Mariana

In Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem "Mariana," the despair that is conveyed to the reader is overwhelming. He states, "The Sparrow's chirrup on the roof, The slow clock ticking, and the sound Which to the wooing wind aloof The poplar made, did all confound Her sense; but most she loathed the hour When the thick-moted sunbeam lay Athwart the chambers, and the day Was sloping toward his western bower. Then, said she, "I am ver dreary, He will not come," she said; She wept, "I am aweary, aweary, Oh God, that I were dead!"" (588). Mariana is extremely upset because she realizes that her love is not going to come to her no matter what happens. With all the things that Tennyson describes that are going on around her, she is realizing more and more that he is never coming. The depression that is felt leads her to believe that because of her broken heart, she wishes that she was no longer alive. The end kind of leaves the reader with questions in their mind about what the outcome is for Mariana. Does she go on in her misery? Does she never get over it? It seems that the end brings one to believe that she will die in misery. She kept to her house all the time shutting off the world. This seems to happen when people lose people that they love, but Mariana is in an extreme case. Maybe Tennnyson is trying to make people realize that being depressed is not the answer to the problems of life.