### **Brief Summary of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Life, Accomplishments, and Career**:

**Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)** was one of the most prominent poets of the
Victorian era. Born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, Tennyson showed early talent for
poetry and began writing as a young man. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where
he became part of a literary group called the Apostles. His close friendship with fellow
student Arthur Henry Hallam greatly influenced his work, especially after Hallam’s
untimely death in 1833, which led Tennyson to write one of his most famous poems, *In
Memoriam A.H.H.*

**Career and Major Works**:

Tennyson's poetry often explored themes of nature, human suffering, and the passage of
time. He gained fame with early works like *Poems, Chiefly Lyrical* (1830) and *Poems*
(1842), but it was *In Memoriam* (1850) that solidified his reputation as one of England's
leading poets. In the same year, he was appointed **Poet Laureate**, succeeding William
Wordsworth.

Some of his most famous works include:

- *The Lady of Shalott* (1832)

- *Ulysses* (1842)
- *The Charge of the Light Brigade* (1854)

- *Idylls of the King* (1859-1885), a cycle of poems about the legends of King Arthur.

His poetry is known for its mastery of form, deep emotional resonance, and exploration of
human dilemmas in the context of change, loss, and duty.

**Legacy**:

Tennyson was regarded as a national voice during the Victorian period and was celebrated
for his ability to capture the spirit of the age. He was made **Baron Tennyson** in 1884,
becoming the first poet to be given a peerage. His works remain highly influential, and his
role as Poet Laureate marked him as the most iconic poet of his time. Tennyson’s poetry
continues to be studied and admired for its rich language, imagery, and philosophical
depth.

"Mariana" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published in 1830. The poem follows a
common theme in much of Tennyson's work—that of despondent isolation. The subject
of "Mariana" is a woman who continuously laments her lack of connection with society.
The isolation defines her existence, and her longing for a connection leaves her wishing
for death at the end of every stanza. The premise of "Mariana" originates in William
Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, but the poem ends before Mariana's lover returns.
Tennyson's version was adapted by others, including John Everett Millais and Elizabeth

Gaskell, for use in their own works. The poem was well received by critics, and it is
described by critics as an example of Tennyson's skill at poetry.

Tennyson wrote "Mariana" in 1830 and printed it within his early collection Poems,
Chiefly Lyrical.[1] Previously, he contributed poems to the work Poems by Two
Brothers (1827), where his early poems dealing with isolation and memory can be found.
The theme was continued in the later collection, with poems like "Mariana", "Ode to
Memory", and others representing the earlier poems.[2]
 During a visit to the Pyrenees during the summer of 1830, Tennyson sought to give aid
to Spanish rebels. During that time, he was affected by his experience and the influence
appears in "Mariana in the South",[3] which was published in 1832; it is a later version
that follows the idea of "The Lady of Shalott".[4]

With blackest moss the flower-plots

Were thickly crusted, one and all:

The rusted nails fell from the knots

That held the pear to the gable-wall.

The broken sheds look'd sad and strange:

Unlifted was the clinking latch;

Weeded and worn the ancient thatch

Upon the lonely moated grange.

She only said, "My life is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said, "I am aweary, aweary,

I would that I were dead!"

Her tears fell with the dews at even;

Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;

She could not look on the sweet heaven,

Either at morn or eventide.

After the flitting of the bats,

When thickest dark did trance the sky,

She drew her casement-curtain by,

And glanced athwart the glooming flats.

She only said, "The night is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said, "I am aweary, aweary,

I would that I were dead!"

Upon the middle of the night,

Waking she heard the night-fowl crow:

The cock sung out an hour ere light:

From the dark fen the oxen's low

Came to her: without hope of change,

In sleep she seem'd to walk forlorn,

Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn

About the lonely moated grange.

She only said, "The day is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said, "I am aweary, aweary,

I would that I were dead!"

About a stone-cast from the wall

A sluice with blacken'd waters slept,

And o'er it many, round and small,

The cluster'd marish-mosses crept.

Hard by a poplar shook alway,

All silver-green with gnarled bark:

For leagues no other tree did mark

The level waste, the rounding gray.

She only said, "My life is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said "I am aweary, aweary

I would that I were dead!"

And ever when the moon was low,

And the shrill winds were up and away,

In the white curtain, to and fro,

She saw the gusty shadow sway.

But when the moon was very low

And wild winds bound within their cell,

The shadow of the poplar fell

Upon her bed, across her brow.

She only said, "The night is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said "I am aweary, aweary,

I would that I were dead!"

All day within the dreamy house,

The doors upon their hinges creak'd;

The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse

Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd,

Or from the crevice peer'd about.

Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors

Old footsteps trod the upper floors,

Old voices called her from without.

She only said, "My life is dreary,

He cometh not," she said;

She said, "I am aweary, aweary,

I would that I were dead!"

The sparrow's chirrup on the roof,

The slow clock ticking, and the sound

Which to the wooing wind aloof

The poplar made, did all confound

Her sense; but most she loathed the hour

When the thick-moted sunbeam lay

Athwart the chambers, and the day

Was sloping toward his western bower.

Then said she, "I am very dreary,

He will not come," she said;

She wept, "I am aweary, aweary,

Oh God, that I were dead!"

Summary
This poem begins with the description of an abandoned farmhouse, or grange, in
which the flower-pots are covered in overgrown moss and an ornamental pear tree
hangs from rusty nails on the wall. The sheds stand abandoned and broken, and the
straw (“thatch”) covering the roof of the farmhouse is worn and full of weeds. A
woman, presumably standing in the vicinity of the farmhouse, is described in a four-
line refrain that recurs—with slight modifications—as the last lines of each of the
poem’s stanzas: “She only said, ‘My life is dreary / He cometh not,’ she said; / She
said, ‘I am aweary, aweary, / I would that I were dead!’”

