I first imagined that the "hill" where the ships "go on" is the curvature of the earth as they sail on. But having seen the Sutton Hoo hoard recently, I wondered about Viking ship burials. The Victorians were very engaged in the archeology of ship burials, with some of the grandest ships unearthed by the late 1800s (the amazing Gokstad ship was found in 1880, after this poem but still parcel to the century of discovery). So it's reasonable that Tennyson intends us to imagine the ships, lately so stately, will also rest upon the shores and form new hills, while the ocean breaks.
Brilliant commentary on a brilliant poem. Didn't Tennyson once say that meter didn't come naturally to him but he had to work hard at learning it? For sure he did. One of the greatest of the Victorians (which is saying a great deal, as it was an era of great poets), I never tire of reading his elegantly crafted and profound work. Thanks for posting this one -- I'll have to pull out my Victorian poetry anthology and re-visit _In Memoriam_ soon.
I first imagined that the "hill" where the ships "go on" is the curvature of the earth as they sail on. But having seen the Sutton Hoo hoard recently, I wondered about Viking ship burials. The Victorians were very engaged in the archeology of ship burials, with some of the grandest ships unearthed by the late 1800s (the amazing Gokstad ship was found in 1880, after this poem but still parcel to the century of discovery). So it's reasonable that Tennyson intends us to imagine the ships, lately so stately, will also rest upon the shores and form new hills, while the ocean breaks.
Nice
Brilliant commentary on a brilliant poem. Didn't Tennyson once say that meter didn't come naturally to him but he had to work hard at learning it? For sure he did. One of the greatest of the Victorians (which is saying a great deal, as it was an era of great poets), I never tire of reading his elegantly crafted and profound work. Thanks for posting this one -- I'll have to pull out my Victorian poetry anthology and re-visit _In Memoriam_ soon.