Stanza 4 to 6 of The Lotos-eaters by Alfred Lord Tennyson

choric song stanza 4 to 6

Table of Contents

Stanza 4

They say that hateful is the sky that is vaulted over the dark blue sea; they are sick of the dark blue sky and sea because they have seen these two things for the last few years, and then they say that after all, what is the end of life? It is death. Then why should we toil throughout life with all this labor? Why can’t we be like the plants around us? Let us alone—that is what they say time and again to their leader.

The time moves forward, and after some time, our lips are dumb. There is a sense that we will be dead very soon. What is the meaning of life? Why should we toil so much? Whatever we get, whatever we gain, all the riches that we earn, all the fame that we gather, everything will be lost, Do we take it along with us when we die? No, then why are we toiling so hard? All things are taken from us and become portions and parcels of the dreadful past.

Let us be alone. What pleasure can we have with war with you, Why should we fight people? Is there any peace in climbing these waves? Why should we travel over these disturbed waters? Everything has rest, and they are all ripe and going towards the grave, so let us also do that. You have two options: either kill us and give us death, or you just allow us to take a long rest.

Stanza 5

They say that instead of starting the journey again, how much easier is it to live on this island? Let’s remain here so we can have such a blissful and happy existence, so you can just lie down here with half-shut eyes and listen to the downward stream, and you can fall asleep in a half dream and see the amber light (yellowish kind of light).

We can just lie down there and speak softly to each other because everything on the island is not loud, everything is low, and everything is soft, so we can whisper to each other, we can eat lotus day by day and go back to that very comfortable drowsiness, and they can lie there and watch the waves coming in the creamy spray, and they can be mild minded, they can muse and brood, and they can go back to their memories of those old faces and the memories of those who have died.

Stanza 6

They say that yes, it is true that we have the memories of our wedded lives, wives, and last embrace, like how they cried when we set out on the voyage. All of it is true, but it has changed, it’s been a long time now. For sure, our household and fireplaces are now cold. What they mean is that their places in families must have gone because it has been twenty years, and it is a long time. 

People would have forgotten about us Our children would have grown up, and our wives would have learned to live without us. They look like strangers to their families, they have become strangers to everything familiar, so going back to the old place would be very difficult because they will not fit in there, they have been away for too long.

They would not be happy to see us, they would look at us like ghosts who had come to trouble them. Maybe all our property would have been taken by the prince, whoever is there. The bards must be singing of the Trojan War, and they must be singing of our great deeds and half-forgotten things.

They say that we have been in trouble because we have angered the gods, and it is difficult for us to appease the gods because once they are angry or revengeful, nothing can convince them to be otherwise, so let us not fight with the gods. Let us just decide to remain here. 

They say that life is very difficult sometimes more than death because your pain is heaped upon your pain, you have such hard work to do and we are not young anymore, our hearts are worn by long battles, our eyes have grown dim gazing at pilot stars almost all this have made them blind, we do not have the strength for another fight to go there and sit again in a world which is already forgotten.

Choric Song by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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