Essay Database

In Memoriam is a poem through which Tennyson was trying to make sense of the death of his friend, Arthur Hallam. The consistent and intentional use of imagery throughout the poem helps reveal the inner healing process that Tennyson was experiencing during the seventeen years he composed In Memoriam. One recurring image in the poem is shadow. In the early parts of the poem, Tennyson usually refers to The Shadow, and when he does, he …

…intimate levels. Tennyson successfully makes a close connection to the reader by relating his feelings of grief and doubt in images like shadows. His use of shadow unifies the poem and works as a constant reminder to the reader of what he had said and what he had felt at earlier stages of the poem. The change in description of the shadows reveals the to the reader Tennyson’s inward healing from Arthur’s death.