What is the summary of the poem 'Tithonus' by Alfred Tennyson?

Answer 1

There are some rules of life which should be followed by everyone. Everyone should be administered/governed by the ordinances that rule all men. If one breaks this rule he must suffer. Tithonus wanted to be immortal but he didn't remember that immortality without youth is useless. By asking for immortality, death couldn't touch him but time (sister of Eros/Aurora) took revenge for death from Tithonus. Time made him so weak that he was no worthier than dust. Thus the summary of this poem is that each and every man should abide by the rules of nature.

The poems 'Tithonus', 'Morte d'Arthur' , 'Ulysses' and 'Tiresias' were written by Tennyson following the death of his bosom friend Arthur Henry Hallam. 'Tithonus' is greatly influenced by the death that it expresses his emotional injury on the incident. He tries to philosophies the truth of death to console himself.In Greek mythology, a human, Tithonus falls in love with the Goddess of Dawn, Aurora also known as Eos. The goddess pleads to Zeus The King of Gods to grand Tithonus immortality. But she forgets to ask immortal youth and Zeus instantly grands immortality but without immortal youth. Time,companion to Dawn is jealous with the relation and takes revenge on Tithonus by crippling him into the extreme old age as time passes. Yet, he cannot die as he is an immortal.

In the poem,but Tennyson assumes that Eos had granted the gift of immortality to Tithonus which makes Tennyson's Tithonus different from the mythology.Here, Tithonus is old and ugly like a shadow with white hair while Eos is still young and beautiful and he is shattered by the thought that being extremely old and weak he can no longer be husband to the goddess and wants to die like all men. But he cannot die as he is an immortal and now he wants the gift of immortality to be taken back.But once a gift granted by the Gods cannot be taken back and Eos have only tears for the struggles of Tithonus.She cries and runs off without being able to answer him.He remembers the first time they met when he was young and strong. Her kisses and love were warm and full of passion.But now, her eyes are filled with tears of love and pain seeing the pitiful sufferings of her husband and her tears fall on his cheek as she leaves weeping.He says that Hours, companion to Dawn was jealous to their relation and as it passed made him ugly,weak and maimed by old age. Tithonus says that death is a gift to man who can live and die happily.He is born in the soil,works in the soil and after death is buried in the soil.The woods decay and fall,the swan dies but only Tithonus is decaying in the cruel hands of immortality unable to die. He says that no man should desire immortality as they might have to suffer his fate.He pleads to Eos to let him go free from the East where Dawn dwells to the land of happy men who have the power to die.He says that if she would change him back to a mortal he would happily go and die to dissolve in the soil.She can forget him and him her and that he would happier be dead.The poem is a dramatic monologue where Eos is the mute listener.