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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