Jan 2, 2010
In seven blank-verse paragraphs, Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Tithonus” reflects upon the strange and tragic fate of its speaker, the doomed lover of Aurora, the goddess of the dawn in Roman mythology. According to legend, the Trojan prince Tithonus received the gift of immortality from the gods at Aurora’s request. Because the goddess neglected to obtain for him the gift of eternal youth, however, Tithonus continued to grow old, without “the power to die,” until he was turned into a grasshopper. In the poem, Tennyson’s ancient Tithonus laments his alienation...
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