Whilst together upon earth they could advance in company, though Hallam's
spirit and intellect were ever soaring upwards. Now, the links which
united them are lost, and he can no longer partake in his friend's
transformations. So, (folly though it be,) he wishes that, by an effort of
will, he could
"leap the grades of life and light,
And flash at once, my friend, to thee."
See P. xcv., 9.
For, though he has no vague dread of death and "the gulfs beneath," yet
the chilling thought comes over him, that in death he may not be able to
overtake his friend, but evermore remain "a life behind" him,
"Through all the secular to be"--
all future ages: and that so he shall be his mate no more, which is his
great trouble.
"The howlings of forgotten fields"
is probably a classical allusion to those "fields" of mystic horror, over
which the spirits of the departed were supposed to range, uttering wild
shrieks and cries. Has Dante no such allusion?[26]
This Poem intimates the idea of progress and advancement after death.