The Epithalamium, or marriage lay, which is added to the great Poem,
refers to the wedding of a younger sister, Cecilia Tennyson, who, about
the year 1842, married Edmund Law Lushington, sometime Professor of Greek
at the University of Glasgow.
The strong domestic affections of the Poet are prominently shown
throughout _In Memoriam_, and his pleasure at this bridal is very
charming. He just recalls that Hallam had appreciated the Bride in her
childhood:
"O when her life was yet in bud,
He too foretold the perfect rose."
The worth of the Bridegroom is acknowledged in this address:
"And thou art worthy; full of power;
As gentle; liberal-minded, great,
Consistent; wearing all that weight
Of learning[90] lightly like a flower."
The whole Poem is pleasant and jocund and _was meant to be a kind of
Divina Commedia_--_ending cheerfully_--but it scarcely harmonizes with the
lofty solemnity of _In Memoriam_, whose Author might rejoice in the
thought, that he would leave behind him a rich legacy of comfort to all
future generations of mourners.