Tennyson's beginnings

It is typical of Tennyson's imaginative habits that he added a passage in revision to "Locksley Hall", after writing about the full extent of the speaker's later disappointment, so that the lines resonate both with possible futures and the inescapability of what has already happe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Essays in criticism 2010-01, Vol.60 (1), p.1-25
Main Author: Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:It is typical of Tennyson's imaginative habits that he added a passage in revision to "Locksley Hall", after writing about the full extent of the speaker's later disappointment, so that the lines resonate both with possible futures and the inescapability of what has already happened, a measured encounter of hope and doom. Equally typical is the fact that promise turns out to be more like a threat in disguise. Promising words rarely fare well in Tennyson, either in the weak sense of potential or the stronger sense of the vows, oaths and pledges through which speakers try to hold the future to account.
ISSN:0014-0856
1471-6852
DOI:10.1093/escrit/gcp022