Chapter 11: ‘Tis better to have loved and lost

Even before I knew who Tennyson was I knew the line ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'. After all who hasn't heard it? Originating in stanza 27 of In Memoriam A.H.H. it has become a cliché in modern speech. Today I want to spotlight two uses of the line in two of my favourite things ever.

The first is in episode 51 of the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale. The podcast is about the community radio station of a fictional town somewhere in the United States where Government Conspiracies are common, Lovecraftian monsters are worshiped and whose citizens include an intelligent Glow Cloud (all hail), several angels and a literal five headed dragon. Narrated by the amazing voice of Cecil Baldwin  Night Vale has become a must listen series for me and was really excited to hear a line by Tennyson used in the show. Skip to 14:27 for the line.

Alternatively there is a transcript here.

The second use of the line is from the 2013 video game The Cave developed by Double Fine Productions. Since childhood I have been a big adventure game fan and in particular I loved the work of Ron Gilbert at Lucasarts games (Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island 1 & 2) so again it was really cool to hear a quotation of Tennyson in one of his games. The Cave is the story of a sentient cave and the people who enter it in search of the thing their heart  most desires. The line appears in the story of a Hillbilly and must count as the oddest use of Tennyson in history. Skip to 6:17 for the line. (Video by youtube user FluffyNinjaLlama)

Buy The Cave for PC from:
Steam | Humble