Love is and was my Lord and King
Love is and was my Lord and King,And in his presence I attendTo hear the tidings of my friend,Which every hour his couriers bring.
Love is and was my King and Lord,And will be, tho’ as yet I keepWithin his court on earth, and sleepEncompass’d by his faithful guard,
And hear at times a sentinelThat moves about from place to place,And whispers to the vast of spaceAmong the worlds, that all is well.
About this text
Love is and was my Lord and King 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, Love is and was my Lord and King, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-124.html, id L18484.
Form and metre
Love is and was my Lord and King is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% 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 kingA · attendB · friendB · bringA
- 2 ABBA lordA · keepB · sleepB · guardA
- 3 ABBA sentinelA · placeB · spaceB · wellA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love is and was my Lord and King, | 8 | ········ |
| And in his presence I attend | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To hear the tidings of my friend, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which every hour his couriers bring. | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Love is and was my King and Lord, | 8 | ········ |
| And will be, tho’ as yet I keep | 8 | ········ |
| Within his court on earth, and sleep | 8 | ········ |
| Encompass’d by his faithful guard, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And hear at times a sentinel | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That moves about from place to place, | 8 | ········ |
| And whispers to the vast of space | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Among the worlds, that all is well. | 8 | ········ |
On this poem
In the Poet's estimation, Love is the Charity of St. Paul; believing, hoping, enduring, and never failing. Love brings us tidings of the dead. Love guards us in life, even in sleep. Through his influence we hear, as from a sentinel,
"Who moves about from place to place, And whispers to the worlds of space, In the deep night, that all is well."
Notes from the edition 5
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 [The following was originally the second verse (MS.):
Love is my king, nor here alone,
But where I see the distance loom, For in the field behind the tomb There rests the shadow of his throne.
ED.] [Hallam Tennyson] - Stanza 1 [The following was originally the third verse (MS.):
And hear at times a sentinel
That moves about from place to place, And whispers to the vast of space Among the worlds, that all is well.
ED.] [Hallam Tennyson] - Stanza 1, line 1 Cf. cxxv. 12. [Bradley]
- Stanza 1, line 3 Cf. Herbert, Holy Communion:
While those to spirits refined, at door attend Despatches from their friend. [Bradley] - Stanza 3, line 2 First ed.:
That moves about from place to place, And whispers to the vast of space Among the worlds, that all is well. [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.