The woman’s tears fall with the dew in the evening and then fall again in the
morning, before the dew has dispersed. In both the morning and the evening, she is
unable to look to the “sweet heaven.” At night, when the bats have come and gone,
and the sky is dark, she opens her window curtain and looks out at the expanse of
land. She comments that “The night is dreary” and repeats her death-wish refrain.

---------------

Themes

The Reconciliation of Religion and Science

Tennyson lived during a period of great scientific advancement, and he used his
poetry to work out the conflict between religious faith and scientific discoveries.
Notable scientific findings and theories of the Victorian period include stratigraphy,
the geological study of rock layers used to date the earth, in 1811; the first sighting of
an asteroid in 1801 and galaxies in the 1840s; and Darwin’s theory of evolution and
natural selection in 1859. In the second half of the century, scientists, such as Fülöp
Semmelweis, Joseph Lister, and Louis Pasteur, began the experiments and work
that would eventually lead to germ theory and our modern understanding of
microorganisms and diseases. These discoveries challenged traditional religious
understandings of nature and natural history.

For most of his career, Tennyson was deeply interested in and troubled by these
discoveries. His poem “Locksley Hall” (1842) expresses his ambivalence about
technology and scientific progress. There the speaker feels tempted to abandon
modern civilization and return to a savage life in the jungle. In the end, he chooses to
live a civilized, modern life and enthusiastically endorses technology. In
Memoriam connects the despair Tennyson felt over the loss of his friend Arthur
Hallam and the despair he felt when contemplating a godless world. In the end, the
poem affirms both religious faith and faith in human progress. Nevertheless,
Tennyson continued to struggle with the reconciliation of science and religion, as
illustrated by some of his later work. For example, “Locksley Hall Sixty Years After”
(1886) takes as its protagonist the speaker from the original “Locksley Hall,” but now
he is an old man, who looks back on his youthful optimism and faith in progress with
scorn and skepticism.
The Virtues of Perseverance and Optimism
After the death of his friend Arthur Hallam, Tennyson struggled through a period of
deep despair, which he eventually overcame to begin writing again. During his time
of mourning, Tennyson rarely wrote and, for many years, battled alcoholism. Many
of his poems are about the temptation to give up and fall prey to pessimism, but
they also extol the virtues of optimism and discuss the importance of struggling on
with life. The need to persevere and continue is the central theme of In
Memoriam and “Ulysses” (1833), both written after Hallam’s death. Perhaps because
of Tennyson’s gloomy and tragic childhood, perseverance and optimism also
appear in poetry written before Hallam’s death, such as “The Lotos-Eaters” (1832,
1842). Poems such as “The Lady of Shalott” (1832, 1842) and “The Charge of the Light
Brigade” (1854) also vary this theme: both poems glorify characters who embrace
their destinies in life, even though those destinies end in tragic death. The Lady of
Shalott leaves her seclusion to meet the outer world, determined to seek the love
that is missing in her life. The cavalrymen in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” keep
charging through the valley toward the Russian cannons; they persevere even as
they realize that they will likely die.

The Glory of England

Tennyson used his poetry to express his love for England. Although he expressed
worry and concern about the corruption that so dominated the nineteenth century,
he also wrote many poems that glorify nineteenth-century England. “The Charge of
the Light Brigade” praises the fortitude and courage of English soldiers during a
battle of the Crimean War in which roughly 200 men were killed. As poet laureate,
Tennyson was required to write poems for specific state occasions and to dedicate
verse to Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. Nevertheless, Tennyson
praised England even when not specifically required to do so. In the Idylls of the King,
Tennyson glorified England by encouraging a collective English cultural identity: all
of England could take pride in Camelot, particularly the chivalrous and capable
knights who lived there. Indeed, the modern conception of Camelot as the source of
loyalty, chivalry, and romance comes, in part, from Tennyson’s descriptions of it in
the Idylls of the King and “The Lady of Shalott.”

-----------------

Here are some important lines from Tennyson's "Mariana," along with an analysis of their
significance:

Opening Lines

“With blackest moss the flower-plots / Were thickly crusted, one and all;”
 • Analysis: These lines set a tone of neglect and decay. The imagery of "blackest
moss" suggests death and abandonment, immediately establishing the bleak
atmosphere surrounding Mariana. The flower-plots, typically symbols of beauty, are
corrupted, reflecting her own lost vitality.

Description of the Setting

“The place was still, the day was dreary.”

• Analysis: The stillness evokes a sense of stagnation and inactivity, mirroring

Mariana’s emotional paralysis. The word "dreary" emphasizes the oppressive mood,
indicating that her environment contributes to her feelings of despair.

Refrain

“He will not come.”

• Analysis: This line recurs throughout the poem, encapsulating Mariana's profound
sense of abandonment. It serves as a haunting reminder of her lover's absence and
her hopelessness. The repetition reinforces her emotional turmoil and growing
despair.

Nature Imagery

“The rain was falling, the wind was wailing.”

• Analysis: Tennyson uses weather to reflect Mariana’s inner state. The rain and wind
create a somber, sorrowful atmosphere, paralleling her feelings of loneliness and
grief. This connection between nature and emotion highlights the depth of her
suffering.

Final Lines

“And I am alone.”

• Analysis: The closing declaration starkly emphasizes her isolation. It encapsulates

the entirety of her experience—loss, longing, and solitude. This finality underscores
the tragic nature of her existence, leaving readers with a poignant sense of despair.
Conclusion

These lines collectively illustrate Mariana's emotional landscape, marked by neglect, isolation,
and unfulfilled desire. Tennyson masterfully intertwines imagery, repetition, and emotional
depth to convey the intensity of her longing and the impact of abandonment

…..