Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson's voice comes through clearly in the poem. He wrote the poem's individual lyrics over a period of seventeen years as a way of grieving for the loss of his best friend. From the prologue on, Tennyson frequently uses the first person as he reflects upon his friend, grieves his loss, and contemplates the deeper meaning of existence.

Although some of the sections may be written from the point of view of a persona, many of them are undeniably autobiographical. Section 5 describes how Tennyson used writing poetry to try to assuage his grief. Section 7 relates his walk past Hallam's house in the predawn hours. Section 14 describes an imagined meeting wherein Tennyson greets Hallam at a port; they meet, shake hands, and have a conversation just like in old times.

The poem describes Tennyson over the passing of time and seasons as his grief moves through stages of numbness, despair, and hope. Three Christmases are described (sections 28, 78, and 104). In section 103, Tennyson describes a dream about sailing on a "little shallop" and encounters magical creatures and a mythic version of Hallam. Tennyson closes the poem with an Epilogue that describes his sister's wedding day.

Arthur Henry Hallam

Arthur Hallam was a brilliant young man who was Tennyson's best friend and was engaged to marry Tennyson's sister. At Cambridge University, both Hallam and Tennyson were members of a group of gifted students known as "the Apostles." Hallam was a great supporter of Tennyson's poetry and encouraged him to give his life to a writing career. When Hallam died at age twenty-two, probably of a stroke, Tennyson was devastated. The poem mourns Hallam's death and evokes memories of their relationship.

Section 9 speaks of Tennyson planting the "poor flower of poesy" on Hallam's grave. Tennyson addresses Hallam directly in section 71, calling him "kinsman" and referring to a trip they had taken together through France. In section 84, he imagines Hallam having lived until they had both had children; he imagines that they could have played with each other's sons. Section 87 describes some of Hallam's activities at Cambridge. Many of the sections contemplate Hallam's existence in the afterlife and look forward to reuniting with him there.

God

The final character who appears frequently in the poem is God. Tennyson begins the prologue (which he wrote in 1849, sixteen years after Hallam's death) by appealing to God. "Strong Son of God, immortal Love," reads the first line, and the poem continues to acknowledge God, sometimes with full faith (as in the prologue and epilogue) and sometimes with serious doubts, as in section 54. Tennyson grapples openly with questions of God's goodness or even his existence, yet he badly wants to believe. In section 55, he writes:

I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world's altar-stairs
That slope through darkness up to God.

Despite his doubts, in the end, Tennyson held on to his faith in God and the afterlife as the only hope of seeing his dear friend Hallam again.