“Tears, Idle Tears” Introduction

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“Tears, Idle Tears” Summary

“Tears, Idle Tears” Themes

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  The Bittersweet Nature of Memory and Loss

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• 

  Love and Death

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Tears, Idle Tears”

• Line 1

  Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 2-3

  Tears from the depth of some divine despair
  Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 4-5

  In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
  And thinking of the days that are no more.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-10

   Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
  That brings our friends up from the underworld,
  Sad as the last which reddens over one
  That sinks with all we love below the verge;
  So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-13

  Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
  The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
  To dying ears,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-15

  when unto dying eyes
  The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
  So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-18

  Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
  And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
  On lips that are for others;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-20

  deep as love,
  Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
  O Death in Life, the days that are no more!

  

  

  

  

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“Tears, Idle Tears” Symbols

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  Sunrise and Sunset

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“Tears, Idle Tears” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Paradox

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Diacope

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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“Tears, Idle Tears” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Idle
• Divine despair
• Fresh
• First beam
• Pipe
• Casement
• Dear
• Fancy
• Feign'd

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Tears, Idle Tears”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Tears, Idle Tears” Speaker

“Tears, Idle Tears” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Tears, Idle Tears”

More “Tears, Idle Tears” Resources

• External Resources

  • Another Introduction to the Poem — Read an introduction to some aspects of the poem, written by Cambridge University English professors.

  • Tennyson's Manuscripts — See high definition images of Cambridge University's collection of Tennyson's manuscripts.

  • "Tears, Idle Tears" Read Aloud — Listen to a recording of the poem.

  • "In Memoriam A.H.H." — Read Tennyson's most famous poem, which was dedicated to his friend Arthur Henry Hallam (whose initials are in the title), and who may also have partly inspired "Tears, Idle Tears."

  • The Poem Sung to Music — Listen to the poem performed to music, as by the maid in The Princess.

  • Full Text of "The Princess" — Read "The Princess," the narrative poem in which "Tears, Idle Tears" was originally published.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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  • The Eagle

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  • Tithonus

  • Ulysses