Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 1253-1268
When on my bed the moonlight falls,
I know that in thy place of rest
By that broad water of the west,
There comes a glory on the walls;
Thy marble bright in dark appears,
As slowly steals a silver flame
Along the letters of thy name,
And o'er the number of thy years.
The mystic glory swims away;
From off my bed the moonlight dies;
And closing eaves of wearied eyes
I sleep till dusk is dipt in gray;
And then I know the mist is drawn
A lucid veil from coast to coast,
And in the dark church like a ghost
Thy tablet glimmers to the dawn.
- We get more light and dark imagery, folks.
- Tennyson envisions moonlight falling on Arthur's grave and lighting up his name carved into the gravestone, along with the dates of his birth and death. That same moonlight is also falling on Tennyson's chamber. Maybe the speaker takes some comfort in this?
- The coming day also shines over both of them, but no—there doesn't seem to be much comfort here.
- Check out how Tennyson uses imagery relating to "gray" (which we're sure you'll agree is a dreary, lifeless color), "dark," and "ghost[s]." These aren't upbeat images, folks.