Themes and Issues

Abstract

In Memoriam is a poem in which the poet struggles to believe that his love for his friend is not rendered meaningless by death. It is not surprising, therefore, that the word ‘love’ is used a number of times. There are 22 occasions when it functions as a verb and it is used as a noun on 64 occasions. ‘Lover’ is used once, ‘loving’ twice and ‘loved’ 23 times. In addition to those the name ‘Arthur’ appears 4 times, ‘dear’ 5 times and ‘beloved’, ‘much-beloved’ and ‘well-beloved’ once each.