How does Tennyson make clear for you his thoughts and feelings in Extract CXV from In Memoriam (beginning 'Now fades the long last streak of snow')?

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Candidates should explore how Tennyson conveys his thoughts and feelings in Extract CXV, 'Now fades the long last streak of snow,' from In Memoriam.
2. Focus on the poem’s theme of hope and renewal after grief, symbolized by the arrival of spring.
3. The contrast between the fading winter (snow, cold) and the emerging warmth and life (swallows, honeysuckle, roses).
4. Tennyson’s personal connection to the natural world as a reflection of his emotional state.
5. The sense of spiritual renewal and reconciliation with loss, as nature moves on and so does the speaker.
6. His feelings of acceptance and the faint stirring of joy, though memory of loss remains.
7. Tennyson’s use of imagery, personification, and structure (quatrains, consistent rhyme scheme) to express these complex emotions.