I wage not any feud with Death
I wage not any feud with DeathFor changes wrought on form and face;No lower life that earth’s embraceMay breed with him, can fright my faith.
Eternal process moving on,From state to state the spirit walks;And these are but the shatter’d stalksOr ruined chrysalis of one.
Nor blame I Death, because he bareThe use of virtue out of earth;I know transplanted human worthWill bloom to profit, otherwhere.
For this alone on Death I wreakThe wrath that garners in my heart;He put our lives so far apartWe cannot hear each other speak.
Words in this poem
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- otherwhere adv.
- In or to some other place, or places; elsewhere.
- wreak v. i.
- To reck; to care.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I wage not any feud with Death 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, I wage not any feud with Death, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-80.html, id L18440.
Form and metre
I wage not any feud with Death 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%). 95% 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. 44% 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 deathA · faceB · embraceB · faithA
- 2 ABBA onA · walksB · stalksB · oneA
- 3 ABBA bareA · earthB · worthB · otherwhereA
- 4 ABBA wreakA · heartB · apartB · speakA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I wage not any feud with Death | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For changes wrought on form and face; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No lower life that earth’s embrace | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| May breed with him, can fright my faith. | 8 | ········ |
| Eternal process moving on, | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| From state to state the spirit walks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And these are but the shatter’d stalks | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or ruined chrysalis of one. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Nor blame I Death, because he bare | 8 | ········ |
| The use of virtue out of earth; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I know transplanted human worth | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Will bloom to profit, otherwhere. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| For this alone on Death I wreak | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The wrath that garners in my heart; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He put our lives so far apart | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| We cannot hear each other speak. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
On this poem
Nor does he find fault with Death for taking "virtue out of earth:" he knows that it will be transplanted elsewhere to greater profit.
What he is angry with Death for is, their separation--
"He put our lives so far apart We cannot hear each other speak."
This Poem expresses a comforting belief in progress and advancement hereafter.
Notes from the edition 7
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 2 from state to state the spirit walks. [Cf. Sect. xxx. vi. and vii., and
Some draught of Lethe might await The slipping thro' from state to state.
The Two Voices. — ED.] [Hallam Tennyson] - Stanza 2, line 1 Cf. XXX. 25 f., LXI. i. 'From state to state' recurs in The Two Voices and in Demeter and Persephone^ line 7. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 3 ' these ': the changed ' form and face ' of line 2. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 2 Did Tennyson know that he was translating Aristotle's XPV<™ XT}? operas ? [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 3 Cf. LXXIII. 1-4, LXXV. l8-20. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 2 ' garners ': stores itself. Cf. Othello, IV. ii. 57: But there where I have garner'd up my heart.
Tennyson's use of the verb as intransitive seems peculiar to him. [Bradley] - Stanza 4, line 3 Cf. LXXXV. 83, 84. Even this complaint is heard no longer towards the close of In Memoriam. For the long survival of ' wrath' (which seems somewhat peculiar) cf. LXXII. and xcvm. [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.