Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by abdo Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:40 pm

Alfred,
Lord Tennyson

"Lord
Tennyson" redirects here. For other Lords Tennyson, see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

"Tennyson"
redirects here. For other people and places named Tennyson, see Tennyson
(disambiguation).

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The Lord Tennyson
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1869 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] by Julia Margaret
Cameron

Born

6
August 1809(1809-08-06)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Died

6
October 1892(1892-10-06)
(aged 83)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Occupation

Poet
laureate

Influences[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

·
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron
Tennyson, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892)
was [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of
the United Kingdom during much of Queen
Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English
language.

Tennyson excelled at penning
short lyrics, "In the valley
of Cauteretz",
"Break,
Break, Break", "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]",
"Tears, Idle
Tears" and "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]".
Much of his verse was based on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] mythological themes, such as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
although In
Memoriam A.H.H. was written to commemorate his best friend [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], a fellow
poet and fellow student at Trinity College,
Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson's sister, but died from a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
before they were married. Tennyson also wrote some notable [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] including [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
Ulysses, and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
During his career, Tennyson attempted [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], but his plays enjoyed
little success.

Tennyson wrote a number of
phrases that have become commonplaces of the English language, including:
"Nature, red in tooth and claw", "'Tis better to have loved and
lost / Than never to have loved at all", "Theirs not to reason why, /
Theirs but to do and die", "My strength is as the strength of ten, /
Because my heart is pure", "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom
lingers", and "The old order changeth, yielding place to new".
He is the second most frequently quoted writer in The
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Early life

Tennyson was born in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'s son and fourth of 12
children.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
He derived from a middle-class line of Tennysons, but also had noble and royal
ancestry.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

His father, George Clayton
Tennyson (1778–1831), was a rector for Somersby (1807–1831), also rector of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and vicar of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1815). The rector was
the elder of two sons, but was disinherited at an early age by his father, the
landowner George Tennyson (1750–1835) (owner of Bayons Manor and Usselby Hall),
in favour of his younger brother Charles, who later took the name Charles
Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Rev. George Clayton Tennyson raised a large family and
"was a man of superior abilities and varied attainments, who tried his
hand with fair success in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. " He was
"comfortably well off for a country clergyman and his shrewd money
management enabled the family to spend summers at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], on the eastern coast
of England."^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Alfred Tennyson's mother, Elizabeth Fytche (1781–1865), was the daughter of
Stephen Fytche (1734–1799), vicar of St. James Church,
Louth (1764) and rector of Withcall (1780), a small village between [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Tennyson's father "carefully
attended to the education and training of his children."

Tennyson and two of his elder
brothers were writing poetry in their teens, and a collection of poems by all
three were published locally when Alfred was only 17. One of those brothers, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
later married Louisa Sellwood, the younger sister of Alfred's future wife; the
other poet brother was Frederick
Tennyson. One of Tennyson's other brothers, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], was
institutionalized at a private asylum, where he died.

Education and first publication

Tennyson was first a student
of Louth Grammar
School for four years (1816–1820)^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
and then attended Scaitcliffe School, Englefield Green and King
Edward VI Grammar School, Louth. He entered Trinity College,
Cambridge in 1827,^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
where he joined a secret society called the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
At Cambridge Tennyson met [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], who became his closest
friend. His first publication was a collection of "his boyish rhymes and
those of his elder brother Charles" entitled Poems by Two Brothers
published in 1827.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

In 1829 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold
Medal at Cambridge
for one of his first pieces, "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]".^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Reportedly, "it was thought to be no slight honour for a young man of
twenty to win the chancellor's gold medal."^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical
in 1830. "Claribel" and "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]",
which later took their place among Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were
included in this volume. Although decried by some critics as overly
sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the
attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.

Return to Lincolnshire
and second publication

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Tennyson
with his wife Emily (1813-1896) and his sons Hallam (1852-1928) and Lionel
(1854-1886).

In the spring of 1831,
Tennyson's father died, requiring him to leave [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] before taking his
degree. He returned to the rectory, where he was permitted to live for another
six years, and shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] came to
stay with his family during the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's sister,
Emilia Tennyson.

In 1833, Tennyson published
his second book of poetry, which included his well-known poem, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
The volume met heavy criticism, which so discouraged Tennyson that he did not
publish again for 10 more years, although he continued to write. That same
year, Hallam died suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] while on vacation in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Hallam's sudden and unexpected death in 1833 had a profound impact on Tennyson,
and inspired several masterpieces, including "In the Valley of
Cauteretz" and In
Memoriam A.H.H., a long poem detailing the 'Way of the Soul'.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Tennyson and his family were
allowed to stay in the rectory for some time, but later moved to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
in 1837. An unwise investment in an ecclesiastical wood-carving enterprise soon
led to the loss of much of the family fortune. He then moved to London, and resided for a
time at Chapel
House, Twickenham.

