I need to understand this poem :(

[reemamarcie]

Would you help me to understand this poem? It's by Tennyson.
I wanna know the ryhem & the theme, how can I do that?


I dream'd there would be Spring no more,
That Nature's ancient power was lost:
The streets were black with smoke and frost,
They chatter'd trifles at the door:
I wander'd from the noisy town,
I found a wood with thorny boughs:
I took the thorns to bind my brows,
I wore them like a civic crown:
I met with scoffs, I met with scorns
From youth and babe and hoary hairs:
They call'd me in the public squares
The fool that wears a crown of thorns:
They call'd me fool, they call'd me child:
I found an angel of the night;
The voice was low, the look was bright;
He look'd upon my crown and smiled:
He reach'd the glory of a hand,
That seem'd to touch it into leaf:
The voice was not the voice of grief,
The words were hard to understand.

[5jj]

I dream'd there would be Spring no more,
That Nature's ancient power was lost:
The streets were black with smoke and frost,
They chatter'd trifles at the door:

I wander'd from the noisy town,
I found a wood with thorny boughs:
I took the thorns to bind my brows,
I wore them like a civic crown:

I met with scoffs, I met with scorns
From youth and babe and hoary hairs:
They call'd me in the public squares
The fool that wears a crown of thorns:

They call'd me fool, they call'd me child:
I found an angel of the night;
The voice was low, the look was bright;
He look'd upon my crown and smiled:

He reach'd the glory of a hand,
That seem'd to touch it into leaf:
The voice was not the voice of grief,
The words were hard to understand.

Well, I have started by highlighting the abba rhymes.

[reemamarcie]

thanks a lot for your help :D:D
But I need now an explaination, although this poem has simple words but it's so difficult to understand :( I can't even know if there r metaphores or not, it seems complicated.

[5jj]

But I need now an explaination, although this poem has simple words but it's so difficult to understand

If you need to understand, this seems like a homework assignment. We cannot help with those.

[reemamarcie]

It's not a homework, I'm doing a study on some poems of the Victorian Poetry. I liked Tennyson's elegy In Memoriam, & I loved this part so much because it has the word " angel" it attractes me so much,
Anyway, sorry if I said " I need " but what should I say instead of it?
& thx for your help,,
Reema

[5jj]

Anyway, sorry if I said " I need " but what should I say instead of it?

Just, "I'd like.."

As to the poem. You need to be more specific about what is causing difficulties, or we could take pages to analyse it.

I have started below:

I dreamed:
(That) there would be Spring no more,
That Nature's ancient power was lost:
(That)The streets were black with smoke and frost,
(That) They (people) chattered trifles(unimportant things) at the door:
(That:)
I wandered from the noisy town,
I found a wood with thorny boughs:
I took the thorns to bind my brows,
I wore them like a civic crown:

I met with scoffs, I met with scorns
From youth and babe and hoary hairs (very old people - people with grey/white hair):
They called me, in the public squares,
The fool that wears a crown of thorns:

They called me fool, they called me child:
I found an angel of the night;
The voice was low, the look was bright;
He looked upon my crown and smiled:

He reached the glory of a hand,
That seemed to touch it into leaf:
The voice was not the voice of grief,
The words were hard to understand.

see also: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/...m/waymack.html

[reemamarcie]

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate your help,
& I'm sorry if I bothered you

reema