knowing it to be beautiful, and so

will pile his thoughts rhetorical battery, that they may convince, instead of letting them glow in the

natural course of contemplation” (91).

Keats and Shelley, however, represent a truer form of artistic and poetic achievement.

Both of them represent the beginning of what Hallam terms the poetry of sensation.

Hallam writes:

“They are both poets of sensation rather than reflection. Susceptible of the slightest impulse from external

nature...Other poets seek for images to illustrate their conceptions; these men had no images to seek, they

lived in a world of images” (94).

The poetry of sensation is the ultimate form of expression for Hallam. It’s not hard to

see why when considering the poets that he indicates represent the form. Built into

Hallam’s concept is an underlying notion of sympathetic expression (termed by Hallam

as the sympathetic imagination). Eileen Johnson explains that Hallam’s concept of

sympathy is similar to the understanding developed by Ruskin (16). Ruskin’s notion of

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sympathy inherently relates the idea of shared experienced and one’s ability to place

oneself in emotional position of another human being. This idea differs from the

contemporary understanding of sympathy, which has little more to do with one’s

empathy towards another.

For Hallam, it would appear that the sympathetic relationship between an artist

and a reader is deeply important. Hallam insists that reading is not just a passive action,

but a present action that requires an imaginative response. In his understanding of

reading, both the creative powers of the artist and the reader must hold separate, but

equally powerful realm (Johnson 14). For poetry to be properly understood, the reader

and poet must both be willing to have a sympathetic imagination.

Shared experience is powerful in any medium. The interconnection between a

reader and an author create something unique and dynamic. For the poets of sensation,

the ability to focus on the experiences of the everyday in a language that was clear of the

introverted afflictions that faced Wordsworth and the reflective poets, created a truly

new form of poetry. For Hallam, the struggle and difficulties in creating poetry that

reflects daily experience provided a realm of expansion that had been ignored by the

poets of the reflective category.

In the second half of Hallam’s article, he expresses the qualities of Tennyson’s

poetry that makes him the foremost poet of what Hallam has expressed should be the

focus of poetry. Hallam makes use of observing several of his poems in their entirety

from Tennyson’s first collection. When reading the commentary that he provides in

regards to the selected poems, a very clear theme emerges: despite whether or not a

reader has experienced what Tennyson’s characters are going through, a reader can

easily grasp the concept and sympathizes with the emotional situations that Tennyson’s
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work conveys. Of the selected poems from the early work, “The Ballad of Oriana” best

reflects the argument in favor of the poets of sensation. In the poem, there is a clear

understanding of grief and pain, and the suffering of the loss of a loved one. While the

poem isn’t exactly reflective of the quality of craft that Tennyson would later produce, it

does illuminate the Shelleyian and Keatsian influences on both the poet and the

reviewer.

II.

In design, the fragmentation of In Memoriam works as the definitive example of

the poetry of sensation. Tennyson’s masterpiece is as compelling today as when it was

first published, and what makes In Memoriam work is that it is a text that

fundamentally doesn’t try to present itself as something that it is not. It is a deep, rich,

dense text full of a mastery of different experiences and images, all interrelated, yet

separate. In understanding Tennyson’s movement from average poet to the poetic voice

of the Victorian era, one must first try and sympathize with the grief felt at the loss of

Hallam.

The first, and most obvious distinctive quality of grief observed by the casual

reader may go unnoticed. As Irene Hsiao explains, the naming of the text is indicative to

the overall experience of grief experienced by the poet. She writes:

“Tennyson could not bring himself to acknowledge, that this work was the supreme act of

remembering and not a resurrection. The title renders the name as initials, a trace or fragment that may

possess all the import of a proper name…” (Hsiao 174).

From there, the casual reader can note that the format of the text is broken up into

various sections of different length, almost all of which are fragmented experiences,

memories, images, etc. Yet, the genius of In Memoriam is that despite the designed
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fragmentation, somehow everything feels as if it connected. The fragmentation of the

text is like a whisper heard long ago; it echoes and sings in eerie silence, voiding itself of

any presence. What is the reader to make of a text that feels so individualistic, yet

comprehensively whole? How is a reader supposed to enter the world created in In

Memoriam and how is a reader supposed to sympathize with the “I”? Tennyson explains

that the “I” in the text is suppose to be the “I” of all of mankind speaking through the

narrator (174-75). Hsiao states that this is problematic for the lyric, but I surmise that

this use of the “I” is indicative of Hallam’s call for the universality of shared experience

in the craft of poetry (and a better lyric). If this be the case, it is a conscious effort on the

part of the author to fulfil the artistic vision of his departed friend.

