The Lotos-Eaters By Tennyson Essay -- essays research papers fc

I. IntroductionFor some years, Tennyson has attracted readers by what Edmond Gosse called"the beauty of the atmosphere which Tennyson contrives to cast most his work, moldingit in the blue mystery of twilight, in the opaline jar of sunset." He is 1(a) of the greatestrepresentative figures of the Victorian Age. His writing incorporates many poetic stylesand includes some of the finest idyllic poetry in the language. He is one of the few poets tohave produced acknowledged masterpieces in so many unlike poetic genres heimplemented perhaps the most distinguished and diverse of all the written works in theEnglish language. The first m I read The Lotus-Eaters1, I have to admit that I had a heartydislike for it. Having read The Odyssey in Literature class put up year, this seemed like itsreplica. It occurred to me that Tennyson was plagiarizing Homer. But when I reread thepoem with greater depth, I noticed its poetic techniques, imagery, symbols, etc. It wasreally exceptio nal actually, although the meter didnt remain uniform. But when youthoroughly understand it, you see how it pertains and is true to life.This macrocosm the first time I had ever come about a work by Tennyson. I didnt knowanything about his life. The thought process that manifested me was that when writing this poem,Tennyson was depressed and cynical. Sort of like Hamlet2 in the To be or not to besoliloquy. In one point in the poem, he says, Death is the end of the world...life all laborbe? I call he meant that life is hard to live there are so many obstacles, so many wrongturns, and you can never go back and change anything. II. Analysis of PoemA. SummaryThe poem is about the journey of Odysseus to the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Here they encounter a zip of creatures known as the Lotophagi (lotus eaters). TheyLotophagi spend their days in a daze, literally. This was the effect of the lotus flower. It was a primitive version of narcotics. The Lotophagi offered the plant to Odysseu s and his clustering members. Some of the clique ate it. And then, they too, experienced a state of euphoria. chthonic these circumstances, they start speaking of staying over hereland of Lotos Eaters, and only dream about home. They block off their wives and children only dream about them.Subsequently, the entire crew ate the lotos plant. Tennyson describes euphor... ...days at Cambridge he often did not bother to write down his compositions. We owe the first version of "The Lotos-Eaters" to Arthur Hallam, who reproduced it from Tennysons tidbits of information.IV. The Poems Place in its TimeTennyson turned to questions of death, religious faith, and immortality in a series of pathetic poems, of which The Lotus-Eaters was a part. Tennyson had a way of achieving a covenant with his public. He gave them what they wanted. For example, the poem Princess was won by the hearts of the millions because it supported the womens rights, which was one of the issues just igniting a t that time. His consummately craftedverse expressed the terms of the Victorian savor for order and harmony. Unlike Dickens, who was present in Tennesons time and a social critic, Tennyson didnt seem to find an ill to society. Maybe that is wherefore he was given the title of Lord and not Dickens. V. Bibliography1.Lord Alfred Tennyson, Microsoft Encarta encyclopaedia 99, October 19992. The Norton Anthology of Poetry, The Lotos-Eaters, W.W. Norton & Company,New York, 1997, p. 540. 3. World Wide Web-http//charon.sfsu.edu/TENNYSON/tennyson.html.