A Key to Lord Tennyson's 'In Memoriam' Part 7

"before G.o.d shut the doorways of his head;"

that is, before the skull of the infant closed. Yet sometimes

"A little flash, a mystic hint"

suggests the possibility of a previous existence.[29] "If death so taste Lethean springs," as to leave a trace on the soul of what had happened upon earth--the Poet here makes Lethe produce remembrance, instead of forgetfulness, which is its normal effect. Dante describes the double power of the mythic stream in Purgatory (Can. xxviii., l. 134)--

"On this, devolved with power to take away Remembrance of offence; on that, to bring Remembrance back of every good deed done.

From whence its name of Lethe on this part; On the other, Eunoe."--Cary's Translation.

And so, "in the long harmonious years" of death, some dim touch of earthly things may reach Hallam whilst ranging with his equals. If this should be allowed, "O turn thee round," "resolve the doubt," whether thou art conscious of a previous life, and listen to my guardian angel, who will tell thee all about us here.

XLV.

The child, still in its mother's arms, has no consciousness of its own individual life and ident.i.ty; and it is with its growth that it acquires a sense of separate and isolated being, independent of all around.

The acquisition of this consciousness may be the use of "blood and breath," which otherwise would have achieved no worthy end; as we should have to learn ourselves afresh after the second birth of death, if these had not a.s.sured us of our indisputable personality.

XLVI.

In this life we experience "thorn and flower," grief and joy; and the past becomes mercifully shaded as time goes on, otherwise the retrospect would be intolerable. But hereafter all shadow on what has happened will be removed, and all will be "clear from marge to marge;" and the five years of earthly friendship will be the "richest field" in the "eternal landscape."

Yet this would be a limited range for Love, which ought to extend without any circ.u.mscription,

"A rosy warmth from marge to marge,"

its expansion interminable.

XLVII.

This great and religious Poem has been absurdly said to teach Pantheism, which these stanzas refute; or perhaps they rather deny the doctrine of Spinoza, if that be clearly understood.

At any rate, to be conscious of "a separate whole"--a distinct individuality--and yet merge at last

"in the general Soul, Is faith as vague as all unsweet: Eternal form shall still divide The eternal soul from all beside; And I shall know him when we meet."

St. Paul is not more distinct and emphatic upon our individuality hereafter, when he says, we shall "be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," 2 Cor. v., 2; that is, we shall put on a spiritual _body_, that will give ident.i.ty and form.

Delighting in the thought of

"Enjoying each the other's good,"

he feels to have attracted the approving Shade of Hallam, and this reluctantly fades away, with the tender parting:

"Farewell, we lose ourselves in light."

_If indeed we are to be merged in the universal Soul, let us have at least one more parting, before we lose our individualities in the Great Being._

XLVIII.

This Poem disclaims any attempt at settling religious difficulties. The verses are of "sorrow born," the result of private grief; and if misunderstood, and open to the charge of attempting to solve such grave questions of doubt as affect some minds, they would deserve the scorn of men.

Sorrow does not undertake severe argument; but if a "slender shade of doubt" flits before it, it would make this doubt a "va.s.sal unto love," and yield to Love's supreme authority.

Love ought to be our ruler and guide, and these lays of sadness are merely

"Short swallow-flights of song, that dip Their wings in tears, and skim away."

XLIX.

He compares the "random influences" of Art, Nature, and the Schools, to light breaking in shivered lances on the dappled water. For even so does "the sullen surface" of the mind become "crisp" and curled with the wave of thought, the eddy of fancy, the air of song.

The transient pa.s.senger may look and go on his way, but must not blame such mental perturbations: for

"Beneath all fancied hopes and fears, Ay me,[30] the sorrow deepens down, Whose m.u.f.fled motions blindly drown The bases of my life in tears."

L.

He invokes Hallam's spirit to be near him in his various moods of distress--when he is filled with nervous apprehensions, when faith seems gone, and Time to be only "a maniac scattering dust," and Life to be "a Fury slinging flame:" when men also appear to be no more than flies, that sting and weave their cells and die. But above all,

"Be near me when I fade away, To point the term of human strife, And on the low dark verge of life, The twilight of eternal day."

The idea is sustained, that we shall go through the darkness of death, when Time will be lost, into the dawning light of Eternity; and the Poet would have his friend be near him at this translation.

LI.

Dare we indeed challenge the dead to inspect us? Have we "no inner vileness" that we would not have them discover? Would the Poet be lessened in Hallam's esteem and affection, when "some hidden shame" was exposed?

No,

"There must be wisdom with great Death: The dead shall look me thro' and thro'."

"They watch, like G.o.d, the rolling hours With larger other eyes than ours, To make allowance for us all."

LII.

He complains of his own inability to love Hallam as he ought, that is, worthily; because, if he did so, he would be equal to his friend,

"For love reflects the thing beloved;"