In Memoriam A. H. H. — Section LXXVIII
In Memoriam A. H. H. — Section LXXVIII
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Again at Christmas did we weave
The holly round the Christmas hearth;
The silent snow possess'd the earth,
And calmly fell our Christmas-eve:
The yule-clog sparkled keen with frost,
No wing of wind the region swept,
But over all things brooding slept
The quiet sense of something lost.
As in the winters left behind,
Again our ancient games had place,
The mimic picture's breathing grace,
And dance and song and hoodman-blind.
Who show'd a token of distress?
No single tear, no mark of pain:
O sorrow, then can sorrow wane?
O grief, can grief be changed to less?
O last regret, regret can die!
No-mixt with all this mystic frame,
Her deep relations are the same,
But with long use her tears are dry.
Verse breaks and indentation are preserved. Wrapped lines have a hanging indent. Width adapts to your screen.
Complete poem text, transcribed by Poets’ Corner: prologue, 131 numbered sections and epilogue.
Read the original source ↗
