The Nostalgic Feelings In Tennyson's Lyrical Poems

Alfred Tennyson(1809-1892), the Poet Laureate of the Victorian Period, was known not only for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity, but also for the nostalgic feeling in his poetry. The thesis is an attempt to explore this controversial poet's views on poetic writing, religion, value and life, by analyzing his nostalgic feeling in the poetry from the aspects of his passion for the past, his concept of history, and his concept of time and space.The main body of this thesis consists of three parts.The first part introduces the nostalgic feeling's development in western culture, and analyzes the causes of Tennyson's nostalgic feeling from three approaches: the poet's family origin, the fear of genetic diseases and the role of the times.The second part analyzes Tennyson's description of his nostalgic feeling in his poetry, including three theme analyses: sleep and dream theme, myths and legends theme, and death theme.The third part analyzes the profound meaning of Tennyson's nostalgic feeling, including doomsday complex in the Victorian Period, skepticism, Henri Bergson's concept of time and T. S. Eliot's historical awareness and so on.The impulse of nostalgia, which is just like the life instinct in Freud's theory and the collective unconsciousness in Jung's theory, roots in human beings' hearts deeply. Therefore, the nostalgic feeling in Tennyson's poetry, strikes a chord in his readers.