📜 The Occasion

Tithonus was a Trojan prince of extraordinary beauty, son of King Laomedon. Eos (Aurora), the Greek goddess of dawn, fell in love with him and carried him away to her palace at the eastern edge of the world. She granted him one wish, and he asked for immortality — but forgot to ask for eternal youth.

He was condemned to live forever while his body kept aging. His hair turned white, his limbs withered, and his voice faded until he became a mere shadow roaming like a dream. Every morning Eos rose in glory, and every evening she returned to him — but she could not restore his youth. In the end, Tithonus begged for death, but death would not come. In some versions of the myth, Eos finally turned him into a cicada, whose voice chirps eternally.

Tennyson wrote this poem in 1859, giving voice to Tithonus himself — an old lover in the arms of an immortal beloved, at the quiet limit of the world, where there is no sound and no change, only endless decay.

Sources: Greek mythology (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite) · Tennyson, Tithonus (1859).

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🌅 Tithonus — English

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall, The vapours weep their burthen to the ground, Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath, And after many a summer dies the swan. Me only cruel immortality Consumes: I wither slowly in thine arms, Here at the quiet limit of the world, A white-hair'd shadow roaming like a dream The ever-silent spaces of the East, Far-folded mists, and gleaming halls of morn.

Source: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Tithonus (written 1833, published 1859).

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🌅 Tithonus — Suomi (Finnish)

Metsät lahoavat, metsät lahoavat ja kaatuvat, usvat itkevät taakkansa maahan. Ihminen saapuu, kyntää pellon ja käy sen alle lepäämään, ja monen kesän jälkeen joutsen kuolee. Vain minua kuluttaa julma kuolemattomuus: kuihdun hitaasti käsivarsillasi, täällä maailman hiljaisella rajalla, valkotukkainen varjo, joka vaeltaa kuin uni idän ikihiljaisissa avaruuksissa, kaukaisuuteen kietoutuneiden usvien ja aamun hohtavien salien keskellä.

Professional literary translation into Finnish — reviewed & verified by trusted sources.

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🗺️ Somersby, Lincolnshire · England

Somersby is a small village in the Lincolnshire Wolds, East Lindsey district, England. It lies in a wooded valley about 6 miles northwest of Spilsby. The village is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was born at Somersby Rectory in 1809 and lived there until 1837. The medieval Church of St Margaret, where his father served as rector, still stands today.

📍 Somersby: 53.23461°N, 0.01145°E · © OpenStreetMap contributors

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✍️ About the Poet

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most beloved English poets. He was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, the fourth of twelve children of a country clergyman.

Tennyson's poetry is marked by musical language, deep melancholy, and a profound engagement with loss, faith, and the passing of time. His most famous works include In Memoriam A.H.H., The Charge of the Light Brigade, Ulysses, and Tithonus. He was elevated to the peerage in 1884, becoming the first English writer to be honored with a barony for his literary achievements.

Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica · The Tennyson Society · Poetry Foundation.

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