By the poem's end, Tennyson has come to value both the memory of his late friend and the insight and new appreciation for life that grieving has given him. This is partially reflected in the poet's struggle to mourn a loss he feels so deeply and personally in a publicly appropriate manner.

Many people in Victorian England also struggled to find a balance between private grief and public expression of loss. In fact, after the death of Prince Albert in 1861, "In Memoriam" regained popularity as a guide to public grief and became one of Queen Victoria's favorite works.

The poet is able to relate this to the new intellectual and scientific advancements of his day. The early nineteenth century was a time of great change in intellectual thought. Consider how industrialization, science, and secularization might have impacted someone like Tennyson, who spent his youth in a religious household.

Many contemporaries of Tennyson, such as Matthew Arnold, explored agnostic themes in their works. Tennyson remained religious throughout his life. This does not mean that he ignored reason. Instead, he combined his faith with the scientific advancements of his time. Still, many people struggled to reconcile conflicting beliefs about nature and the supernatural. Tennyson seems very aware of this when he writes

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law—
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed ...