Tennyson is a Pictorial Artist. Discuss.

Answer

Write a note on visual imagery used in Tennyson’s poetry. 

Or, Tennyson is a pictorial artist. Discuss.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s (1809-1892) poetry is like a gallery of beautiful paintings made with words. He uses vivid descriptions to create scenes that feel real, as if we are looking at a picture. This pictorial quality helps readers imagine the places, emotions, and stories he tells. We will discuss Tennyson’s pictorial quality in his major poems below.

The Dreamy Land in “The Lotos-eaters”: In “The Lotos-eaters” (1832), the sailors reach a strange and sleepy island. Tennyson paints a beautiful and magical picture of this place. Everything feels sleepy there. The island feels like it is always afternoon there. The poet writes:

“In which it seemed always afternoon.” 

It means the island is sleepy, dreamy, and very quiet. The air is very slow and heavy, like someone breathing in a dream. It feels like time has stopped. Waterfalls move slowly “like a downward smoke.” Even the red sunset stays longer than usual. All these images help us see the beauty and silence of the island. We feel as if we are standing in that dreamy land with the sailors.

Nature Reflects Sadness in “Oenone”: In “Oenone,” written in 1829, Tennyson paints nature to mirror Oenone’s sadness. In this poem, Oenone expresses her sadness for her lost love, Paris. Oenone is sad because Paris left her for Helen. Tennyson paints the valley of Mount Ida, where Oenone cries. The nature matches Oenone’s sadness—beautiful but no wind, no insect sounds, the flowers droop, the bees rest inside the lilies. As the poet writes:

“The grasshopper is silent in the grass:…

The purple flower droops.”

The gloomy valley around Oenone makes her loneliness feel real. Tennyson’s pictorial skill makes us almost see the tears in the landscape.

Horror of Growing Old Forever in “Tithonus”: “Tithonus,” first written in 1833, tells the story of a man who gains immortality, but