In Memoriam is a breathtaking poem... written over a period of nearly two decades, Tennyson laments and exorcises the ghost of his friend Hallem, who had died at a young age. He struggles with his religious faith, asking himself, is his friend in Heaven or does Heaven not exist... if not, then what? Tennyson displays an unequaled sensitivity for and mastery of the English language as a tool for expressing feeling and mood, he has created in this poem a thing of great and uncommon beauty.

When I first began to read this book, it was in my Senior English class. At first I thought it would be some dumb poem. But as we read I became so enthralled I couldn't put it down. Alfred Tennyson wrote with such good emotion and truth I felt I knew what he was feeling. He describes so many emotions that most of us feel, and he did it so well. This is a very wonderful book! And although I have only read it once, that is all it took for me to know that it has become one of my favorite.