Tennyson's 'In Memoriam' : Explanation 3 / Reference to Context
O Sorrow, with thou live with me No casual mistress, but a wife, My bosom friend and half of life; As I confess it needs must be. These lines have been taken from Lord Tennyson’s elegiac poem 'In Memoriam'. The poet, after the untimely death of his intimate friend named Arthur Henry Hallam, was mentally broken down. That is to say, he composed these lines in the remembrance of his deceased chum. Here, the poet greets 'Sorrow', by using an apostrophic address, to be with him as a lifelong partner or an inseparable wife. However, he will never allow 'Sorrow' as a 'casual mistress'. That is to say, he emnraces sorrow to inhabit with him as a devoted wife or his 'bosom friend' for the half of his life. He does acknowledge that it must come into effect. There is a need of it; moreover, there is a compulsion in this regard. In this perspective, it must be noted that the poet's tone of speaking sounds as if his heavy heart is wallowing in utm...