The Kraken By Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 1892

The Kraken By: Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1809 - 1892

Below the thunders of the upper deep, Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides; above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cell Unnumbered and enormous polypi Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green. There hath he lain for ages, and will lie Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep, Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die

Alfred Lord Tennyson is considered the second most important poet of the Victorian age after Robert Browning. He is regarded as the Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. His poetry has attracted plentiful critical attention. His poems are renowned for, among other things, their bold heroic narratives, their moving and deep emotions, their skillful lyricism and cadences, and their memorable imagery. Despite being a prolific poet, he wrote only one sonnet; ‘The Kraken’ is probably his most resounding success with the sonnet form.

Examples of Figures of Speech: Repetition: Far, far Metaphor: faintest sunlights flee, the sickly light, Alliteration: giant/ green. sea / sleep. Assonance: lain / lie

Rhyme Scheme: Although the poem is very similar in its form to a sonnet, Tennyson does not follow either forms of the English main shapes of sonnet: Petrarchan or Shakespearean. Its (ababcddcefeaafe) rhyme scheme is a combination of the two forms.