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Write an essay on Tithonus: how far does Tennyson convey the experience of Tithonus?
- Words:
- 1002
- Submitted:
- Tue Oct 14 2003

... Write an essay on Tithonus: how far does Tennyson convey the experience of Tithonus? Tithonus was written, Tennyson said, as a 'pendant to Ulysses,' and the sense of isolation and grief that pervades the poem clearly brings out the underlying darkness present in the earlier poem, and shows the consequences of human desire. Tithonus warns of the dangers of immortality, but its real message seems to be a suggestion that man cannot hope to aspire to the permanence of nature. The cyclical manner in which nature operates is shown through the iambic pentameter in the first stanza, which gives a regular, rhythmic sound to the words. The polysyndeton in the third line, and symmetrical structure of the first line support this effect, which although slows the poem down, gives a sense of harmony to the language and sound. This harmony is shattered when the lines "Me only cruel immortality/ Consumes," are introduced.













