"The Lotus Eaters" is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson inspired by an episode from Homer's "Odyssey." The poem centers around a group of sailors, presumably led by Odysseus, who find themselves on an enchanting, idyllic island inhabited by the Lotus-Eaters. The island's inhabitants consume lotus plants that induce a dreamlike state of forgetfulness and contentment, detached from the struggles and responsibilities of life.

The sailors have succumbed to the allure of the lotus flowers. They are tempted to abandon their strenuous journey and stressful past in favor of a life of tranquility, oblivion, and perpetual pleasure on the island. The mariners, intoxicated by the lotus plants, question the point of their toilsome journey home and the worth of their past struggles and duties.

The poem is a meditation on the desire to escape the burdens of life, the duty of responsibility, and the temptation of a blissful and undisturbed existence. It critically examines the conflict between the human longing for peaceful oblivion and the call of duty and struggles inherent in the human condition.