What better way to start off our poetry symposium than by peering through the lens of one of Queen Victoria’s favorite poets? Lord Tennyson, who penned his journey with spirit and his perception of the divine, boldly elucidates the unanswered “why” of mortality, in hopes that he will one day be able to see his friend again in the afterlife. With pensive resonance, Tennyson meanders through the amorphous realms of spirituality, mortality, and loss. Even though the religious subject matter may not appeal to all readers, the classic, Victorian eloquence of human incertitude and unflinching exploration of death’s inevitability and aftermath make it a gothic pinnacle for poetry readers.