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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 127 by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: AND ALL IS WELL, THO' FAITH AND FORM
Last Line: AND SMILEST, KNOWING ALL IS WELL.
Subject(s): HALLAM, ARTHUR HENRY (1811-1833); DEATH; MOURNING; FRIENDSHIP;

And all is well, tho' faith and form
Be sunder'd in the night of fear;
Well roars the storm to those that hear
A deeper voice across the storm,

Proclaiming social truth shall spread,
And justice, even tho' thrice again
The red fool-fury of the Seine
Should pile her barricades with dead.

But ill for him that wears a crown,
And him, the lazar, in his rags!
They tremble, the sustaining crags;
The spires of ice are toppled down,

And molten up, and roar in flood;
The fortress crashes from on high,
The brute earth lightens to the sky,
And the great AEon sinks in blood,

And compass'd by the fires of hell;
While thou, dear spirit, happy star,
O'erlook'st the tumult from afar,
And smilest, knowing all is well.



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