The need was pressing, and the answer promptly came, trailing clouds of ectoplasm. Tennyson's In Memoriam, an instant best-seller in 1850, won him the laureateship largely because its long sequence of troubled, plaintive lyrics, written over a span of 17 years, told a story and described a situation that struck home to countless readers: the sudden death of a beloved friend and the questions it raised about the immortality of the soul and the possibility of spiritual communion now and physical reunion in the hereafter. 'O for thy voice to soothe and bless!' cried Tennyson, addressing the deceased Arthur Hallam. 'What hope of answer, or redress? Behind the veil, behind the veil.'

LRB 6 March 1986 | PDF Download