Mariana (poem) - Sources

Sources

Many sources for the poem and passages within the poem have been suggested by various editors or critics of Tennyson's poet. These sources include passages in the poetry of Sappho and Cinna, Virgil's Aeneid, Horace's Odes, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure, John Milton's Lycidas, Samuel Rogers's Captivity, and John Keats's Isabella, Sleep and Poetry, and The Eve of St. Agnes. However, there is little evidence to suggest that Keats, though well respected by Tennyson, influenced the poem although Keats's Isabella is linguistically similar to Mariana and could serve as parallels to each other. If Isabella is parallel to Mariana in terms of dealing with women who have lost their lovers, so too could Virgil's Aeneid be described as a parallel to the poem.

There is no evidence to suggest that Cinna's poems influenced Tennyson since Tennyson admitted to not having read Cinna. Thematically, Mariana is different from the writing of Horace although Tennyson does rely on a lyrical style similar to both Cinna and Horace. A relationship with the poetry of Sappho is more likely than to Cinna, as there is a sexual element to Sappho's poem as well as Tennyson favouring Sappho as a poet. The poem by Rogers was a favourite of Tennyson's and has a sexual element that is similar to Tennyson; both poems describe a woman longing for her lover as she is isolated and in a captive state. There are probably intentional echos of Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure within the poem, with the latter poem being the source of Mariana's character. The reference to Lycidas is minor and is more likely a generic phrase than a direct use of Milton's poem.