The churl in spirit up or down
The churl in spirit up or down,Along the scale of ranks, thro’ allTo who may grasp a golden ballBy blood a king, at heart a clown;
The churl in spirit, howe’er he veilHis want in forms for fashion’s sake,Will let his coltish nature breakAt seasons thro’ the gilded pale:
For who can always act? but he,To whom a thousand memories call,Not being less but more than allThe gentleness he seem’d to be,
So wore his outward best, and join’dEach office of the social hour,To noble manners, as the flowerAnd native growth of noble mind;
Nor ever narrowness or spite,Or villain fancy fleeting by,Drew in the expression of an eye,Where God and Nature met in light,
And thus he bore without abuseThe grand old name of gentleman,Defamed by every charlatan,And soil’d with all ignoble use.
Words in this poem
- coltish a.
- Like a colt; wanton; frisky.
- charlatan n.
- One who prates much in his own favor, and makes unwarrantable pretensions; a quack; an impostor; an empiric; a mountebank. [F. charlatan, fr. It. ciarlatano, fr. ciarlare to chartter, prate; of imitative origin; cf. It. zirlare to whistle like a thrush.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The churl in spirit up or down is in the public domain. This text is taken from In memoriam, Project Gutenberg ebook #70950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, The churl in spirit up or down, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-109.html, id L18469.
Form and metre
The churl in spirit up or down is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBA downA · allB · ballB · clownA
- 2 ABBA veilA · sakeB · breakB · paleA
- 3 ABBA heA · callB · allB · beA
- 4 ABBA join'dA · hourB · flowerB · mindA
- 5 ABBA spiteA · byB · eyeB · lightA
- 6 ABBA abuseA · gentlemanB · charlatanB · useA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The churl in spirit up or down, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along the scale of ranks, thro’ all | 8 | ˘/······ |
| To who may grasp a golden ball | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By blood a king, at heart a clown; | 8 | ········ |
| The churl in spirit, howe’er he veil | 8 | ···/···· |
| His want in forms for fashion’s sake, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will let his coltish nature break | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| At seasons thro’ the gilded pale: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For who can always act? but he, | 8 | ···/···· |
| To whom a thousand memories call, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Not being less but more than all | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The gentleness he seem’d to be, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| So wore his outward best, and join’d | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each office of the social hour, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To noble manners, as the flower | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And native growth of noble mind; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor ever narrowness or spite, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Or villain fancy fleeting by, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Drew in the expression of an eye, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Where God and Nature met in light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thus he bore without abuse | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The grand old name of gentleman, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Defamed by every charlatan, | 9 | ˘/·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And soil’d with all ignoble use. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
On this poem
The "coltish nature" will break out through all the disguises of fashion: but in Hallam
"God and nature met in light, And thus he bore without abuse The grand old name of gentleman, Defamed by every charlatan, And soil'd with all ignoble use."
Notes from the edition 9
Section introductions from Alfred Gatty, <i>A Key to Lord Tennyson's “In Memoriam”</i>, 4th ed. (George Bell & Sons, 1900; Project Gutenberg #36637). Line notes credited “[Tennyson]” are Tennyson's own notes; “[Hallam Tennyson]” marks a note that is wholly his son and editor's own explanatory bracket, not the poet's own words; “[Emily Tennyson]” marks the few notes signed by his wife. All three are from <i>The Works of Tennyson, Annotated by the Author</i>, ed. Hallam, Lord Tennyson, vol. 3 (Macmillan, 1908; Internet Archive worksoftennysona03tennuoft). Line notes credited “[Bradley]” are A. C. Bradley's, from <i>A Commentary on Tennyson's In Memoriam</i> (Macmillan, 1910; Internet Archive commentaryontenn00braduoft). All these number sections by the final, 131-section text, not the site's own 1850 numbering: from final XL to LVIII subtract one section number, from LX on subtract two, to reach the site's; the site prints the 129-section first edition of 1850 (see the work's own blurb), so two of the final text's numbered sections have no home here and are skipped.
- Stanza 1, line 3 ' To him who grasps ': first ed.: ' To who may grasp/ [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 1 ' act ': play a part. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 2 'memories' of mine. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 1 'Best seem'd the thing he was': first ed.: 'So wore his outward best.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 3 Cf. Guinevere:
For manners are not idle, but the fruit Of loyal nature, and of noble mind. [Bradley] - Stanza 5 Drew in [contracted, narrowed. — ED.].
Where God and Nature met in light. 1 From an unpublished letter in possession of Mr. Arthur Lee, M. P.
o 2
Cf. LXXXVII. Verse ix.:
The God within him light his face. [Tennyson] - Stanza 5, line 2 'villain': used in reference to 'churl,' the opposite of 'gentle' and 'gentleman' in the technical sense. [Bradley]
- Stanza 5, line 4 Cf. LXXXVII. 36-8. [Bradley]
- Stanza 6 charlatan. From Ital. ciarlatano, a mountebank; hence the accent on the last syllable. [Tennyson]
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.