The Lady Of Shalott

"Sir Galahad" by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1842)

“Sir Galahad,” like the revised version of “The Lady of Shalott,” was published in Tennyson’s 1842 volume of poetry. It shares several other traits with “The Lady of “Shalott.” Both are centered around iambic tetrameter, though “The Lady of Shalott” features more variation, while “Sir Galahad” alternates regularly between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Both poems draw from Arthurian legends and use this subject matter as allegorical commentary on Victorian society. Tennyson also uses Arthurian characters and themes to explore his conception of the supernatural, and both poems incorporate magical elements that are never directly explained. The subject matter of “Sir Galahad” is more violent than that of “The Lady of Shalott,” but, ironically, its rhyme scheme and meter are more playful, lending the poem a powerful juxtaposition between theme and form.

"In Memoriam A. H. H." by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1850)

“In Memoriam” is another of Tennyson’s most renowned poems; it contains the often-quoted lines “’Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all.” The poem is an elegy for Tennyson’s close friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died at age 22 of a cerebral hemorrhage.