Treatment of Nature in the poem of Tennyson

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Tennyson who is known as the poet of Victorian people stands supreme. He is a worship of nature. His love of nature became the guide of his life. He is a perfect artist of words and he paints the picture of nature. In almost all his poems long and short nature plays a dominant role. Other poets in whose poetry nature plays a significant role are the romantic poets. But Tennyson’s treatment of nature is different from Romantic Poets. He does not find any divine spirit as Wordsworth did. Unlike Shelly, de does not perceive any spirit of love in nature.

Nature for him is always a background for reflecting some human emotion. It carries no message or blessing of its own but harmonizes with the moods of men. A careful study of his poems will reveal his skill in describing natural scenes. 

Morte d’arthur tennyson summary

A notable poem by Tennyson is Morte D’Arthur. In this poem, the poet narrates the death of King Arthur. At the very beginning of this poem, he creates the setting with a few words the whole picture is made vivid. After being wounded in the battle king Arthur is brought to a desolate place where a chapel stand. But that chapel is broken with a broken cross inside it. It is dark strait barren land. On its one side there is the Ocean and another side there is a lake. The time is the night when the full is in the sky. The whole landscape is pictured with light and shade, stillness, and solemnity.

King Arthur
King Arthur in Artist’s literary Eyes

When King Arthur is going to die, Sir Bedivare is anxious. Because he will be helpless after the death of the king in a new world. King Arthur consoled him saying that the old order must always give place to the new so that men should adjust themselves. This change is the rule of nature. King Arthur says in the following way:

“The old order changth, yielding place to the new

And God fulfils himself in many ways

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world”

The lotos-eaters summary

The Lotos-Eaters is another remarkable and well-known poem of Tennyson. Ulysses and his sailors came to the strange land of the Lotos- Eaters in course of their wanderings. Very Charming weather exists here. Its heavenly beauty attracts Ulysses and his sailors. Ulysses and his sailors are cordially received here by the Lotos Eaters.

They were given to eat different types of fruits. After testing fruits they feel laziness and full into a deep sleep. They feel very comfortable, So they decide to stay on the island. The sailors see no use in returning to their homes. They do not want to go back to their past bitter life. Now they hate the ocean and think that it is useless to struggle against the force of evil. The poet describes the landscape as a reflection of mood. There “it seemed always afternoon”. The air is ‘languid’, the stream moves slowly. The landscape, air, the dark blue sky, dark blue sea as well as the whole surrounding present a scene of languor.

The comrades of Ulysses says in the following way:

“Hateful is the dark blue sky

Vaulted o’er the dark blue sea

Death is the end of life”

Tithonus summary – tithonus, as a victorian poem

In the poem “Tithonus” the poet narrates the story of Tithonus who was given immortality by his lover goddess Aurora. But immortal life without immortal youth becomes a burden of Tithonus. He expresses his burden in the following lines:

“The woods decay, the woods decay and fall

The vapours weep their burthen to the ground

Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath

After many a summer dies the swan”

Here the very description of the decaying process in the natural scene seems to be an agonized cry of Tithonus’s painful heart.

Locksley hall summary – locksley hall summary analysis

In the poem “Locksley Hall” the importance of nature is undeniable. The speaker, on a visit to Locksley Hall where he spent his boyhood and youth, remembers the time when he lived there and when he used to observe the great Orion at night through the window. he used to move about the seashore. In Springtime, when the birds pit on new features he confessed to his cousin Amy that he loved her. she told him that she had loved him for a long time and that she had been hiding her feelings for him. These words made the world more beautiful and radiant for him.

Oenone poem analysis – oenone by tennyson summary

Oenone is one of the remarkable poems by Tennyson. In this poem, Oenone laments her betrayal of the lover Paris. Paris was lured by physical pleasure only. He underrated the purity of her love. His disregard for Nobel ideal caused sufferings to her. Paris rejected the offer of power that knowledge gives. Oenone echoes the poet’s view when she speaks of the worlds Pallas_

“Self-revance, self-knowledge, self control

These three alone lead life to sovereign power.”

In the light of our discussion, it is crystal-like clear to us that in the poems of Tennyson the treatment of nature has found an important place with a splendid artistic touch. For delineating nature with all of its aspects and decorating his poetry with lovely descriptions of nature his poetry has a universal appeal.

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