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| Home They Brought her Warrior Dead by Alfred Lord Tennyson : Summary |
Summary
1st Stanza
The speaker describes the reaction of a woman when her dead husband was brought back to her. Her grief is so overwhelming, she cannot even cry. She didn’t faint or swoon or make even a noise. Her friends watched her, and they became worried about her because she seemed not to grieve properly. They thought she might die if she did not weep as she should. They believed that if this woman did not grieve, the pain she refused to let out would eventually kill her.
2nd Stanza
As in many instances of death, the people around the dead man praised him. They talked about his life, about the good that he did. They “called him worthy to be loved” and they talked about the kind of friend he was to them. They called him “true” and “noble”. Yet, as the people around her grieved and spoke memories, the wife of the dead man could not speak nor move. She remained still. No one knew what was going on in her mind, but she seemed to be in a state of shock. No amount of reminiscence seemed to bring tears to the widow’s eyes. She was yet unmoved. Perhaps she was unable to accept the death, even as those around her spoke of him and paid tribute to his memory. The people around her are not sure why the woman refuses to show emotion, but they surround her with words of praise for her husband, hoping to break her out of her shock so that they might be there to comfort her.
3rd Stanza
Because the woman still refuses to grieve, one of the young women present walks up to the dead man and removes the cloth that was covering his face. Perhaps she thought that his wife was unable to grieve because she still could not believe or accept that this dead man was her husband. The people around the widow clearly believe that the woman ought to grieve. Thus, because she will not show any signs of grief when the people speak of him, this particular friend shows her the face of her late husband, hoping that this will help the woman to break out of her state of shock and be able to grieve properly.
4th Stanza
With this stanza of Home they Brought her Warrior Dead, the speaker finally reveals to the readers the reason for the widow’s silence. She has not been unfeeling or careless of her husband’s death. She has not even been in shock or disbelief like the people around her thought. Rather, she has been paralyzed with fear. She did not think about her own pain at losing her husband. Rather, she thought of the poor child. It was not until she saw the child’s nurse sit the child “upon her knee” that she burst forth in uncontrollable tears that came “like a summer tempest”. She cried out, “Sweet my child, I live for thee”.
Exercises
1. At the beginning of the poem there is no clear message about the warrior's problem. What actually happened to the warrior? Describe.
Though it is not clear what actually had happened to the warrior at the beginning we gradually come to know that the warrior was brought dead from the war field. We know this fact with the reference that some people brought him i.e. his army friends. The warrior had died during a war.
2. What is the great thing the warrior has done? Why did the other people praise the warriors? Describe.
The warrior had done the great thing by serving his country. He fought bravely for his country and died in the war field. He was everyone's good friend a good human being. So everyone praised him.
3. What reaction did the maiden show towards the warrior? Describe.
When the warrior was brought home and put in front of his wife, she neither cried nor spoke anything. Just starred at him unconsciously. Watching this, all her maiden started worrying about the warriors wife and that she should cry or she will die.
4. What is a rhyming pattern of the poem? Illustrate.
The rhyming pattern of the poem is abab cdcd efef ghgh.
5. Write your interpretation of the poem in a paragraph.
This poem by Alfred Tennyson is about the story of a widow who just received the body of her husband who seems to have been a soldier and was killed in a war field. The widow's maidens weep profusely but later get worried when the widow is Shell shocked and cannot import any sorrow. They try and talk about the soldiers conquests and what a Nobel Warrior he was to try and get the lady to weep but all the efforts are vain. The lady finally weeps as she revealed that she isn't just a widow but also a mother.
6. Explain the following lines with reference to the context:
Rose a nurse of ninety years,
Set his child upon her knee
Like summer Tempest came her tears
Sweet my child, I live for thee.
When the widow did not show any reaction towards her dead husband even after seeing his face, a nurse of 90 years rose up and set his child upon her knee. As she saw her child the widow started crying loudly. Her tear came abruptly like flood. It seemed like she realized that she isn't just a widow but also a mother.
