High wisdom holds my wisdom less
High wisdom holds my wisdom less,That I, who gaze with temperate eyesOn glorious insufficiencies,Set light by narrower perfectness.
But thou, that fillest all the roomOf all my love, art reason whyI seem to cast a careless eyeOn souls, the lesser lords of doom.
For what wert thou? some novel powerSprang up for ever at a touch,And hope could never hope too much,In watching thee from hour to hour,
Large elements in order brought,And tracts of calm from tempest made,And world-wide fluctuation sway’dIn vassal tides that followed thought.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- perfectness n.
- The quality or state of being perfect; perfection.
- fluctuation n.
- A motion like that of waves; a moving in this and that direction; as, the fluctuations of the sea. [L. fluctuatio; cf. F. fluctuation.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
High wisdom holds my wisdom less 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, High wisdom holds my wisdom less, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-110.html, id L18470.
Form and metre
High wisdom holds my wisdom less is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 lessA · eyesB · insufficienciesB · perfectnessA
- 2 ABBA roomA · whyB · eyeB · doomA
- 3 ABBA powerA · touchB · muchB · hourA
- 4 ABBA broughtA · madeB · sway'dB · thoughtA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| High wisdom holds my wisdom less, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That I, who gaze with temperate eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On glorious insufficiencies, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Set light by narrower perfectness. | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| But thou, that fillest all the room | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of all my love, art reason why | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I seem to cast a careless eye | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On souls, the lesser lords of doom. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For what wert thou? some novel power | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Sprang up for ever at a touch, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hope could never hope too much, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In watching thee from hour to hour, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Large elements in order brought, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And tracts of calm from tempest made, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And world-wide fluctuation sway’d | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In vassal tides that followed thought. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
On this poem
He esteems high purposes after what is unattained, as exhibited in Hallam's shortened life, more than a complete fulfilment of lesser duties by the "lords of doom," who rule in our social system, and are those that have free will, but less intellect.
His friend was "some novel power," which
"Sprang up for ever at a touch, And hope could never hope too much, In watching thee from hour to hour."
Notes from the edition 7
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 [High wisdom is ironical. "High wisdom" has been twitting the poet that although he gazes with calm and indulgent eyes on unaccomplished greatness, yet he makes light of narrower natures more perfect in their own small way. — ED.]
glorious insufficiencies. Unaccomplished greatness such as Arthur Hallam's.
Set light by, make light of.
[In answer to " high wisdom " the poet says: " The power and grasp and originality of A. H. H.'s intellect, and the greatness of his nature [which are not mere "glorious in- sufficiencies"], make me seem careless about those that have a narrower perfectness.] J [Tennyson] - Stanza 1, line 2 * with temperate eyes ': the interpretation given above (' undazzled ' or 'without much enthusiasm') seems to me the most natural: but it is possible to construe, * I who tolerate the faults of the great ' (C. E. Benham).1 In neither case can the- phrase refer to Hallam. [Bradley]
- Stanza 1, line 4 * set light by ': make light of, slight. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2 the lesser lords of doom. Those that have free-will, but less intellect. [Tennyson]
- Stanza 2, line 4 ' lesser lords of doom ': men who, having strong wills, can make the most of the material of their nature, and so control their lot, but who are lesser (than the poet's friend or even the 'glorious insufficiency') because the material is thin. With the phrase cf. ' Men at some time are masters of their fates,' Julius Ctzsar, I. ii. 139. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 1 The material is abundant, and it is ordered. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 3 Metaphor from tides and moon. Cf. Cowley, On the death of Mr. William Hervey (a poem which In
So strong a wit did Nature to him frame, As all things but his judgment overcame; His judgment like the heavenly moon did show, Tempering that mighty sea below.
1 So also Beeching, * I who make allowance for the weaknesses of men of genius.' [Bradley]
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.