When I contemplate all alone
When I contemplate all alone,The life that had been thine below,And fix my thoughts on all the glowTo which thy crescent would have grown;
I see thee sitting crown’d with good,A central warmth diffusing blissIn glance and smile, and clasp and kiss,On all the branches of thy blood;
Thy blood, my friend, and partly mine;For now the day was drawing on,When thou should’st link thy life with oneOf mine own house, and boys of thine
Had babbled ‘Uncle’ on my knee;But that remorseless iron hourMade cypress of her orange flower,Despair of Hope, and earth of thee.
I seem to meet their least desire,To clap their cheeks, to call them mine.I see their unborn faces shineBeside the never-lighted fire.
I see myself an honour’d guest,Thy partner in the flowery walkOf letters, genial table-talk,Or deep dispute, and graceful jest:
While now thy prosperous labour fillsThe lips of men with honest praise,And sun by sun the happy daysDescend below the golden hills
With promise of a morn as fair;And all the train of bounteous hoursConduct by paths of growing powers,To reverence and the silver hair;
Till slowly worn her earthly robe,Her lavish mission richly wrought,Leaving great legacies of thought,Thy spirit should fail from off the globe;
What time mine own might also flee,As link’d with thine in love and fate,And, hovering o’er the dolorous straitTo the other shore, involved in thee,
Arrive at last the blessed goal,And he that died in Holy LandWould reach us out the shining hand,And take us as a single soul.
What reed was that on which I leant?Ah, backward fancy, wherefore wakeThe old bitterness again, and breakThe low beginnings of content.
Words in this poem
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
- remorseless a.
- Being without remorse; having no pity; hence, destitute of sensibility; cruel; insensible to distress; merciless.
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- dolorous a.
- Full of grief; sad; sorrowful; doleful; dismal; as, a dolorous object; dolorous discourses. [L. dolorosus, from dolor: cf. F. douloureux. See Dolor.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When I contemplate all alone 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, When I contemplate all alone, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-82.html, id L18442.
Form and metre
When I contemplate all alone is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 aloneA · belowB · glowB · grownA
- 2 ABBA goodA · blissB · kissB · bloodA
- 3 ABBA mineA · onB · oneB · thineA
- 4 ABBA kneeA · hourB · flowerB · theeA
- 5 ABBA desireA · mineB · shineB · fireA
- 6 ABBA guestA · walkB · talkB · jestA
- 7 ABBA fillsA · praiseB · daysB · hillsA
- 8 ABBA fairA · hoursB · powersB · hairA
- 9 ABBA robeA · wroughtB · thoughtB · globeA
- 10 ABBA fleeA · fateB · straitB · theeA
- 11 ABBA goalA · landB · handB · soulA
- 12 ABBA leantA · wakeB · breakB · contentA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I contemplate all alone, | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| The life that had been thine below, | 8 | ········ |
| And fix my thoughts on all the glow | 8 | ········ |
| To which thy crescent would have grown; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I see thee sitting crown’d with good, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A central warmth diffusing bliss | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| In glance and smile, and clasp and kiss, | 8 | ········ |
| On all the branches of thy blood; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy blood, my friend, and partly mine; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For now the day was drawing on, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When thou should’st link thy life with one | 8 | ········ |
| Of mine own house, and boys of thine | 8 | ········ |
| Had babbled ‘Uncle’ on my knee; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But that remorseless iron hour | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Made cypress of her orange flower, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Despair of Hope, and earth of thee. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I seem to meet their least desire, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| To clap their cheeks, to call them mine. | 8 | ········ |
| I see their unborn faces shine | 8 | ···///˘· |
| Beside the never-lighted fire. | 9 | ˘/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| I see myself an honour’d guest, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Thy partner in the flowery walk | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of letters, genial table-talk, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Or deep dispute, and graceful jest: | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| While now thy prosperous labour fills | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| The lips of men with honest praise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And sun by sun the happy days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Descend below the golden hills | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| With promise of a morn as fair; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And all the train of bounteous hours | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| Conduct by paths of growing powers, | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| To reverence and the silver hair; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till slowly worn her earthly robe, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Her lavish mission richly wrought, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Leaving great legacies of thought, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Thy spirit should fail from off the globe; | 8 | ·/······ |
| What time mine own might also flee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As link’d with thine in love and fate, | 8 | ········ |
| And, hovering o’er the dolorous strait | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| To the other shore, involved in thee, | 9 | ··/˘·˘/·· |
| Arrive at last the blessed goal, | 8 | ˘/····˘· |
| And he that died in Holy Land | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would reach us out the shining hand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And take us as a single soul. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What reed was that on which I leant? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Ah, backward fancy, wherefore wake | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The old bitterness again, and break | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| The low beginnings of content. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
On this poem
Engaged in marriage to the Poet's sister, death intervened--
"that remorseless iron hour Made cypress of her orange flower, Despair of Hope, and earth of thee."
It is remarkable how the imagination of the Poet glows over the tender scenes of home affection, and the great results which he presumes were arrested by the removal of his friend, who he had hoped would have attained "to reverence and the silver hair" in company with himself--and then, in their full old age,
"He that died in Holy Land Would reach us out the shining hand, And take us as a single soul."
The mere thought of this forbidden consummation of their friendship shocks him; it revives the old bitterness of sorrow, and stops
"The low beginnings of content."
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 1 'contemplate': for the accentuation cf. cxvm. I. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 1 ' crown'd ': cf. LXXII. 5. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 3 When thou should' st link thy life with one Of mine own house.
The projected marriage of A. H. H. with Emily Tennyson. [Tennyson] - Stanza 4, line 3 G.A.C. quotes Taylor, Holy Dying, I. i.: 'and changes his laurel into cypress, his triumphal chariot to an hearse,' and Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 89: ' Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 11, line 1 Arrive at last the blessed goal. Cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. ii.: " ere he arrive The happy isle." [Tennyson]
- Stanza 11, line 1 'Arrive' is used as sometimes by Shakespeare and Milton. [Bradley]
- Stanza 12 backward. [Look- ing back on what might have been. — ED.] [Hallam Tennyson]
- Stanza 12, line 2 'backward': retrospective, like Shakespeare's 'record,.. with a backward look' (Sonnet 59). [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.