If, in thy second state sublime
If, in thy second state sublime,Thy ransom’d reason change repliesWith all the circle of the wise,The perfect flower of human time;
And if thou cast thine eyes below,How dimly character’d and slight,How dwarf’d a growth of cold and night,How blanch’d with darkness must I grow!
Yet turn thee to the doubtful shore,Where thy first form was made a man:I loved thee, Spirit, and love, nor canThe soul of Shakspeare love thee more.
Words in this poem
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
If, in thy second state sublime 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, If, in thy second state sublime, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-59.html, id L18419.
Form and metre
If, in thy second state sublime 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 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 17% 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 sublimeA · repliesB · wiseB · timeA
- 2 ABBA belowA · slightB · nightB · growA
- 3 ABBA shoreA · manB · canB · moreA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If, in thy second state sublime, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thy ransom’d reason change replies | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With all the circle of the wise, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The perfect flower of human time; | 8 | ·/·/·/˘· |
| And if thou cast thine eyes below, | 8 | ········ |
| How dimly character’d and slight, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How dwarf’d a growth of cold and night, | 8 | ········ |
| How blanch’d with darkness must I grow! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet turn thee to the doubtful shore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where thy first form was made a man: | 8 | ········ |
| I loved thee, Spirit, and love, nor can | 8 | ···/···· |
| The soul of Shakspeare love thee more. | 8 | ········ |
On this poem
"How blanch'd with darkness must I grow!"
This figure of speech will be taken from the blanching of vegetables in the dark. Still, he would have him turn to
"the doubtful shore, Where thy first form was made a man;"
that is, to this world, distinguishing it from that "second state sublime," into which Hallam had been admitted; for not even there can more affection be found, than I conceived and yet cherish:
"I loved thee, Spirit, and love, nor can The soul of Shakespeare love thee more."
This is all that even Shakespeare can do, if he and thou be now compeers.
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 In power of love not even the greatest dead can surpass the poet. [Tennyson]
- Stanza 1 [Cf. XXXVIH. iii. — ED.] [Hallam Tennyson]
- Stanza 1, line 1 'state sublime': Robinson quotes Gray's Ode for Music, II., a passage which evidently influenced Tenny- son here. [Bradley]
- Stanza 1, line 2 'ransom'd': cf. xxxvni. 10, 'spirits render'd free.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 2 The metaphor of the flower (4) is continued. ' Char- acter'd': marked: see on XLIII. n. The word is not uncommon in Shakespeare; e.g., As You Like It, in. ii. 6:
these trees shall be my books, And in their barks my thoughts I'll character. [Bradley] - Stanza 3 doubtful shore. [Cf. and that which should be man, From that one light no man can look upon, Drew to this shore lit by the suns and moons And all the shadows.
De Profundis. And:
And we, the poor earth's dying race, and yet No phantoms, watching from a phantom shore, Await the last and largest sense to make The phantom walls of this illusion fade, And show us that the world is wholly fair. The Ancient Sage. — ED.] [Hallam Tennyson] - Stanza 3, line 1 ' doubtful': see XLIV. 14. Here there is the additional idea of darkness, coming from the preceding stanza. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 2 See i. * Where thou wast first embodied, and that in human form.' Cf. pp. 51, 131. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 * Shakespeare ': the greatest of intellects and the devoted lover of a friend. [Bradley]
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