A happy lover who has come
A happy lover who has comeTo look on her that loves him well,Who lights and rings the gateway bellAnd learns her gone and far from home,
He saddens, all the magic lightDies off at once from bower and hall,And all the place is dark, and allThe chambers emptied of delight;
So find I every pleasant spotIn which we two were wont to meet,The field, the chamber and the street,For all is dark where thou art not.
Yet as that other, wandering thereIn those deserted walks, may findA flower beat with rain and wind,Which once she foster’d up with care;
So seems it in my deep regret,O my forsaken heart, with theeAnd this poor flower of poesyWhich little cared for fades not yet.
But since it pleased a vanish’d eyeI go to plant it on his tomb,That if it can it there may bloom,Or dying there at least may die.
Words in this poem
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A happy lover who has come 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, A happy lover who has come, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-8.html, id L18368.
Form and metre
A happy lover who has come is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% 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 comeA · wellB · bellB · homeA
- 2 ABBA lightA · hallB · allB · delightA
- 3 ABBA spotA · meetB · streetB · notA
- 4 ABBA thereA · findB · windB · careA
- 5 ABBA regretA · theeB · poesyB · yetA
- 6 ABBA eyeA · tombB · bloomB · dieA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A happy lover who has come | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To look on her that loves him well, | 8 | ········ |
| Who lights and rings the gateway bell | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And learns her gone and far from home, | 8 | ········ |
| He saddens, all the magic light | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Dies off at once from bower and hall, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And all the place is dark, and all | 8 | ········ |
| The chambers emptied of delight; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| So find I every pleasant spot | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In which we two were wont to meet, | 8 | ········ |
| The field, the chamber and the street, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For all is dark where thou art not. | 8 | ········ |
| Yet as that other, wandering there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In those deserted walks, may find | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A flower beat with rain and wind, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which once she foster’d up with care; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So seems it in my deep regret, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O my forsaken heart, with thee | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And this poor flower of poesy | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| Which little cared for fades not yet. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But since it pleased a vanish’d eye | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I go to plant it on his tomb, | 8 | ········ |
| That if it can it there may bloom, | 8 | ········ |
| Or dying there at least may die. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
On this poem
"And learns her gone and far from home."
So, as the disappointed lover, to whom the whole place has at once become a desert, wanders into the garden, and culls a rain-beaten flower, which she had fostered; even thus will he cherish and plant "this poor flower of poesy" on Hallam's tomb, because his friend when alive had been pleased with his poetic power.
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 2, line 1 Cf. ' And flung a magic light on all her hills and groves,' Coleridge, France. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 4 Cf. 'And Lycius' arms were empty of delight,' Keats, Lamia. With the absence of rhyme in 'light,' 'delight,' cf. xiv. 1,4, 'report,' 'port'; xxxv. 5, 8, 'here,' 'hear'; XLI. 17, 20, 'moor,' 'more'; LI. 14, 15, 'hours,' 'ours.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 1 Cf. Aug. Conf. IV. 4: ' My native country was a torture to me, and my father's house a wondrous unhappiness; and whatever I had enjoyed with him, wanting him, turned into a frightful torture. Mine eyes sought him everywhere, but he was not granted them, and I hated all places because he was not in them ' (G. A. C.). [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 'where thou art not': see on xxil. 19. [Bradley]
- Stanza 6, line 1 Cf. C. 17, and the line quoted on vil. 4. [Bradley]
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