Old Yew, which graspest at the stones
Old Yew, which graspest at the stonesThat name the under-lying dead,Thy fibres net the dreamless head;Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
The seasons bring the flower again,And bring the firstling to the flock;And in the dusk of thee, the clockBeats out the little lives of men.
O! not for thee the glow, the bloom,Who changest not in any gale!Nor branding summer suns availTo touch thy thousand years of gloom.
And gazing on the sullen tree,Sick for thy stubborn hardihood,I seem to fail from out my blood,And grow incorporate into thee.
Words in this poem
- dreamless a.
- Free from, or without, dreams. Camden.
- firstling n.
- The first produce or offspring; -- said of animals, especially domestic animals; as, the firstlings of his flock. [First + -ling.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- hardihood n.
- Boldness, united with firmness and constancy of mind; bravery; intrepidity; also, audaciousness; impudence. [Hardy + -hood.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Yew, which graspest at the stones 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, Old Yew, which graspest at the stones, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-2.html, id L18362.
Form and metre
Old Yew, which graspest at the stones 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 95%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end. Rhymes that have moved apart since the poem was written: loved / removed, given / heaven, house / vows, eyes / paradise, lost / most and 4 more.
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 stonesA · deadB · headB · bonesA
- 2 ABBA againA · flockB · clockB · menA
- 3 ABBA bloomA · galeB · availB · gloomA
- 4 ABBA treeA · hardihoodB · bloodB · theeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Old Yew, which graspest at the stones | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That name the under-lying dead, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy fibres net the dreamless head; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy roots are wrapt about the bones. | 8 | ········ |
| The seasons bring the flower again, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| And bring the firstling to the flock; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in the dusk of thee, the clock | 8 | ········ |
| Beats out the little lives of men. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O! not for thee the glow, the bloom, | 8 | ········ |
| Who changest not in any gale! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor branding summer suns avail | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| To touch thy thousand years of gloom. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And gazing on the sullen tree, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sick for thy stubborn hardihood, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| I seem to fail from out my blood, | 8 | ········ |
| And grow incorporate into thee. | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
On this poem
Its roots and fibres stretch downward, and hold the skull and bones of the dead; like as his thoughts cling to his departed friend. Its "dusk" or shadow is before the church clock, which strikes the hours of mortality, and this harmonizes with his life of mourning.
The tree preserves its "thousand years of gloom," unchanged by the seasons which affect other things--the "old yew" continues always the same--
"And gazing on thee, sullen tree, Sick for thy stubborn hardihood, I seem to fail from out my blood, And grow incorporate into thee."
"Sick for" means, desirous of.
It might seem as if the Poet, whose scientific allusions are always so striking and correct, had overlooked, when he wrote this Poem, that the yew bore blossom and seed, like other trees: but it was not so. Of course, the Poet always knew, that a tree which bears a berry must have a blossom; but Sorrow only saw the winter gloom of the foliage.
Observe the recent introduction of Poem xxxix.; also the description, near the beginning of "The Holy Grail"--
"They sat Beneath a world-old yew tree, darkening half The cloisters, on a gustful April morn That puff'd the swaying branches into smoke.
O, brother, I have seen this yew-tree smoke, Spring after spring, for half a hundred years."
It will be seen, in the later Poem, how a comparison with the gloomy yew has been modified.
Notes from the edition 8
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 Thy fibres net the dreamless head. NeKvwv ajjLtvrjva Kaprjva.
Od. x. 521, etc. [Tennyson] - Stanza 1, line 4 C'f. Job, viii. 17: * His roots are wrapped about the heap, and he seeth the place of stones' (G. A. C.). [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 3 'the clock' of the church-tower behind the yew. Cf. Love and Death, and The Two Voices:
I found him [death] when my years were few, A shadow on the graves I knew, And darkness in the village yew. [Bradley] - Stanza 3 Cf. xxxix.
To touch thy thousand years of gloom. [No autumn tints ever change the green gloom of the yew. — ED.]
Q
226 IN ME MORI AM. [Tennyson] - Stanza 3, line 2 'gale' seems to mean here a breeze in spring. This does not make the yew brighten in colour by flowering (5) or putting forth new shoots. ' Gale ' without an adjective means in our older poetry simply a wind, not a strong wind; and such phrases as ' gentle gales ' are common. Tennyson generally follows this use. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 3 Nor does the summer sun brand it so that its colour, at the end of summer, becomes burning or fiery (cf. XCIX. 12, Cl. 4). This interpretation, which has been suggested to me, seems much better than my former one, that the summer sun does not darken the foliage. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 1 'thee, sullen': first ed.: 'the sullen.' Evidently a mere misprint. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 2 I take ' for,' with Gatty, to mean * with desire for,' as in such a phrase as ' sick for home.' The word might, of course, mean * because of,' the ' stubborn hardihood ' of the yew being regarded with horror; and so, presumably, it is taken by Beeching, who understands this poem and the next to present the alternatives, suggested in the opening section, of stoicism and of yielding to sorrow. [Mr. Beeching now agrees with my interpretation.] [Bradley]
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