How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
And gazing on thee, sullen tree,
Sick for thy stubborn hardihood (73-74)
Tennyson is personifying the yew tree by giving it human emotions like sullenness and stubbornness, which actually reflect his own mood. Get ready for some lit jargon: this is called "pathetic fallacy."
Quote #2
The last red leaf is whirl'd away (323)
The cycles of nature are one way the poem marks time. The red leaf whirling away on the wind shows us that, at this point in the poem, we're in autumn.
Quote #3
Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life (1057-1060)
"Type" here means "species." So, Nature is more careful to preserve the various species (per the Theory of Evolution), but is completely okay with destroying individuals, like Arthur. Here, Nature (meaning reason and the scientific method) are opposed to God, representing the struggle Tennyson is having between faith and science.