In
poet T.S. Eliot’s literary theory entitled “Tradition and Individual Talent”,
the modernist writer contends that history and tradition “compels a man to
write not merely with his own generation in his bones but with a feeling that
the whole of the literature in Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the
literature of his own country, has a simultaneous existence and composes a
simultaneous order” (Eliot, 956). Eliot
further argues that an excellent writer is always cognizant of the past while
looking towards the future. Poet and
playwright Alfred, Lord Tennyson embodies the characteristics that Eliot finds
important in a poet, commencing as a young award winner who experiences
personal and professional strife while propel him into becoming seasoned poet
laureate. Tennyson perfected his craft;
edifying Eliot’s ideals that the poetry of a younger poet versus and older poet
is different because the elder has had more time and experience to hone their
ability. Tennyson fulfills Eliot’s ideal
of the perfect poet, as expressed in “Tradition and the Individual
Talent”. The poet’s journey from early
success, through the deaths of his father and later best friend, as well as
experiencing milestones of maturation such first love allow “Timbuctoo”, “In
Memoriam”, and “The Lady of Shallot” to bestow the title of Poet onto Alfred,
Lord Tennyson.
Tennyson’s
first award winning poem was entitled “Timbuctoo” and won him the Chancellor’s
Award at Cambridge University at the age of nineteen. It was based off of an earlier poem of the
youth entitled “Armageddon” which he wrote at fifteen years of age. This particular poem is proof positive of
Eliot’s theory that “the difference between the present and the past is that
the conscious present is an awareness of the past in a way and to an extent
which the past’s awareness of itself cannot show” (Eliot 957). The young Tennyson’s poet focuses on the
exploration possible in the future for the British stemming from exploration
into Africa. Unlike the poems that
Tennyson writes in his later years, this particular poem takes on more fanciful
tones, exploring man’s mystical journey from a member of ancient civilization
such as the builders of the ancient pyramids to the citizens of “Atalantis”
while keeping in mind all that still lays waiting for discovery in the
future. The narrator of the poem, Fred,
realizes that the discoveries of the past must remain behind, stating “Unto all
eyes, the time is well-nigh come/ When I must render up this glorious home/ To
keen Discovery” (lines 239-240). The
young poet has an air of looking forward, while the elder Tennyson makes his
fame on the ability to look back, making his literary world timeless.
Lord
Tennyson’s father personally held himself responsible for his son’s education
from his early years to his acceptance at Trinity College. While Tennyson experienced primary success
with “Timbuctoo”, his first effort immediately prior to death of his father in
1831 fell flat. The volume entitled Poems Chiefly Lyrical was ill-received
by the public as it lacked the fancy found in his earlier poetry. At this point, Tennyson has not experienced
the life events that would make his later poetry such as “The Lady of Shallot”
great. The poetry of this early period
in Tennyson’s career represents Eliot’s claim that “the mind of the mature poet
differs from that of the immature one not precisely in any valuation of
‘personality’, not being necessarily more interesting, or having ‘more to say’,
but rather being a more perfected medium in which special, or very varied,
feelings are at liberty to experience more combinations” (Eliot 958). The deaths of Tennyson’s father as well as
his best friend Hallam begin to give his poetry depth. Subsequent events after these important
deaths such as love gained, love lost, as well as recovered fame added gravity
to Tennyson’s poetry not seen in his work previously. His poem “In Memoriam”, written in 1850,
brings attention to the question of what happens to loved ones after their
deaths. While “Timbuctoo” looks
backwards and forwards, “In Memoriam” focuses on the present and the struggle
to make sense of religion and divinity.
The poem expresses the realizations of a man no longer young,
recognizing his own immortality. The
lines “Our little systems have their day; / They have their day and cease to
be; / They are but broken lights of thee, / And thou, Oh Lord, art more than they”
(lines 17-20). The evolution of Tennyson
as a poet looking towards a mystical future and the poetry of an older Tennyson
who has realized his own mortality through love and loss symbolizes Eliot’s
poet of achievement who thrives on personal experience.
“The
Lady of Shallot” written later in Tennyson’s career answers Eliot’s case that a
diversion of thought from the emotions of the poet himself to the expression of
significant emotion in a seemingly impersonal matter is a feat “technical
excellence” (Eliot 961). Tennyson’s poem
reflects on the plight of the isolated and cursed “Lady of Shallot” who is
willing to meet her death instead of being kept away from the citizens of
Camelot. This poem is vastly different
from “Timbuctoo” and “In Memoriam” because the main character is the Lady, who
is living a life in a persona and time strictly foreign to the author
himself. While Tennyson is certainly far
away in every aspect from the Lady, he brings to life her emotions of isolation
and desperation as if he himself were present in her life. In the poem, the Lady “weaves by night and
day/ A magic web with colours gay./ She has heard a whisper say,/ A curse is on
her if she stay/ To look down to Camelot” (lines 37-41). Tennyson’s own life is nothing like that of
the Lady yet his credible expression of her loneliness and despair draw
attention away from his own nineteenth century life to that of a woman
despairing of her own existence in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Alfred,
Lord Tennyson’s literary career progressed from that of fanciful and mystical
young poet to an introspective one with the ability to contemplate mortality
while transcending the boundaries of personal expression and temporality. He fulfills Eliot’s theories that poets
develop into better poets over time due to experience, not just simply because
they have more to say but due to a depth that only comes from life experience
and practice. Tennyson also satisfies
the role of traditional poet who writes not only of his time but rather with a
timeless quality encompassing the past, present, and future. Through poems such as “Timbuctoo”, “In
Memoriam”, and “The Lady of Shallot”, a reader of Tennyson’s work can realize
how Eliot’s theory of “Tradition and the Individual Talent” applies to progression
this poets work made throughout his lifetime.
Works
Cited
Eliot, T.S. “Tradition and the Individual
Talent”. The Norton Anthology of Theory
and Criticism. Ed. Leitch,
Vincent B. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 955- 961. Print.
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “In Memoriam.” Fifty Greatest Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Kean Guides. 2010. Nook Book.
---. “The Lady of Shalott.” The Victorian Age. Eds. Henderson,
Heather and William Sharpe. 4th ed. New York: Longman,
2010. 1181. Print. Vol. 2B of The Longman Anthology
of British Literature. David Damrosch and Kevin J.H. Dettmar. gen. eds. 2 vols.
---. “Timbuctoo”.
www.poetryfoundation.org. Web.
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