Beauty Of Tension In Tennyson's In Memoriam

Alfred Tennyson is recognized as one of the most important representatives in the Victorian poetry. Tennyson's works not only reflect his own meditation on and interpretation of the social phenomena as well as progress, but also disclose the fact of people's worry, fear and suspense toward new beliefs in his age, which, in the meantime, displays the sociality of Tennyson's works. Besides, Tennyson is such a prolific poet that the subjects in his works are rather abundant. The techniques Tennyson employed are so various, vivacious and harmonious that they deserve profound exploration and appreciation. Critics have explored his poetry from various angles and in various approaches. Yet as far as the art of tension is concerned, there seems to be still very large room for research. This thesis just attempts to apply the theory of tension in New Criticism to study systematically one of Tennyson'srepresentative works------In Memoriam, so as to reveal the technical value as well asthe spirit in his age.In this poetical work, Tennyson juxtaposes plenty of contradictory images in pairs, such as images of life and death, light and dark, sacred and unsacred, dynamic and static, etc., which are perfectly interwoven and aesthetically impact our sense organs, generating a beauty of tension.Tennyson is also considered as a great master of the sounds and rhythm of English language. He delicately employs regularity and variations in meter, allegro and slow tempo, regularity of end-rhyme and abruptness of internal rhyme simultaneously to reveal the conflicts in his mind.In addition, the indefinite meanings(inherent contradictions) and indeterminacies are also vividly displayed in Tennyson's application of rhetorical devices, such as simplicity of the signifier and multi-meanings of the signified in metaphor, the two aspects of contradictions in paradox, and inheritance of tradition and invention of new sense in allusion. All of these artificial techniques are harmoniously combined and cooperate very well, which enables the whole work to give off a hard and abstruse beauty of tension. It launches fierce sensuous impact on readers, leading them to land on the deep structure of the poems and excavate the core of the poet's thoughts.