Jiayi Huang
ENL003
10/18/2017
“Timbuctoo” by Alfred Tennyson
The poem Timbuctoo came to light by the writer Alfred Tennyson. He won
the chancellor's medal for poetry at the Cambridge University, for his assignment on
the writing of the poem Timbuctoo. Alfred first work involved re-writing a poem he
had written at the age of 15, which was to meet the subject that included a vision that
that takes a look at the distant human future (Roberts, 2000). Timbuctoo is a poem
that looks at how fantasy helps us as the human nation make progress. This poem
showcases what the modern expectations of the human race look like. From the poem
by Alfred Tennyson, it can be seen that one’s imagination can be of value. People
should therefore use their humanity that is guided by science and reason to come
together and ensure a better world for everyone.
From the beginning of the poem to the end, we see a lot of prepositions being
used.
Line 1-9
In the first lines of the poem, Tennyson looked at himself from his
imagination and was standing from the top of the rock of Gibraltar, in his vision he
was seeking from Europe to Africa, and the sun was just from setting (Tennyson,
1828). And Tennyson thought to himself how nobody knows of the deepness the
ocean canyons go. These first lines were a fabricated quotation, and Tennyson
attributed it to the poet, George Chapman.
Lines 10-27
In this Lines Tennyson looks at some of the old monuments described in the
Greek Mythology, and they happened not to be there. This is from the lines "Gone
like dunes."
Lines 16-27
Tennyson though about mythology and how myths influence and inspire
people, given the fact that people make them up. People just go ahead and keep
pursuing new places.
Lines 28-39
In this continuous lines, Tennyson compared the mythology to a person who
was seen clinging to the image of what was seen as a make-believe god, and this was
during an earthquake. This was despite the rest of the rest of the town asking her to
get off the building. These lines involve a comparison within another comparison, and
this section is mainly seen as a testimony of the kind of willingness to believe in
traditional religion, even if it was seen collapsing in the light of scientific discoveries
in Tennyson's era (Tennyson, 1828).
Lines 40-56
The lines "Thrones of the Western wave," refer to kingdoms within Atlantis,
which never existed or sank. In these lines, Tennyson wonders whether they live or
could the places be just any fantastic place in the world (Tennyson, 1828).
Lines 56-66
In these lines Tennyson looks over Africa and wonders about the city of
Timbuctoo, which was legendary in all its aspects, which was meant to represent a
high civilization for the interior of Africa, and as he was thinking he saw an angel
who was surrounded by shifting visions.
Lines 67-75
From these lines, we see that Tennyson is dazzled from his imagination and
he closes his eyes from where he sees the afterimages of the after light. Then the
notice of the angel being surrounded by shifting rainbows (Tennyson, 1828). From
the text, we notice that the writer understands rainbows, even when they are not
exactly real.
Lines 76-83
From these lines we see Tennyson having a confrontation with the angel, and
the angel asks Tennyson why he keeps having thoughts about mythologies of the past.
And this is seen as a comparison to the faith of 1829, where Tennyson looks at the
glorious civilization awaiting discovery by all the conquering Europeans (Tennyson,
1828).
Lines 83-94
In these lines, we see that Tennyson describes his eyes as being suddenly
opened and this is the fact that the angel in question made some contact with him.
Then he could suddenly see everything at once, and this is because of the supernatural
powers that flowed into him.
Lines 94-112
These lines explain how from the contact with the supernatural world, all of
his other senses as well became hyper cute. And he was able to see cities on the
moon, which had cloudless peaks and very incredible deep canyons. Tennyson was
then able to see the whole galaxy, with all its accompaniment of stars and the planets.
He also had the distinct ability to hear human beings and other life forms. Tennyson
could listen to them talk even with being far away in the Milky Way (Tennyson,
1828).
From the first few lines of the poem, we experience the presence of the work
of the imagination through the use of visions. The whole medieval genre that is of
dream vision used in this particular technique is used in the creation of the allegorical
world. Tennyson is said to have read the accounts on mystic to create and embellish
his own experience through his work.
This poem, is a real reflection of the thesis, Tennyson believed in his
imagination, and even went ahead to write about it. Some critics may analyze this to
drugs, this is because of the whole representation of Tennyson's imagination, with the
dreams and visions brought into play. The invention can come as a pure form of
meditation, from the mystical experiences in the poem we see the same (Roberts,
2000). The poem had many proceeding experiences, with the inclusiveness of
apocalyptic content. As the poem continues subsequently, there is a further
introduction of the spreading sounds of human race in triumph across the galaxy and
being able to meet other life forms. From the poem we see that Tennyson is left
feeling, that he knows the outcome of the human future.
To conclude, it can be seen that yes, believing in our imagination makes it of
value, the change and value might not be seen in the present but it makes a
considerable difference of what is to be expected in the future, and it brings a whole
different perspective to what the past had to offer. There is so much value that lies
within a make-believe. Therefore, people should use their humanity that is guided by
science and reason to come together and ensure a better world for everyone.
References
Roberts, A. (2000). Alfred Tennyson. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tennyson, A. T. (1828). Armageddon: And, Timbuctoo : [poems].
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