Home

Chronological
Index of
Tennyson's
Works

Timeline of
Tennyson's
Life

Links to
Other Tennyson
Sites

Sources/Info

Send Corrections,
Suggestions, or
Comments

 
In Memoriam A.H.H.

         
            XC.
             
      He tasted love with half his mind,
          Nor ever drank the inviolate spring
          Where nighest heaven, who first could fling
      This bitter seed among mankind;

      That could the dead, whose dying eyes
          Were closed with wail, resume their life,
          They would but find in child and wife
      An iron welcome when they rise:

      ’Twas well, indeed, when warm with wine,
          To pledge them with a kindly tear,
          To talk them o’er, to wish them here,
      To count their memories half divine;

      But if they came who past away,
          Behold their brides in other hands;
          The hard heir strides about their lands,
      And will not yield them for a day.

      Yea, tho’ their sons were none of these,
          Not less the yet-loved sire would make
          Confusion worse than death, and shake
      The pillars of domestic peace.

      Ah dear, but come thou back to me:
          Whatever change the years have wrought,
          I find not yet one lonely thought
      That cries against my wish for thee.
       


Printable Version
Next Section
In Memoriam A.H.H. Index
Home
Chronological Index of Tennyson's Works
Timeline of Tennyson's Life
Links to Other Tennyson Sites
Sources/Info
Send Corrections, Suggestions, or Comments