The poem, _In Memoriam_, in memory of Arthur Henry Hallam, was published
in 1850, at first anonymously, but the authorship was not long in doubt.
Arthur Henry Hallam, the son of Henry Hallam, the historian, was born in
1811. He entered Eton in 1822, and remained there until 1827, when he
went to Cambridge. There he met Alfred Tennyson, and the two young men
formed a friendship for one another, broken only by Hallam's early death.
In 1832, he graduated from Cambridge, became engaged to Emily Tennyson,
the sister of Alfred, and entered on the study of law. In 1833, he had a
severe illness and after his recovery was taken by his father for a tour
on the Continent, in the hope of restoring his health. Sir Francis
Hastings Doyle tells the story of his death: "A severe bout of influenza
weakened him, and whilst he was travelling abroad for change of air, and
to recover his strength, one of his usual attacks apparently returned
upon him without warning, whilst he was still unfitted to resist it; so
that when his poor father came back from a walk through the streets of
Vienna, he was lying dead on the sofa where he had been left to take a
short rest. Mr. Hallam sat down to write his letters, and it was only by
slow and imperceptible degrees that a certain anxiety, in consequence of
Arthur's stillness and silence, dawned upon his mind; he drew near to
ascertain why he had not moved nor spoken, and found that all was over."
The body was brought back to England and buried in Clevedon Church, on
the banks of the Severn.
The effect upon Tennyson of the death of Arthur Hallam was overwhelming.
For a time it "blotted out all joy from his life and made him long for
death, in spite of his feeling that he was in some measure a help and
comfort to his sister." Under the influence of this great sorrow he
wrote _The Two Voices_, _Ulysses_, "_Break, Break, Break_," and began
that exquisite series of lyric poems, afterwards joined together in the
_In Memoriam_. His friendship for Hallam remained throughout life with
him as one of his most precious possessions.
The poems in the text are selected from the _In Memoriam_, and have a
more or less close connection with each other. It is better, however, to
regard each poem as a separate poem, without any attempt to place it in
its relation to the _In Memoriam_ as a whole.
The best annotated edition of _In Memoriam_ is that by A. C. Bradley
(Macmillan). Other useful editions are edited by Wallace (Macmillan),
and by Robinson (Cambridge Press). Elizabeth B. Chapman's _Companion to
In Memoriam_ (Macmillan), contains the best analysis of the poem.