In Tenebris (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Hardy
- First Published: 1901
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Religion, England or English people, Death or dying, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Loneliness, Life, philosophy of, Life and death, Joy or sorrow, Victorian era or Victorianism
The Poem
“In Tenebris” is a sequence of three meditative poems, divided into six quatrains in poem I, four in poem II, and five in poem III. Each poem is headed by a Latin epigraph or motto from the Psalms that expresses alienation and despair. The title is Latin for “in the darkness,” anticipating the light and dark imagery in all three poems. The original title in Poems of the Past and the Present, “De Profundis,” or “Out of the Depths,” also reflects the speaker’s gloomy vision and his preoccupation with physical and spiritual death.
“In...
[The entire page is 1696 words long]
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