Part 1: Mourning
Public shows of grief came to predominate in 19th century Britain, as epitomized by the 40-year long period during which Queen Victoria mourned the death of her beloved husband Albert, beginning in 1861 and ending with her death in 1901. Her example helped elevate the practice, as did the work of the era’s most prominent poet, Alfred Tennyson. After his best friend, Arthur Hallam, died in 1833, aged 22, Tennyson spent the next 17 years producing a book-length poem wrestling with that loss, titled In Memoriam, A.H.H. obit. MDCCCXXXIII.
Reading: Three pieces by Tennyson mourning the loss of Arthur Hallam.
- “Break, Break, Break” (published independently of In Memoriam in 1842)
- “Old Yew, which graspest at the stones,” Canto 2 of In Memoriam, 1850
- “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,” Canto 106 of In Memoriam, 1850
Part 2: Sensuality
While the Victorians have a well-deserved reputation for sexual prudery, their poetry and art are often suffused with sensuality.
Reading: Two Poems
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott” (1842)
- Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (1862)
Viewing: four Pre-Raphaelite paintings:
- William Holman Hunt, The Lady of Shalott (1888-1905)
- John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott (1888)
- John Everett Millais, Ophelia (1851)
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lady Lilith (1866-68)
Note: if you’re unfamiliar with the legend of Lilith or with the role of Ophelia in Hamlet, take a moment to google those names.
Writing: Respond to ONE of the following prompts. Keep your response short, posting as a reply under the appropriate heading in the comments section:
- Call our attention to a particularly moving line or detail from one of Tennyson’s poems of mourning.
- At the end of Part II, the Lady of Shalott declares “I am half sick of shadows.” Unfold the significance of this key line.
- It’s hard not to come away from Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” identifying the goblins’ fruit with sexuality. What details in the poem help to create this association? On the other hand, what details in the poem complicate or undermine the association?