Monday, April 5, 2010
Sike's Thoughts on Tennyson's Prologue to In Memoriam A.H.H.
So much said in just 11 stanzas! There is a grief, truth, fear, confusion, and a humbleness in Tennyson's words that seems to capture the feeling of the London streets these days. So many things are changing each day and yet so much is the same. Scholars act like they have the answers to why man is here and what man should do with his life from science, and priests and rulers act like they have the answers from God, but then death and sorrow prove both confused and scared. And what of the criminal who know's he has no answer's to life's mysteries nor no real importance? If scholars, priests, and poets can't be comforted through the loss of a friend nor can solve the mysteries of life, how is a criminal like myself supposed to feel about the importance of life and my own death? It makes me sad to think that what concerns me is what my next meal will be rather than what the point of life is like Tennyson does. But then, if men like Tennyson can't resolve it I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about my life because no one has the answer anyway, so why should I try? We will all face death alone and with no knowledge of what lies ahead, if anything at all does.
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"We will all face death alone and with no knowledge of what lies ahead, if anything at all does."
ReplyDeleteOh, Bill! Are you facing it alone? All alone? Aren't I with you? I do love you, dear, I do. Isn't that enough? But I guess, dear, you are right. Nobody really knows...
Death is scary but we are not alone. It's sad that Tennyson is mourning the loss of his friend but it's also sad that over the years this poem was written, he hasn't found anyone to console him. I suppose it is best to let a person grieve until they're ready. He does make you think though; whats going to happen to us after death?
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