"St Simeon Stylites" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson in 1833 and published in his 1842 collection of poetry. The poem describes the actions of St. Simeon Stylites, a Christian ascetic saint who recounts his various physical acts in hopes that he has earned his place in heaven. It captures Tennyson's feelings following the death of a close friend, Arthur Hallam, and contains feelings of self-loathing and regret. The work has ironic overtones that give it the appearance of a satirical work.
In 1833, Tennyson's close friend Arthur Hallam died. He was deeply affected by this death and many of his poems written soon after contained feelings of self-loathing and regret, including "St. Simeon Stylites". [1] The poem also contained a satirical response to religious asceticism in general, which is possibly related to his feelings about his aunt Mary Bourne and her Calvinistic views. "St. Simeon Stylites" was completed by autumn 1833 and was circulated among Tennyson's fellows at Cambridge University. [2]
The poem was later published in his 1842 collection of poetry. [3] The poem's combination of dark humour, imagery and sympathy for the hero was unique in relationship to the previous works Tennyson published before 1842. [4] Tennyson, at the end of his life in 1892, returned to the idea and followed "St. Simeon Stylites" with the poem "St. Telemachus". [5]
Within the poem, St. Simeon describes himself in excess: [6]
St. Simeon, with all that he does, still doubts his salvation. While he believes that experiencing pain can be beneficial, he questions if there will be any benefit from his actions: [6]
As the poem progresses, he reveals that he depends on the number of his actions to verify his deeds: [6]
Near the poem's end, St. Simeon is filled with confidence that he will experience paradise, but this is followed by doubt that it is only a trick: [7]
The poem concludes with St. Simeon returning to his counting, which is followed by him asking that the reader follows his pattern: [7]
"St. Simeon Stylites" is related to other post-Hallam works like Ulysses as it captures Tennyson's feelings after his friend's death. Later, in In Memoriam, Tennyson would describe his feelings in a broad manner. [8] The work has ironic overtones that make it appear as a satirical work. As a whole, the work parodies Christianity that emphasises the egotistical self while also serving as a lamentation of the self. The character of St Simeon is portrayed in a manner that he is comical and disgusting while also being sympathetic. He is also simultaneously an abnormal individual and a normal individual that captures the extremes of human personality while also exhibiting moderate characteristics. At the end of the poem, St Simeon asks that the reader follows his example. His example is one the reader would reject, but it is also one that the reader would recognise as the basic pattern of humanity. [9]
Tennyson discusses consciousness and personality in "St. Simeon Stylites". The humour within the poem is not a primary focus in a similar way as Will Waterproof's Lyrical Monologue. Although the poem is very different from the works before 1842, it has some relationship with The Two Voices. The humour and irony is the result of St Simeon trying to deal with his internal self by dealing with his external self. Although he hates his body, his body becomes his representation for being spiritually correct. St. Simeon focuses on the material world, and even religious songs are important only for their sound and not their truth. Even in thinking about his death, he can only think of how his body will be treated. This is surrounded by the poem describing St. Simeon's physical condition in a humorous manner, such as his lack of teeth or him being an old man, instead of being described as a saint. [10]
In relationship of the style of "St. Simeon Stylites" with the rest of Tennyson's works, James Kincaid declare: "Critics often express astonishment that the same mind could produce both 'St. Simeon Stylites' and 'The May Queen'". [11] As a dramatic monologue, the poem is similar to The Lotos-Eaters, Rizpah and Ulysses, and it is similar to the dramatic monologues of Robert Browning. In terms of the poem's use of irony, it is similar to the "Northern Farmer" poems. In use of a figure that serves as an auditor of the poem, "St. Simeon Stylites" is similar to "Columbus", "Despair", "Tiresias", Ulysses and other poems. In the particular use in "St Simeon Stylites", the auditor is in place to determine who Simeon is directing his conversation to: God or St. Simeon. [12]
In response to the 1842 collection of poems, Tennyson's friend James Spedding wrote a review that focused on "The Palace of Art", "St. Simeon Stylites", The Two Voices and The Vision of Sin as good works. [13] Leigh Hunt, in a review for the October 1842 Church and England Quarterly Review, said that the work was an "appalling satire on the pseudo-aspirations of egotistical asceticism and superstition". [14]
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain some of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although described by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Arthur Henry Hallam was an English poet, best known as the subject of a major work, In Memoriam, by his close friend and fellow poet Alfred Tennyson. Hallam has been described as the jeune homme fatal of his generation.
"Ulysses" is a poem in blank verse by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), written in 1833 and published in 1842 in his well-received second volume of poetry. An oft-quoted poem, it is a popular example of the dramatic monologue. Facing old age, mythical hero Ulysses describes his discontent and restlessness upon returning to his kingdom, Ithaca, after his far-ranging travels. Despite his reunion with his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus, Ulysses yearns to explore again.
Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Syrian Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo. Several other stylites later followed his model. Simeon is venerated as a saint by the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Churches. He is known formally as Simeon Stylites the Elder to distinguish him from Simeon Stylites the Younger, Simeon Stylites III, and Symeon Stylites of Lesbos.
Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. M.H. Abrams notes the following three features of the dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry:
- The single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment […].
- This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know of the auditors' presence, and what they say and do, only from clues in the discourse of the single speaker.
- The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of what the lyric speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and character.
"In Memoriam A.H.H." is a poem by the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published in 1850. It is a requiem for the poet's beloved Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833, aged 22. It contains some of Tennyson's most accomplished lyrical work, and is an unusually sustained exercise in lyric verse. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest poems of the 19th century.
"Locksley Hall" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson in 1835 and published in his 1842 collection of Poems. It narrates the emotions of a rejected suitor upon coming to his childhood home, an apparently fictional Locksley Hall, though in fact Tennyson was a guest of the Arundel family in their stately home named Loxley Hall, in Staffordshire, where he spent much of his time writing whilst on his visits.
Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger, also known as Simeon of the Admirable Mountain, is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Churches of Eastern and Latin Rites.
"Tithonus" is a poem by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92), originally written in 1833 as "Tithon" and completed in 1859. It first appeared in the February edition of the Cornhill Magazine in 1860. Faced with old age, Tithonus, weary of his immortality, yearns for death. The poem is a dramatic monologue with Tithonus addressing his consort Eos, the goddess of the dawn.
"Mariana" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published in 1830. The poem follows a common theme in much of Tennyson's work—that of despondent isolation. The subject of "Mariana" is a woman who continuously laments her lack of connection with society. The isolation defines her existence, and her longing for a connection leaves her wishing for death at the end of every stanza. The premise of "Mariana" originates in William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, but the poem ends before Mariana's lover returns. Tennyson's version was adapted by others, including John Everett Millais and Elizabeth Gaskell, for use in their own works. The poem was well received by critics, and it is described by critics as an example of Tennyson's skill at poetry.
"Oenone" or "Œnone" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson in 1829. The poem describes the Greek mythological character Oenone and her witnessing incidents in the life of her lover, Paris, as he is involved in the events of the Trojan War. "Oenone" was inspired by Tennyson's trip to Spain, where he visited the Pyrenees mountains. It is considered the simplest of Tennyson's dramatic monologues.
The Lotos-Eaters is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, published in Tennyson's 1832 poetry collection. It was inspired by his trip to Spain with his close friend Arthur Hallam, where they visited the Pyrenees mountains. The poem describes a group of mariners who, upon eating the lotos, are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world. The title and concept derives from the lotus-eaters in Greek mythology.
"The Day-Dream" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson that was published in 1842. It was an expanded version of his 1830 poem "The Sleeping Beauty". It was further altered in 1848 for a dramatic performance for a private gathering with Tennyson starring as the Prince. "The Day-Dream" discusses the nature of sleeping and of dreaming, especially in relation to individuals that would want to escape from reality. The poem also compares the act of poetry with dreaming and asserts that the two are the same.
"Sir Galahad" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, and published in his 1842 collection of poetry. It is one of his many poems that deal with the legend of King Arthur, and describes Galahad experiencing a vision of the Holy Grail. The subject of the poem was later included in "The Holy Grail" section of Tennyson's Idylls of the King, but the latter version depicts Galahad as a pious individual who is grimly determined to fulfill his destiny. Sir Galahad, in contrast, depicts Galahad as proud, and has almost cheerful undertones.
"Break, Break, Break" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson written during early 1835 and published in 1842. The poem is an elegy that describes Tennyson's feelings of loss after Arthur Henry Hallam died and his feelings of isolation while at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire.
"A Song for Simeon" is a 37-line poem written in 1928 by American-English poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). It is one of five poems that Eliot contributed to the Ariel Poems series of 38 pamphlets by several authors published by Faber and Gwyer. "A Song for Simeon" was the sixteenth in the series and included an illustration by avant garde artist Edward McKnight Kauffer. The poems, including "A Song for Simeon", were later published in both the 1936 and 1963 editions of Eliot's collected poems.
A stylite or pillar-saint is a type of Christian ascetic who lives on pillars, preaching, fasting and praying. Stylites believe that the mortification of their bodies would help ensure the salvation of their souls. Stylites were common in the early days of the Byzantine Empire. The first known stylite was Simeon Stylites the Elder who climbed a pillar in Syria in 423 and remained there until his death 37 years later.
Poems, by Alfred Tennyson, was a two-volume 1842 collection in which new poems and reworked older ones were printed in separate volumes. It includes some of Tennyson's finest and best-loved poems, such as Mariana, The Lady of Shalott, The Palace of Art, The Lotos Eaters, Ulysses, Locksley Hall, The Two Voices, Sir Galahad, and Break, Break, Break. It helped to establish his reputation as one of the greatest poets of his time.
"Mariana in the South" is an early poem by Alfred Tennyson, first printed in 1833 and significantly revised in 1842.
"St. Agnes" is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1837, revised in 1842, and retitled "St. Agnes' Eve" in 1857.
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