Abigail+Michelson





Met me walking on yonder way; ‘And have you lost your heart?’ she said; ‘And are you married yet, Edward Gray?’ Sweet Emma Moreland spoke to me; Bitterly weeping I turn’d away: ‘Sweet Emma Moreland, love no more Can touch the heart of Edward Gray. ‘Ellen Adair she loved me well, Against her father’s and mother’s will; To-day I sat for an hour and wept By Ellen’s grave, on the windy hill. ‘Shy she was, and I thought her cold, Thought her proud, and fled over the sea; Fill’d I was with folly and spite, When Ellen Adair was dying for me. ‘Cruel, cruel the words I said! Cruelly came they back to-day: “You’re too slight and fickle,”I said, “To trouble the heart of Edward Gray.” ‘There I put my face in the grass Whisper’d, “Listen to my despair; I repent me of all I did; Speak a little, Ellen Adair!” ‘Then I took a pencil, and wrote On the mossy stone, as I lay, “Here lies the body of Ellen Adair; And here the heart of Edward Gray!” ‘Love may come, and love may go, And fly, like a bird, from tree to tree; But I will love no more, no more, Till Ellen Adair come back to me. ‘Bitterly wept I over the stone; Bitterly weeping I turn’d away. There lies the body of Ellen Adair! And there the heart of Edward Gray!’ || Edward Gray Analysis/Summary: This poem reflects the agonizing pain Edward Gray feels for the death of his wife, Ellen Adair. He weeps over her grave, yearning for both her forgiveness for acting like a fool and to be with her once more. He begins by describing a conversation he recently had with "Sweet Emma Moreland" in which he admits that "love no more can touch" his "heart". His devotion to Ellen is emphasized by the consistent mention of his love for her in each of the nine stanzas. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍The double repetition of words such as "cruel", "heart", "no more", and "tree" is like a heart beat. He repeats these words to her, emphasizing that she, alone, holds his heart. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Edward regrets the way he thought of her and how he acted towards her when she was still alive, feeling guilty for her death, thus giving him the sense of belonging and debt, which he is trying to repay with his own heart. In both the beginning and the end of the poem, Edward "bitterly weep[s]" and "turn'd away". The first instance is in response to Emma asking if he will soon be married and the second is while he cries over her tombstone. Both Emma and the stone serve as visual, concrete reminders that Ellen is dead and there is no way for Edward to love again. Tennyson lost many people in his life and this poem is one of the few examples of which he conveys his sympathy both for the living who remember the dead and the dead themselves. || 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, And after many a summer dies the swan. Me only cruel immortality Consumes: I wither slowly in thine arms, Here at the quiet limit of the world, A white-hair'd shadow roaming like a dream The ever-silent spaces of the East, Far-folded mists, and gleaming halls of morn. Alas! for this gray shadow, once a man— So glorious in his beauty and thy choice, Who madest him thy chosen, that he seem'd To his great heart none other than a God! I ask'd thee, 'Give me immortality.' Then didst thou grant mine asking with a smile, Like wealthy men, who care not how they give. But thy strong Hours indignant work'd their wills, And beat me down and marr'd and wasted me, And tho' they could not end me, left me maim'd To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. Can thy love, Thy beauty, make amends, tho' even now, Close over us, the silver star, thy guide, Shines in those tremulous eyes that fill with tears To hear me? Let me go: take back thy gift: Why should a man desire in any way To vary from the kindly race of men Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance Where all should pause, as is most meet for all? A soft air fans the cloud apart; there comes A glimpse of that dark world where I was born. Once more the old mysterious glimmer steals From thy pure brows, and from thy shoulders pure, And bosom beating with a heart renew'd. Thy cheek begins to redden thro' the gloom, Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine, Ere yet they blind the stars, and the wild team Which love thee, yearning for thy yoke, arise, And shake the darkness from their loosen'd manes, And beat the twilight into flakes of fire. Lo! ever thus thou growest beautiful In silence, then before thine answer given Departest, and thy tears are on my cheek. Why wilt thou ever scare me with thy tears, And make me tremble lest a saying learnt, In days far-off, on that dark earth, be true? 'The Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.' Ay me! ay me! with what another heart In days far-off, and with what other eyes I used to watch—if I be he that watch'd— The lucid outline forming round thee; saw The dim curls kindle into sunny rings; Changed with thy mystic change, and felt my blood Glow with the glow that slowly crimson'd all Thy presence and thy portals, while I lay, Mouth, forehead, eyelids, growing dewy-warm With kisses balmier than half-opening buds Of April, and could hear the lips that kiss'd Whispering I knew not what of wild and sweet, Like that strange song I heard Apollo sing, While Ilion like a mist rose into towers. Yet hold me not for ever in thine East: How can my nature longer mix with thine? Coldly thy rosy shadows bathe me, cold Are all thy lights, and cold my wrinkled feet Upon thy glimmering thresholds, when the steam Floats up from those dim fields about the homes Of happy men that have the power to die, And grassy barrows of the happier dead. Release me, and restore me to the ground; Thou seëst all things, thou wilt see my grave: Thou wilt renew thy beauty morn by morn; I earth in earth forget these empty courts, And thee returning on thy silver wheels. --- || Tithonus Analysis/Summary: In this poem, Tennyson describes a man named Tithonus who, when he was young and in love with Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, was granted immortality. However, along with this, he was not given eternal youth, leading him to a cold, dreary existence as an old man, unable to move on and exist peacefully buried in the ground. Tennyson first two lines speaks of the trees in the woods and how their leaves are falling to the ground, signifying growth and life coming to an end of a cycle. He goes on to discuss humanity and that their purpose in life is to live, work for an honest living and then die, adding another body to the earth. Tithonus is unable to live like these men and these trees because of his endless existence, but he does realize the danger of his circumstance and questions, "Why should a man desire in any way/ To vary from he kindly race of men?". Tithonus is aware of his poor choices in life and understands the necessity of not "pass[ing] beyond the goal of ordinance where all should pause". By the end, Tithonus asks to be killed, for his nature no longer mixes with that of Aurora, his goddess. He reminds her that she will still "see" his "grave" when she renews herself each "morn", allowing both of them to still feel each other's essence of existence without having to live in misery and regret for how her inhabits his immortal being. In Tithonus, Tennyson is making the point that it is dangerous to go against the natural flow" of the world and that doing so will result in consequences. || ‍‍‍ ‍‍‍ ‍‍ ‍‍ --> poem ‍ ‍  
 * POEM || ANALYSIS/SUMMARY ||
 * ~ Edward Gray
 * S****WEET** Emma Moreland of yonder town
 * = Tithonus

