"Tears, Idle Tears" is a lyric poem by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It was originally embedded in his 1847 narrative poem The Princess, where it is sung by a court maiden. The poem is an emotionally intense meditation on the passing of time and the loss of friends and loved ones. This subject matter might be partly explained by the fact that Tennyson wrote the poem after a visit to the destitute Tintern Abbey, near the grave of a dear friend.
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The Full Text of “Tears, Idle Tears”
1Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
2Tears from the depth of some divine despair
3Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
4In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
5And thinking of the days that are no more.
6 Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
7That brings our friends up from the underworld,
8Sad as the last which reddens over one
9That sinks with all we love below the verge;
10So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
11 Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
12The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
13To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
14The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
15So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
16 Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
17And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
18On lips that are for others; deep as love,
19Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
20O Death in Life, the days that are no more!
The Full Text of “Tears, Idle Tears”
1Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
2Tears from the depth of some divine despair
3Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
4In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
5And thinking of the days that are no more.
6 Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
7That brings our friends up from the underworld,
8Sad as the last which reddens over one
9That sinks with all we love below the verge;
10So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
11 Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
12The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
13To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
14The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
15So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
16 Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
17And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
18On lips that are for others; deep as love,
19Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
20O Death in Life, the days that are no more!
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“Tears, Idle Tears” Summary
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“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”
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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, -
Lines 4-5
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more. -
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. -
Lines 11-13
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
To dying ears, -
Lines 13-15
when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more. -
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; -
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
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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”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Tears, Idle Tears” Speaker
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“Tears, Idle Tears” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Tears, Idle Tears”
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More “Tears, Idle Tears” Resources
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External Resources
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Another Introduction to the Poem — Read an introduction to some aspects of the poem, written by Cambridge University English professors.
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Tennyson's Manuscripts — See high definition images of Cambridge University's collection of Tennyson's manuscripts.
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"Tears, Idle Tears" Read Aloud — Listen to a recording of the poem.
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"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."
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The Poem Sung to Music — Listen to the poem performed to music, as by the maid in The Princess.
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Full Text of "The Princess" — Read "The Princess," the narrative poem in which "Tears, Idle Tears" was originally published.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson
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