Tennyson's Scepticism:
Tennyson represents' the Victorian Age in the same way as Pope represents the early 18th century. The Victorian Age was marked throughout by the spirit of enquiry and criticism, by scepticism and religious uncertainty, by spiritual struggle and unrest and by the analytical and critical habit of mind. The popularity of Darwin's theory of Evolution and the process of knowledge put everything to doubt and enquiry. Arnold sums up the trend of his Age:
"There is no creed which is not shaken, not an accredited dogma which is not shown to be questionable, not a received tradition which does not threaten to dissolve."
Tennyson, too, doubted everything related to God and society.
His Faith in Knowledge:
Tennyson believed in the scientific investigations and the increase of human knowledge. He wanted to earn as much experience as he could. He wished to "follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought." But he does not believe in the knowledge which divides. He believes in the knowledge which joins both mind and soul and produces sound music out of life. He writes in "Strong Son of God":
"Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before..."
A Beam in Darkness:
Tennyson believes that knowledge is a beam in darkness. It guides like Polestar the wandering ships in the vast ocean of life. It leads humanity from darkness to light. It is only the knowledge of the Divine that is wholesome. The poet writes:
"We have but faith, we can't know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from thee,
A beam in darkness; let it grow."
Justification of the Ways of God to Men:
After too much enquiries, the poet comes to a conclusion that God's scheme of the universe is just. It is unquestionable and beyond the comprehension of the human mind. He writes:
"Thou modest man, he knows not why;
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou has made him: thou art just."
God: The Creator and Destroyer:
Tennyson's doubts are dispelled like the mist of the morning. He clearly sees and experiences the hand of God in everything. He believes that God is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. He has made both life and death. His scheme of things is just and divine. The poet says:
"Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
Thou madest life in man and brute;
Thou madest Death;"
Life beyond Death:
The poet believes that there is life even beyond death. This life is but a sleep and forgetting. The real life begins after crossing the bar and entering into the bounds of Eternity. He writes in 'Crossing the Bar':
"I hope to see my Pilot face to face,
When I have crost the bar."
Undogmatic Religion:
Tennyson's attitude to science and religion is an attitude of compromise. His solution for the heart-searching uncertainties of the time is an undogmatic religion, and it is at bottom un-institutional. He once said: "There's something that watches over us and our individuality endures; that's my faith, and that's all my faith.” This is the sum and substance of his faith as expressed in his poetry and summed up in ‘In Memoriam'. The philosophy of 'In Memoriam' sums up Tennyson's religious position and his views about knowledge, universe and God. It is not a philosophy of faith so much as a philosophy of hope. He writes in ‘Ring out, Wild Bells'.
"Ring in the Christ that is to be."
Conclusion:
Thus, Tennyson's poetry is important as a record of the intellectual and spiritual life of the time. To conclude in the words of William Henry Hudson:
"As a careful student of science and philosophy, he was deeply- impressed by the far-reaching meaning of the new discoveries and speculations by which the edifice of the old thought had been undermined and especially by the wide bearings of the doctrine of Evolution; and at once sceptical and mystical in his own temper, he was peculiarly fitted to become the mouth-piece of his century's doubts, difficulties, and craving for the certainties of religious faith."
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