Has the
poem for you a music of its own which haunts you like a remembered
vision? Find out, if you can, something of the secret of this music.
(B) The intellectual interest of the poem.
(1) Consider the meaning of difficult passages, such as "Fairy tales
of science." Explain the meaning of stanzas containing the following
quotations: "Smote the chord of self"; "Cursed be social wants"; "That
a sorrow's crown of sorrow"; "But the jingling of the guinea"; "Slowly
comes a hungry people"; "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
(2) How long an interval elapsed between the writing of the above two
poems? Does any change in style or trend of thought indicate the lapse
of time? The earlier poem was and is immensely popular. Why? Why is
the later one less popular?
(3) What is the story in the poem, and in what manner is it told? How
is the story continued in "Sixty Years After"? Was Locksley Hall an
inland or a seashore residence, and why? Describe the surroundings
from suggestions in the poems. Sum up what the hero tells of himself
and his love-story. What suggestions are there regarding the
characters of Amy and Edith? Is the emotional side of the hero as
finely balanced as the intellectual side? What light is thrown on the
character of his love by his outbursts against Amy? Would it be fair
to judge of Amy and her husband by what he says of them in his first
anguish? Does he ever admit that he judged them harshly? If so, do you
agree with him altogether? Was it well for Amy to marry as she did?
When obedience to parental wishes and love are in conflict, which
should be followed? Did the hero's evil prophecies come true? Whose
love do you think was the greatest, Amy's, or his, or the Squire's?
(4) How does Tennyson all through the poem make it a parable of human
life?
(C) The emotional influence of the poem.
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