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Inter composer communication
Vision
Hallucination

Background

Alfred Lord Tennyson entered Trinity College Cambridge in 1827 and met Arthur Henry Hallam  who became his best friend. They became very close.  In the spring of 1831, Tennyson's father died, and he returned to his father’s rectory, where he shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family.  Arthur Hallam came to stay with his family during the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emilia Tennyson.

In 1833,  Hallam died suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering a cerebral haemorhage while on vacation in Vienna.  Tennyson was devastated and overcome with grief at the loss of his closest friend.   Hallam's sudden and unexpected death had such a profound impact on Tennyson that it  inspired several masterpieces, including In Memoriam A.H.H.  a long poem detailing the 'Way of the Soul'.  And in his grief, there are indications in the poem that Tennyson ‘saw’ his friend.

The source of the experience

Concepts

Symbols

Science Items

Activities

Overloads

Suppressions

Commonsteps

References

Tennyson’s poems can be downloaded from the Internet. There are a number of sites with his poetry.