Section XXVII is perhaps the most famous section of the poem. In this section,

the reader is given an array of different images. It is incredibly reflective of Hallam’s

vision of poetry. Consider the last lines:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

‘Tis better to have loved and lost

Than to have never have loved at all. (XXVII 13-16)

Hallam’s poetry of sensation calls for shared experience and sympathy between the

reader and the poet. There is perhaps no other series of lines in language that better

reflect grief and the ability for both an artist and a reader to grieve together than these.

What makes this section work as well as it does is that the verse speaks. Tennyson’s use

of the universal “I” allows the reader to be self reflective, to remember those that have

come and gone, and the poetics of the language heightens the awareness of the emotion
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for the reader. As readers, we feel as Tennyson feels. We know what he means, even if at

times we don’t understand the words and images he presents on page.

Under the surface of all the text of In Memoriam, there is the ever present

concept of love. It is love that is the motivating factor for us all, or at least that’s how

Tennyson and Hallam felt. Eileen Johnson explains:

“Both Shelley and Hallam think that the primary purpose of existence is to love and that love is a

matter not of reason, of intellection, but of sympathetic imagination” (11).

The idea of sympathetic imagination finds its way throughout the vastness of In

Memoriam. In Section XXVII, love is obvious. It is stated and it is reflected. The reader

can be sympathetic towards Tennyson’s love and loss, as the reader presumably can

imagine the experience for him/herself. Hsiao notes that love and loss appear together

in nearly every section of the poem (183).

The first Christmas following Hallam’s death invokes images of haunting, the

ever presence of absence, and the finality of death. Perhaps Tennyson reflects on his

own mortality during that first holiday without his friend. Whatever the case maybe, it’s

a powerful scene that speaks volume to a reader. Grief, anxiety, and sorrow feel real. The

communication of shared experience and emotion work in harmony between poet and

reader.

Section XCV presents another powerful scene. In it, there is a vivid reconnection

between the spirit of Hallam and Tennyson. The imagery brings us to the places where

Hallam and Tennyson had been, and in a sort of breaking of a fourth wall, Tennyson

reads the letters (and presumably) the essays and poetry of Hallam. From beyond the

grave, Hallam speaks to Tennyson through his words, and in those words the poet finds

meaning, comfort, and the understanding that life goes on.

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XCV might be the most fascinating section of the entire poem. In my own

reading, I wonder about the existential qualities of the lyric. I wonder what exactly

Tennyson read, and if the events described even happened (though it wouldn’t matter if

they did). The revelation that the poet undergoes is fascinating, and the last lines echo

the beginning of a post mourning feeling. It is in this section that I think Tennyson gives

insight into his own personal development as a poet.

Death strikes everyone in unique ways, but the shared common experience is a

sense of grief and loss. Tennyson’s reflection in XCV highlights his own progression in a

post Hallam world. In her commentary on the power of grief in Tennyson’s poem, Hsiao

presents an interesting statement:

“Despite the speaker’s resolve to uphold his feeling…the suffering sustained is completely alien to any

feeling he could have experienced while the beloved was present” (177-8).

Though Hsiao’s statement does not directly refer to XCV, the thought that the

experience could never have been achieved during Hallam’s life is interesting. It

presents the question of whether or not Tennyson’s development as a great poet was

influenced by the experience of Hallam’s loss. If we are to interpret section XCV being

partially (if not entirely) inspired by real events, then we could ask ourselves what

exactly happened in that lawn with those letters and words of Hallam. I think that XCV

really reflects, in the most poetic form imaginable, Tennyson experiencing the

movement of the artistic soul. I think he’s discovering himself, and I think he has come

to the full realization of what Hallam’s death means. As he progresses through In

Memoriam, Tennyson develops a notion of artistic authenticity. The type of authenticity

that only Hallam’s death could have inspired. If we do not hold a homoeroticism to their

relationship, we’re left with a love that is based on a higher and more complex realm:
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love of the intellect and love of the shared imagination. It is love that is the profound

realization that Tennyson finds in XCV. It is love that moves Tennyson to continue to

write, to develop his craft into a mold that perfectly fits Hallam’s notion of the poet of

sensation. Where the reflective poets (such as Wordsworth) would find artistic influence

in the recollection of his/her mortality, Tennyson and the poets of sensation find that

influence in the shared emotional bonds that tie people together.

