The Lotos-Eaters By Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Notes

The Lotos-Eaters

 By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)

     Some men where on a boat in the sea searching for a shore to reach. One person exclaims "Courage!" to keep his fellow persons high spirited and points out towards the land he finds saying that the waves will take them there. They reach the shore in the afternoon. They enjoyed the breeze along the coast. The moon was above the valley and streams descended from it. The speaker of the poem associates emotions to every scenic detail. The breeze was like tired of working to fulfil a difficult dream. He describes the stream. The stream originated from valleys far inside the land, they descend through wavering slopes, reach the bottom and create foam, gleam under the setting sun, pass through thick vegetation and join the sea. The West was red due to the setting sun. There they reached with dark faces, tired and sad, who eat lotos which is a legendary plant which makes people drowsy and happy. They had the plant with them. Those who consumed it seemed to themselves asleep but were very much awake because they were intoxicated. Whatever they see reflects their emotions. It is they who mourn but it seems to them that every wave mourns. If anyone speaks to them, they feel like someone is speaking to them in a low voice from some grave. They hear their heartbeat like music in the ears. They contemplate their family and their homeland while being seated between the setting Sun and rising Moon. Someone said that they will not return to their homeland to which all agreed and expressed their assent.

     Then Choric song follows.

     In part 1, the speaker praises some music and flowers present there.

     In part 2, the speaker poses a question as for what are human beings given troubles, difficulties, weariness, sorrows, etc, though human beings being the greatest creation (of God), while anything else in nature enjoys without any kind of adversity. He asks why should only man toil and experience adversity after adversity continuously. He says that there is no joy but calmness.

     In part 3, the speaker talks about the course of growth to death of leaves, flowers and fruits. The leaf gets sunlight being in the same place. The buds open up and flowers blossom. Fruits grow juicy, fall down when fall (autumn) comes and they  re-germinate themselves without any kind of toil just by falling on the soil.

     In part 4, the speaker asks that if death is the only end, why should the whole life be laborious; why should a person work and work and take pains throughout his life only to die. He asks (the God) to give them either death or relieve them from difficulties which is only a dream as of now and if at all such an ease exists.

     In part 5, the speaker wants to consume lotos and get inebriated so that he may forget his miseries and at least seemingly experience bliss being half awake with half open eyes contemplating past life of his infancy.

     In part 6, it seems that some time has passed by and they are nostalgic about their happy relationship with their wives, their sons should have inherited their property, they have grown to appear ghostly in the island and their return will only disrupt their families' settled lives. Being here, in the island, is also not free of confusions which is worse than being dead.

     In part 7, the speaker says that it's joy to see and hear the river flow down from the hills.

     In part 8, they see lotos growing at the foot of a hill. They take an oath to remain there in the island by consuming lotos, leaning against the hills, far from their homeland which is like the home for all miseries and troubles, sleeping anytime because it is definitely enjoyable as opposed to toil. The speaker asks his fellow mariners to rest and not to think of going back.