Mariana Man and the Natural World Quotes

Moss grows all over everything. The natural world has taken over the farmhouse, and nobody seems keen on stopping it. Tennyson opens the poem with this imagery to really drive home the whole "neglected farmhouse" thing, but he's also giving us a window into the relationship between nature and Mariana.

Nature has grown over ancient things and lonely things. Here, Tennyson combines the natural world with the world of memory and loss. The grange is old and lonely, having seen many years without any company. But inanimate objects can't be lonely, right? Tennyson is using pathetic fallacy to set the mood of the poem. It's Mariana's mood that we are experiencing, not nature's.

Tennyson again uses nature to tell us something about Mariana. This time, he wants us to know that she cries in the morning, when dew is fresh, but also during the day, when the dew has dried in the sun. Nature seems to be synced up with Mariana's sorrow, even if nature is indifferent to it. It also continues to operate on a cycle, whether or not the man she is waiting for has returned.

Talk about pathetic fallacy. The morning has "gray" eyes, and the farmhouse is lonely. It is here that Tennyson makes it clear that nature is entirely under the influence of Mariana's moods. It's either that, or we're only seeing it the way she, in her gloom and dreary state, can see it.

The poplar tree stands alone in a field of "waste." It has gnarly bark, green and silver in color. This striking tree serves as a symbol for loneliness—and for love. Mariana looks upon it and is reminded of the man that will never return. It is a tree standing in the middle of nowhere, after all. Understandably, the sight of it doesn't make Mariana very happy.