It would be easy to conclude with only having examined sections of In

Memoriam, but that wouldn’t fully represent Tennyson’s body of work. Two other short

poems are worth their merit for examination.

“Ulysses” was published in Tennyson’s second collection of poetry. The poem is

written in the form of a speech, having been giving by Ulysses after returning home to

Ithaca from the Trojan War. The poem is full of wonderful detail, and it conveys many

emotions and feelings (loss, aging, death, loneliness, identity, fear, etc.). In terms of

Hallam’s poetry of sensation, “Ulysses” does a masterful job of painting and conveying

shared experience. The subject of the poem, whilst the hero of the Homeric epic, comes

across not as that god-like, ancient hero, but that of a modern man looking at his

position, and seeing the results of age and empire. Of all of Tennyson’s poems, “Ulysses”

might be the most openly English. The finals lines are oft read at ceremonies and events,

and they deserve mention here for their sheer brilliance:

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield (66-70)

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Tennyson development of the poetry of sensation goes boldly forward from just its

relationship to the principals of the craft. He develops a unique and powerful ability to

express a single complex and complete thought, through just a series of short lines.

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” is perhaps the most widely read of Tennyson’s

poems. Like “Ulysses”, it features the utter brilliance of the simple line:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die. (13-15)

The imagery of the poem is outstanding. The emotion that it conveys blends together

with the chaotic scene of war it describes, and to the Victorian audience, it must have

been the highest form of celebration imaginable. Like “Ulysses”, “The Charge of the

Light Brigade” demonstrates a mature genius well aware of his skill, and an artist driven

by his desire to live in his work the vision of his departed friend.

When Tennyson’s work is viewed as a whole, it is evident that Hallam’s influence

can be felt. Tennyson represents the work of the poetry of sensation more fully realized

than Shelley and Keats. In developing his style, the death of Hallam appears to have

played a massive role in Tennyson’s formation. His early poems lack the imagination of

his later, and greater work. In Memoriam expresses many scenes in which one can

imagine the development and realization of Tennyson’s purpose: the awareness of

Hallam’s absence at Christmas, the devotion to love, the spiritual communion of Hallam

and Tennyson in XCV, the sense and feeling and demand for a sensitive and sympathetic

reading, and the sheer brilliance of In Memoriam’s simplicity and fragmentation, are all

elements of type of new poet Hallam desired when he published his review of

Tennyson’s first collection. Throughout Tennyson’s craft there is a true dedication to

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Arthur Hallam. His poetry has all the elements of his friend’s revolutionary call, as well

as the majestic verse that at times has the power of a simple line. Sensation is developed

within the language of Tennyson’s craft, whether it be the frail, emotional experiences

highlighted in In Memoriam, the heroic, imperialistic language found in “Ulysses”, or

the cadence and repetition found in “The Charge of the Light Brigade”.

Works Cited
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Hallam, Arthur H. "On Some of the Characteristics of Modern Poetry, and on the Lyrical

Poems of Alfred Tennyson." The Poems of Arthur Henry Hallam. New York:

Macmillan, 1909. 87-139. Print.

Hsiao, Irene. "Calculating Loss in Tennyson's In Memoriam." Victorian Poetry Spring

47.1 (2009): 173-96. Print.

Johnson, Eileen Tess. "Hallam's Review of Tennyson: Its Context and Significance."

Texas Studies in Literature and Language 23.1 (1981): 1-26. Print.

Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Nov.

2016.

Tennyson, Alfred. In Memoriam: Authoritative Text, Criticism. Ed. Erik Gray. New

York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Print.

Tennyson, Alfred Lord. "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Poetry Foundation. Poetry

Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.