Summary
In the poem ‘Dark House by Which I Once More Stand’, the speaker of the poem begins by narrating standing in front of the residence of Arthur Hallam, the friend who has now passed away and for whom “In Memoriam” was composed. Tennyson, who is typically regarded as the speaker, is gazing at the house across the lawn.
The inside is dark. There are no longer any memories of the events he had had. They died with him and his friend.
The speaker says that he was only there because he was unable to sleep. The sun is beginning to rise, and it is quite early in the morning. The situation simply worsens rather than bringing any hope or light to it. The speaker needs to accept that the house will no longer bring him the comfort it had previously bestowed upon him when it starts to rain.
Dark House by Which I Once More Stand: Structure
The poem is organized into quatrains, which are groups of four lines. They consistently use the ABBA rhyme system. Tennyson furthered the composition of these lines by using iambic tetrameter.
This indicates that there are four sets of two beats in each line. Both of these are under stress, yet only the first is. This sort of stanza is now referred to as a Memoriam Stanza as a result of the success of the complete composition.
Dark House by Which I Once More Stand: Poetic Technique
Without a full stop, the first verse continues into the second as “a hand, / A hand.” The joining of hands between Tennyson and Hallam, which will never happen again, is eloquently but brutally mirrored by this repetition; both hands belong to Hallam and are now out of the poet’s reach, at least in this world.
In this poem, it is the living, not the dead, who behave “like a guilty thing.” Tennyson may feel guilty for living when his friend’s life was cruelly taken from him, or he may feel guilty for sneaking away to visit Hallam’s old house in the early morning.
The fact that it is still dark outside suggests that Tennyson has been having trouble sleeping and has come to this house because he is suffering from worries, anxiety, sadness, and guilt. He has been unable to sleep because of his anguish about losing Hallam.
Dark House by Which I Once More Stand: Literary Devices
Alfred Lord Tennyson has used a number of literary devices in the poem “Dark House, Beside Which Once More I Stand”.
He begins by addressing the “home” directly before moving on to the “doors” in line 3. The personification of “Behold me” emphasizes the emptiness of the home and the contrast with the previous welcome he had from Hallam at this house while he was alive.
He is requesting that these inanimate items gaze at him. Personification is giving anything that isn’t human a personal personality or human traits or representing an abstract attribute in human form.
Alliteration is the recurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely related phrases, as in the phrase “long unlovely.” Once more, the street is personified, but it is “unlovely” now that Hallam is not on it.
Anaphora may be found in the phrase “a hand” since the poet is using it to contrast his current absence of Hallam with their previous encounters. The house and the entrance are both the same, although everything else has been completely altered.
Specifically for rhetorical or poetic impact, anaphora is the repeating of a word or expression at the beginning of subsequent phrases, clauses, sentences, or poems.
Dark House by Which I Once More Stand: Detailed Analysis
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “Dark House, beside Which Once More I Stand,” which is part of a much lengthier work of poetry called “In Memoriam A. H. H.” (1809-92) is the seventh canto of the collection. The poem was inspired by Tennyson’s visit to the house of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who passed away too soon in 1833.
The speaker is standing alone outside a home in the opening verse of “Dark house, besides which once more I stand.” The sun has not yet risen, and there is no longer anyone residing there, hence it is “Dark” there.
The residence is intended to be owned by Tennyson’s late friend Arthur Hallam, upon whom the entire poem was written, as will become obvious later. Tennyson is currently standing on the street in front of the home and scanning the yard.
There isn’t much to see from where he stands other than darkness. He has visited this home “again.” He used to go there often, maybe before his companion passed away.
The roadway is described by him as “unlovely.” It becomes unclear what Tennyson is comparing the street to in general as a result of this. Is there anything in this scenario that he feels ought to be beautiful?
Or is he trying to highlight how decrepit he perceives the area to be in general by labelling the street “unlovely”? Whatever the case, things have changed since this individual passed away.
Doors are the first word in the third line. Tennyson is inspecting both the outside and interior doors of the property. He used to go into these locations looking for love and friendship. Since they are now physically closed, this poem aims to emotionally seal them as it explores the depths of his sadness.
The speaker’s heart would beat quickly with enthusiasm whenever he entered this home. Knowing that Hallam would be there to support him, he would extend his hands. However, the waiting process is still ongoing. The final line of this poem is “waiting for a hand.”
Line four and the opening line of stanza two must be separated by a blank line because of the line break. This represents the gaping hole in the speaker’s psyche that has been created. It also functions as a query and a period of time to elicit an answer.
The speaker affirms in the second verse that he waits in vain for his friend’s appearance. There isn’t a “hand” for him to clasp anymore. It is no longer there, along with the emotional security it symbolised. The speaker makes it clear to the reader that both his emotional and physical health are very bad.
He couldn’t sleep, so out of desperation, he went to his friend’s old house. He drew closer to the entrance as the shadowy building became larger in front of him. The term “creep” is used in this verse to convey Tennyson’s feelings about himself.
He arrives at the house and the door in the very early hours of the morning. This indicates that the “Dark dwelling” will soon see a lift in the gloom and some illumination from light. After the mention of dawn, the listener’s potential sense of optimism is dashed in the song’s closing lyrics, “Dark house, besides which once again I stand.”
Again, the white space creates a bit of a cliffhanger since it appears like the speaker was going through a similar scenario. In an effort to rediscover the pleasures and joys of friendship, he set out to see this residence. However, when he arrived, his buddy had left. There has been no change. Tennyson is still alone and Hallam is still dead.
Nevertheless, nothing (for a while) seems to be completely gone. There is some life “far away.” He notices “noise.” No matter how he spent the night, who passed away, or how the home is in condition, it symbolizes the dawn of a new day.
The day delivers “drizzling rain,” not warmth, to the landscape. The speaker is faced with a “blank” day that holds no glimmer of optimism. He seems to have run out of options at this point.