The baby new to earth and sky
The baby new to earth and sky,What time his tender palm is prestAgainst the circle of the breast,Has never thought that ‘this is I:’
But as he grows he gathers much,And learns the use of ‘I,’ and ‘me,’And finds ‘I am not what I see,And other than the things I touch:’
So rounds he to a separate mindFrom whence clear memory may begin,As thro’ the frame that binds him inHis isolation grows defined.
This use may lie in blood and breath,Which else were fruitless of their due,Had man to learn himself anewBeyond the second birth of Death.
Words in this poem
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- isolation n.
- The act of isolating, or the state of being isolated; insulation; separation; loneliness. Milman. [Cf. F. isolation.]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The baby new to earth and sky 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 baby new to earth and sky, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-44.html, id L18404.
Form and metre
The baby new to earth and sky 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 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 25% 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 skyA · prestB · breastB · iA
- 2 ABBA muchA · meB · seeB · touchA
- 3 ABBA mindA · beginB · inB · definedA
- 4 ABBA breathA · dueB · anewB · deathA
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 baby new to earth and sky, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What time his tender palm is prest | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Against the circle of the breast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Has never thought that ‘this is I:’ | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But as he grows he gathers much, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And learns the use of ‘I,’ and ‘me,’ | 8 | ········ |
| And finds ‘I am not what I see, | 8 | ········ |
| And other than the things I touch:’ | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So rounds he to a separate mind | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| From whence clear memory may begin, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As thro’ the frame that binds him in | 8 | ········ |
| His isolation grows defined. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| This use may lie in blood and breath, | 8 | ········ |
| Which else were fruitless of their due, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had man to learn himself anew | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Beyond the second birth of Death. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
On this poem
The acquisition of this consciousness may be the use of "blood and breath," which otherwise would have achieved no worthy end; as we should have to learn ourselves afresh after the second birth of death, if these had not assured us of our indisputable personality.
Notes from the edition 1
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 4, line 1 This use may lie in blood and breath. [The purpose of the life here may be to realise personal consciousness, else blood and breath would not bear their due fruit. — ED.] [Hallam Tennyson]
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