St. Agnes Eve

Alfred TennysonLecture 20

About the poem

• In the twenty-first of January in what is customarily believed to be the year 304 A.D., a thirteen-year-old Christian girl, Agnes of Rome, was martyred when she refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods and lose her virginity by rape.

• She refused to surrender her virginity, claiming that Christ was her only husband. She was either beheaded and burned or stabbed (sources vary), and buried beside the Via Nomentata in Rome.

• She became the patron saint of virgins, betrothed couples, and chastity in general, and iconographers almost always represent her with a lamb, which signifies her virginity.

• The lamb, as a symbol of purity, is one of the symbols of St. Agnes. In Rome on this day, the Holy Father will bless two crowned lambs, brought to the Church of St. Agnes in two baskets, decorated in red (martyrdom) and white (purity), by Trappists of the Tre Fontane Monastery.

• The eve of her feast day, January 20th, became in European folklore a day when girls could practice certain divinatory rituals before they went to bed in order to see their future husbands in their dreams.

• Of all the works, artistic or literary, that use the subject of St. Agnes' Eve as its basis, John keat's narrative poem "The Eve of St. Agnes" written in 1819 is undoubtedly the most famous.

• Tennyson first published his work under the name "St. Agnes" but in 1857 changed the title to "St. Agnes' Eve“.

DEEP on the convent-roof the snows Are sparkling to the moon:

My breath to heaven like vapour goes: May my soul follow soon!

The shadows of the convent-towers Slant down the snowy sward, Still creeping with the creeping hours That lead me to my Lord:

The night is passing.

Make Thou my spirit pure and clear As are the frosty skies, Or this first snowdrop of the year That in my bosom lies.

Stanza 2

As these white robes are soil'd and dark, To yonder shining ground; As this pale taper's earthly spark, To yonder argent round;

So shows my soul before the Lamb, My spirit before Thee; So in mine earthly house I am, To that I hope to be.

Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far, Thro' all yon starlight keen, Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star, In raiment white and clean.

Stanza 3

He lifts me to the golden doors; The flashes come and go; All heaven bursts her starry floors, And strows her lights below,

And deepens on and up! the gates Roll back, and far within For me the Heavenly Bridegroom waits, To make me pure of sin.

The sabbaths of Eternity, One sabbath deep and wide– A light upon the shining sea– The bridegroom with his bride!

Sabath: weekly day of rest or worship.

Analysis

• The poem celebrates Agnes’ purity and martyrdom and shows her place with the one she loves.

• In true spirit of Virgin Mary, she remained a virgin and obtained martyrdom to protect her virginity.

• A deeply religious poem resonating with deep expressions of love and humility.

• Tennyson offers complex images to show the passion of the nun for union with her Lord.

The Lotus Eaters

Alfred Tennyson

About the poem

• The first version of "The Lotus-Eaters" was published by Edward Moxon in London in December 1832 but was printed with a publication year of 1833.

• Tennyson based the poem on an episode in The Odyssey, Homer's great epic poem recounting the harrowing adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his sea voyage home after the Trojan War. (In his writings, Tennyson referred to Odysseus by his Roman name, Ulysses.)

• While on the voyage, Odysseus and his crewmen encountered many perils—including monsters and violent storms—and visited strange lands. In one of these lands lived people who consumed the edible parts of the lotus flower.

• After several crewmen ate of the lotus, it induced in them a pleasant, trancelike state.

• Lotus-eater or Lotus Eater Greek Mythology One of a people described in the Odyssey who lived in a drugged, indolent state from feeding on the lotus.

• The tone of "The Lotus-Eaters" is melancholic and objective. The atmosphere is surreal, as if the events in the poem are part of a dream.

• The atmosphere seems to be infectious. The choices of diction, the pictorial effect, the sound of the lines in perfect tune with the mood, are all exquisite.

• The poem can be read as a post-colonial text, highlighting the civilizing mission of the colonizers in their colonies, at the height of British Imperial power.

• The poem was inspired by a trip to Spain and the Pyrenes with Arthur Hallam.

Stanza 1

Courage!" he said, and pointed toward the land, "This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon." In the afternoon they came unto a land In which it seemed always afternoon.

While Odysseus and his men are sailing home from Troy, a storm blows them to the shore of a strange land where time stands still and the air seems to breathe like a weary dreamer.

All round the coast the languid air did swoon, Breathing like one that hath a weary dream. Full-faced above the valley stood the moon; And like a downward smoke, the slender stream Along the cliff to fall and pause and fall did seem.

There is a full moon in the afternoon sky. Streams are all around, effusing mist, and a sparkling river flows to the sea.

Stanza 2

A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke, Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go; And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke, Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below.

They saw the gleaming river seaward flow From the inner land: far off, three mountain-tops, Three silent pinnacles of aged snow, Stood sunset-flush'd: and, dew'd with showery drops, Up-clomb the shadowy pine above the woven copse.

In the distance are three snow-capped mountain peaks tinged with the color of the lingering western sun. Beyond the mountains are a valley and meadows, flowers and palm trees.

Stanza 3

The charmed sunset linger'd low adown In the red West: thro' mountain clefts the dale Was seen far inland, and the yellow down Border'd with palm, and many a winding vale And meadow, set with slender galingale;

Galingale: plant of ginger family with aromatic qualities

A land where all things always seem'd the same! And round about the keel with faces pale, Dark faces pale against that rosy flame, The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came.

Stanza 4

Branches they bore of that enchanted stem, Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave To each, but whoso did receive of them, And taste, to him the gushing of the wave

Mariner’s in an altered state after they eat lotos and forget worldly cares.

Far far away did seem to mourn and rave On alien shores; and if his fellow spake, His voice was thin, as voices from the grave; And deep-asleep he seem'd, yet all awake, And music in his ears his beating heart did make.

They entered in an entrance state.

Stanza 5

They sat them down upon the yellow sand, Between the sun and moon upon the shore; And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland, Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore

Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar, Weary the wandering fields of barren foam. Then some one said, "We will return no more"; And all at once they sang, "Our island home Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam."

Analysis

• Poem describes the human condition and its interest centers in the conflict between the sense of responsibility and desire to take pleasure.

• Also, it paints the Victorian passion for progress and colonization in far off lands.

• Nature, in that place, is indolent and sluggish: the place seems to create a feeling of aversion for active life.

• Yet there is charm in the glow of sunset.

• It reflects the ambivalent attitude of the British towards their colonies and the colonizers – they are at the same time attracted and repelled by the locals.

• It is a land where nothing seems to change, the inhabitants are dull faced – hinting at lack of progress and backwardness of the locals.

• The opening word ‘courage’ also hints at the laborious task the Europeans have taken upon themselves, that is to civilize the colonizers.

• the reference to ‘Fatherland’ in stanza 4 shows what critics have viewed as the patriarchal role of the colonizers with respect to the locals.

• By appropriate imagery and subtle use of significant words, the poet has been successful in creating an atmosphere of drowsiness and languor.

• The landscape is obviously unreal and imaginary but the details of the scenery are taken from things seen in the Pyrenes.