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Break Break Break ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Abby, dahling- I must admit, this poem made about as much sense to me as people who fold their pizza before eating it. I just didn’t get it. So I think it brilliant that you made the connection between the poem’s dedication and its theme. Many people wouldn’t. You make an excellent point, deeming his friend Arthur “the tender grace” which “will never come back to” him. Then you go on to explain the symbolic reasoning for repeating “break” three times. Your entire analysis is filled with similarly strong connections. I would suggest, however, some slight alterations. In the first paragraph in particular, you seem to use the standard subject-verb-object format as a sentence structure crutch. Get fancy! Get snazzy! Inject your summary with little Abby-voice snippets like analytical Botox. And, finally, might you benefit from deepening your explanation of “Tennyson’s use of alliteration?” You do a wonderful job of quote chunking, but perhaps dedicating an entire paragraph to this reasoning behind your conclusion would de-fog it? A lovely poem choice and very HDR analysis.

-Emma

"The Eagle" You must have been relieved to see such a short poem! Why do you think Tennyson chose not to use his typical formula for this poem? He usually dedicates far more lines to a poem than this. And yet you're correct that he has a "habit of expressing the interior of the living," I agree; he very much devotes the six lines of "The Eagle" to the bird's character as opposed to his physical appearance. I do find myself a little lost, however, upon the discussion of the reader feeling "like this bird." I'm going go destroy your dreams and tell you...I don't feel like the bird. But I love how you mention the "Eagle's" noblity and fabulous soaring abilities. Perhaps incorporate some sweet-sick-nasty quote chunking to help bolster your argument?

Love you to bits, Emma