Maud (Part I) - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
A Dark and Passionate Dramatic Monologue
[Excerpt from Part I]
I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood;
Its lips in the field above are dabbled with blood-red heath,
The red-ribb'd ledges drip with a silent horror of blood,
And Echo there, whatever is ask'd her, answers 'Death.'
For there in the ghastly pit long since a body was found,
His who had given me life—O father! O God! was it well?—
Mangled, and flatten'd, and crush'd, and dinted into the ground:
There yet lies the rock that fell with him when he fell.
Did he fling himself down? who knows? for a vast speculation had fail'd,
And ever he mutter'd and maddened, and ever wann'd with despair,
And out he walk'd when the wind like a broken worldling wail'd,
And the flying gold of the ruin'd woodlands drove thro' the air.
[Public Domain: Excerpted for brevity from “Maud” (Part I) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.]
Published in 1855, “Maud” is one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s most intense and psychologically complex works. Written as a dramatic monologue, Part I introduces the speaker’s tormented inner world. He fixates on unsettling scenes of death and family tragedy, coloring the poem’s atmosphere with darkness and foreboding. Tennyson’s use of vivid, often morbid imagery—like the “dreadful hollow” and the hints of blood—reflects the speaker’s crumbling mental state and the haunting memories that plague him.
At the poem’s core lies the speaker’s profound sense of isolation and his simultaneous obsession with Maud, a woman he views as both beacon and temptation. Through sweeping rhythms, abrupt tonal shifts, and expressions of deep grief, Tennyson plumbs themes of love, obsession, familial ruin, and societal hypocrisy. In the excerpt above, the speaker recalls his father’s tragic death, suggesting a deep-seated bitterness and trauma that will shape his emotional journey.
“Maud” as a whole explores the interplay between external forces—such as social pressures, economic reversals, and war—and the speaker’s turbulent psyche. It underscores how personal anguish can escalate into madness or violence in an unforgiving world. Filled with the poet’s signature melancholic strain, Part I sets a stage of tension and gloom, drawing the reader into a narrative that unfolds with lyric intensity and psychological drama.
Key points
• Introduces a troubled speaker haunted by trauma and family disgrace
• Uses dark, violent imagery (rockslides, blood-red heath) to mirror inner turmoil
• Balances personal obsession with broader social commentary
• Exemplifies Tennyson’s mastery of the dramatic monologue, weaving lyricism with psychological depth
• Establishes a foreboding tone that paves the way for the poem’s central conflicts
