Marcia Karp wrote (about In Memoriam):
> It's one poem, don't you think?
Well, it was put together over a number of years, parts can stand alone
and different feelings are expressed. It can be compared to TWL which
was once (briefly) considered a collection of poems but now is
considered one poem.
If I go much further than this I'll just show my ignorance. So I won't,
but I'm going to send in a seperate post under the title "Eliot,
Tennyson and In Memoriam" that gives a professional opinion on this.
But I'm still not done here with In Memoriam. Compare these lines of
In Memoriam with the possible lines of TWL below (from Facsimile, p.79)
Dark house, by which once more I stand
Here in the long unlovely street,
Doors, where my heart was used to beat
So quickly, waiting for a hand,
A hand that can be clasp'd no more—
The sea was calm, and your heart responded
Gaily, when invited, beating responsive
To controlling hands. I left without you
Clasping empty hands I sit upon the shore
Fishing, with a desolate sunset behind me
Shall I at least set my own lands in order.
Regards,
Rick Parker
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