Tithonus
The woods decay, the woods decay
The vapours weep their burthen down
Man comes and tills the field
And after many summers dies the swan
Me only cruel immortality consumes
I wither slowly in your arms
Here at the world's quiet limit
A white-haired shadow roaming like a dream
Through ever-silent spaces of the East
Through far-folded mists and gleaming halls
The vapours weep their burthen down
Man comes and tills the field
And after many summers dies the swan
Me only cruel immortality consumes
I wither slowly in your arms
Here at the world's quiet limit
A white-haired shadow roaming like a dream
Through ever-silent spaces of the East
Through far-folded mists and gleaming halls
The Mythological Story
Tithonus was a handsome Trojan prince
Eos the goddess of dawn loved him
She abducted him to the Far East
She granted him immortality but not youth
He grew old and withered forever
His hair turned white his voice weak
He became a shadow roaming like a dream
Eos returned to him every evening
But could not restore his youthful form
He begged for death but could not die
Some say she turned him into a cicada
His eternal chirp sounds at every dawn
The poem shows eternal love and endless decay
Eos the goddess of dawn loved him
She abducted him to the Far East
She granted him immortality but not youth
He grew old and withered forever
His hair turned white his voice weak
He became a shadow roaming like a dream
Eos returned to him every evening
But could not restore his youthful form
He begged for death but could not die
Some say she turned him into a cicada
His eternal chirp sounds at every dawn
The poem shows eternal love and endless decay
About the Poet & Context
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain. "Tithonus" was written in 1859 as a companion to "Ulysses", exploring the weight of eternal life without eternal youth. The six-word structure in this edition honors rhythmic silence.
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