Tennyson- Tithonus

Write about the ways Tennyson tells the story in ‘Tithonus’

Tennyson tells the story of Tithonus with very mixed emotions. One minute he is in the depths of despair, and next confessing his desire for his lover. In Tithonus, a variety of techniques are used to show the narrator’s thoughts and feelings. One of the techniques involved is repetition. ‘Ay me! ay me!’ This repetition hints at how strong his despair is, slowly decaying but not dying as an immortal. The exclamation marks show that he is not saying this softly, it suggests that is closer to a cry for help. The help wanted, being for him to be changed back into a mortal, and to stop ‘rotting away’. Although the other way you could interpret it, is that he is feeling very sorry for himself. This could be due to the fact, that he regrets becoming immortal, and is now crying in despair at his thoughtless decision. Another technique that Tennyson includes is the use of metaphors. These are used to tell the story of Tithonus by adding a much better description. There is also an element of imagery included, as it’s easier to picture something when a metaphor that you understand is used. An example of one of these metaphors is ‘A white-hair’d shadow roaming like a dream’. This metaphor is used to describe the narrator when he has become immortal. It portrays his appearance as rather ghostly, describing him as a shadow. Portraying him as being ghostly connects with the idea of him being at an extremely old age. This is down to his request for immortality but forgetting to include immortal youth, meaning that he is decaying away but cannot die. ‘white-hair’d’ also ties in with the idea of old age. White hair is a common feature of old people, so it is evidence that he is aging. Describing him as a shadow, hints that he has decayed so much that he isn’t even human anymore, just an empty shell. There is also the mention of him ‘roaming’. This is when you go from place to place aimlessly. This suggests that becoming immortal and losing his human body to rot and decay, has made him lose all sense of purpose in life. So he just travels constantly with nowhere specially to go. This hints that immortality has robbed him of his body and also his life. Tennyson uses a variety of emotions for the narrator in Tithonus. The narrator expresses different emotions in some of the stanzas. These emotions are his strong desire for the goddess who is lover, and the resentment he feels towards her, by causing him to become a decaying immortal. There is also the emotion of anger, which is aimed at the Gods who made him immortal. An example of his desire and adoration for his lover is when he is describing her beauty. ‘Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine, ere yet they blind the stars’. He is suggesting that even the stars are blinded by her beauty. This hints at the strength of his feelings for her, as he is complimenting her on such a large scale. Describing her eyes as being bright and sweet, suggests at how beautiful her appearance is to him. How he can say so much about just her eyes suggests at how strong his love for her is. Although there is evidence of how much the narrator adores his lover, there is also an element of resentment in the poem. As the poem nears the end (especially in the last stanza) he doesn’t talk about how strong his love for her is. In fact there is a lot of repetition of the word ‘cold’. This could indicate that the warmth of their emotions in the relationship has gone, and now he just feels empty at being turned into an immortal. The other emotion I noticed in Tithonus is anger. The narrator has lots of hate for the Gods who granted his wish. ‘Like wealthy men who care not how they give’. This is a metaphor for the Gods; it is saying that they gave no thought to their decision of turning him immortal. Comparing them to ‘wealthy men’ shows their high status, as the Gods are the ‘rulers’ in Greek mythology. By saying that the God’s ‘care not how they give’ the narrator gives the impression that they are thoughtless and irresponsible. The narrator is angry that they didn’t give thought to his wish and just granted it anyway. It suggests that he thinks they should have known better, and given him immortal youth instead so he doesn’t decay. The last stanza of Tithonus, talks about things decaying. The subject of death is very constant in this verse. ‘Release me, and restore me to the ground’. This shows his desire to die, which is obviously very strong as it has taken over the desire he feels for his lover. The word ‘restore’ hints that the earth is now where he belongs, so he should be put back there as it is his rightful place. This links to decay as bodies rot away when buried underground. Mentioning decay and death at the end of the poem links back to the beginning. This is because the first line of the poem is ‘The woods decay, the woods decay and fall’. Describing the woods as decaying and falling, links to the mention of death at the end. This hints that the poem is actually a cycle, starting with the subject of decay and death, and in fact finishing with it as well.