Laurel · Alfred Tennyson · In Memoriam A.H.H.

I past beside the reverend walls

Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892) · 1850

iambic tetrameter · ABBA · 40 lines · from In Memoriam A.H.H.

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I past beside the reverend wallsIn which of old I wore the gown;I roved at random through the town,And saw the tumult of the halls;

And heard once more in college fanesThe storm their high-built organs make,And thunder-music, rolling, shakeThe prophets blazon’d on the panes;

And caught once more the distant shout,The measured pulse of racing oarsAmong the willows; paced the shoresAnd many a bridge, and all about

The same gray flats again, and feltThe same, but not the same; and lastUp that long walk of limes I pastTo see the rooms in which he dwelt.

Another name was on the door:I linger’d; all within was noiseOf songs, and clapping hands, and boysThat crash’d the glass and beat the floor;

Where once we held debate, a bandOf youthful friends, on mind and art,And labour, and the changing mart,And all the framework of the land;

When one would aim an arrow fair,But send it slackly from the string;And one would pierce an outer ring,And one an inner, here and there;

And last the master-bowman, heWould cleave the mark. A willing earWe lent him. Who, but hung to hearThe rapt oration flowing free

From point to point with power and grace,And music in the bounds of law,To those conclusions when we sawThe God within him light his face,

And seem to lift the form, and glowIn azure orbits heavenly-wise;And over those ethereal eyesThe bar of Michael Angelo.

Words in this poem

reverend a.
Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
mart v. t.
To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
slackly adv.
In a slack manner. Trench.
rapt n.
An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

I past beside the reverend walls 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 past beside the reverend walls, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-85.html, id L18445.

Form and metre

I past beside the reverend walls is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 48% 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. 1 ABBA wallsA · gownB · townB · hallsA
  2. 2 ABBA fanesA · makeB · shakeB · panesA
  3. 3 ABBA shoutA · oarsB · shoresB · aboutA
  4. 4 ABBA feltA · lastB · pastB · dweltA
  5. 5 ABBA doorA · noiseB · boysB · floorA
  6. 6 ABBA bandA · artB · martB · landA
  7. 7 ABBA fairA · stringB · ringB · thereA
  8. 8 ABBA heA · earB · hearB · freeA
  9. 9 ABBA graceA · lawB · sawB · faceA
  10. 10 ABBA glowA · wiseB · eyesB · angeloA
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.

LineSyl.Stress
I past beside the reverend walls8··˘/·/˘·
In which of old I wore the gown;8········
I roved at random through the town,8···/˘···
And saw the tumult of the halls;8···/˘···
And heard once more in college fanes8·····/˘·
The storm their high-built organs make,8·····/˘·
And thunder-music, rolling, shake8·/˘/˘/˘·
The prophets blazon’d on the panes;8·/˘·····
And caught once more the distant shout,8·····/˘·
The measured pulse of racing oars8·/˘··/˘·
Among the willows; paced the shores8···/····
And many a bridge, and all about8·/······
The same gray flats again, and felt8····˘/··
The same, but not the same; and last8········
Up that long walk of limes I past8········
To see the rooms in which he dwelt.8········
Another name was on the door:8˘/˘·····
I linger’d; all within was noise8·/˘·····
Of songs, and clapping hands, and boys8···/˘···
That crash’d the glass and beat the floor;8········
Where once we held debate, a band8····˘/··
Of youthful friends, on mind and art,8·/˘·····
And labour, and the changing mart,8·/···/˘·
And all the framework of the land;8···/····
When one would aim an arrow fair,8·····/˘·
But send it slackly from the string;8···/˘···
And one would pierce an outer ring,8·····/˘·
And one an inner, here and there;8···/˘···
And last the master-bowman, he8···/˘/˘·
Would cleave the mark. A willing ear8·····/˘·
We lent him. Who, but hung to hear8········
The rapt oration flowing free8··˘/˘/˘·
From point to point with power and grace,8·····/··
And music in the bounds of law,8·/˘·····
To those conclusions when we saw8··˘/˘···
The God within him light his face,8········
And seem to lift the form, and glow8········
In azure orbits heavenly-wise;8·/˘/˘/˘·
And over those ethereal eyes8···˘/˘˘·
The bar of Michael Angelo.8···/˘/˘·

On this poem

He revisits Cambridge, the chief scene of past intimacy with Hallam, and roams about the different colleges.

The expression "high-built organ," probably alludes to the organ being here, as in some cathedrals, reared above the screen which separates the choir from the nave.

"The prophets blazon'd on the panes,"

refers to the stained glass windows, and more particularly to those, perhaps, in King's College chapel. The scenery at the back of the colleges is vividly recalled.

He stops at the door of Hallam's old room, now occupied by a noisy wine party. It was there that his friend used to achieve such controversial triumphs--ever as the master-bowman hitting the mark in argument, when

"we saw The God within him light his face,"

like the martyr Stephen's;

"And over those ethereal eyes The bar of Michael Angelo"--

whose brow was straight and prominent--the sign of intellectual power.

Michael Angelo had a strong bar of bone over his eyes.

Mrs. Frances A. Kemble in Record of a Girlhood, vol. ii. p. 3, thus describes young Hallam's appearance. "There was a gentleness and purity almost virginal in his voice, manner, and countenance; and the upper part of his face, his forehead and eyes (perhaps in readiness for his early translation), wore the angelic radiance that they still must wear in heaven. Some time or other, at some rare moments of the divine Spirit's supremacy in our souls, we all put on the heavenly face that will be ours hereafter, and for a brief lightning space our friends behold us as we shall look when this mortal has put on immortality. On Arthur Hallam's brow and eyes this heavenly light, so fugitive on other human faces, rested habitually, as if he was thinking and seeing in heaven."
Notes from the edition 8

Section introductions from Alfred Gatty, <i>A Key to Lord Tennyson's “In Memoriam”</i>, 4th ed. (George Bell &amp; 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.

  1. Stanza 1 Trinity College, Cambridge. [Tennyson]
  2. Stanza 2, line 2 'high-built,' in reference to the position of the organ above the screen (Gatty). [Bradley]
  3. Stanza 2, line 3 Cf. a fine description at the end of The Princess, n. [Bradley]
  4. Stanza 2, line 4 ' prophet ': first ed.: ' prophets.' The change was not made till 1884. [Bradley]
  5. Stanza 4 the rooms. Which were in New Court, Trinity. [Now 3 G. — ED.] [Tennyson]
  6. Stanza 4, line 3 'long walk of limes,' in Trinity College. Cf. Sonnet To the Rev. W. H. Brookfield:

    How oft with him we paced that walk of limes, Him, the lost light of those dawn-golden times. [Bradley]
  7. Stanza 10 The bar of Michael Angela. The broad bar of frontal bone over the eyes of Michael Angelo. [Tennyson]
  8. Stanza 10, line 3 ' These lines I wrote from what Arthur Hallam said after reading of the prominent ridge of bone over the eyes of Michael Angelo: " Alfred, look over my eyes; surely I have the bar of Michael Angelo!'" Tennyson, quote d in Memoir, I. 38. [Bradley]

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