Third publication

In 1842, while living
modestly in London,
Tennyson published two volumes of Poems, the first of which included
works already published and the second of which was made up almost entirely of
new poems. They met with immediate success. Poems from this collection, such as
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
"Tithonus", and "Ulysses" have met enduring
fame. The Princess: A Medley, a satire of women's education, which came
out in 1847, was also popular for its lyrics. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] later
adapted and parodied the piece twice: in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1870) and in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1884).

It was in 1850 that Tennyson
reached the pinnacle of his career, finally publishing his masterpiece, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
dedicated to Hallam. Later the same year he was appointed Poet Laureate in
succession to William
Wordsworth. In the same year (13 June), Tennyson married Emily
Sellwood, whom he had known since childhood, in the village of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. They had two sons, Hallam
Tennyson (b. 11 August 1852) — named after his friend — and Lionel (b. 16
March 1854).

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- Lord Tennyson's residence on the Isle of Wight

The Poet Laureate

After William Wordsworth's
death in 1850, and Samuel
Rogers' refusal, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate,
which he held until his own death in 1892, by far the longest tenure of any
laureate before or since. He fulfilled the requirements of this position by
turning out appropriate but often uninspired verse, such as a poem of greeting
to Alexandra of
Denmark when she arrived in Britain
to marry the future King [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. In 1855, Tennyson
produced one of his best known works, "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]",
a dramatic tribute to the British cavalrymen involved in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on 25 October
1854, during the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Other esteemed works written in the post of Poet Laureate include Ode on the
Death of the Duke of Wellington and Ode Sung at the Opening of the
International Exhibition.

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Statue
of Lord Tennyson in the chapel of Trinity College,
Cambridge.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] was an ardent admirer
of Tennyson's work, and in 1884 created him Baron Tennyson, of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
in the County of
Sussex and of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Tennyson
initially declined a baronetcy in 1865 and 1868 (when tendered by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]),
finally accepting a peerage in 1883 at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'s earnest solicitation. He took
his seat in the House of Lords on 11 March 1884.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Tennyson also wrote a
substantial quantity of non-official political verse, from the bellicose
"Form, Riflemen, Form", of the French crisis of 1859, to
"Steersman, be not precipitate in thine act/of steering", deploring Gladstone's Home Rule
Bill.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote a
play Freshwater, showing Tennyson as host to his friends Julia Margaret
Cameron and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.];^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Tennyson was the first to be raised to a British [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for his writing. A
passionate man with some peculiarities of nature, he was never particularly
comfortable as a peer, and it is widely held that he took the peerage in order
to secure a future for his son Hallam.^{[[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]]} [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] made sound
recordings of Tennyson reading his own poetry, late in his life. They include recordings
of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
and excerpts from "The splendour falls" (from The Princess),
"Come into the garden" (from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]), "Ask me no more", "Ode
on the death of the Duke of Wellington", "Charge of the Heavy
Brigade", and "Lancelot and Elaine"; the sound quality is as bad
as wax cylinder recordings usually are.

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Sketch
of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] published one year after his death
in 1892, seated in his favourite [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
at his Farringford
House home in the village of Freshwater, Isle
of Wight.

Towards the end of his life
Tennyson revealed that his "religious beliefs also defied convention,
leaning towards [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]":^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Famously, he wrote in In Memoriam: "There lives more faith in
honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds." [The context directly
contradicts the apparent meaning of this quote.] In Maud, 1855, he
wrote: "The churches have killed their Christ." In "Locksley Hall
Sixty Years After," Tennyson wrote: "Christian love among the
churches look'd the twin of heathen hate." In his play, Becket, he
wrote: "We are self-uncertain creatures, and we may, Yea, even when we
know not, mix our spites and private hates with our defence of Heaven."
Tennyson recorded in his Diary (p. 127): "I believe in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of a sort."
His son's biography confirms that Tennyson was not an orthodox [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], noting that
Tennyson praised Giordano
Bruno and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
on his deathbed, saying of Bruno, "His view of God is in some ways
mine," in 1892.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Tennyson continued writing
into his eighties and died on 6 October 1892 at Aldworth aged 83. He was buried
at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
A memorial was erected in All
Saints' Church, Freshwater. His last words were; "Oh that press will
have me now!".^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

He was succeeded as 2nd Baron
Tennyson by his son, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], who produced an
authorised [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of
his father in 1897, and was later the second Governor-General
of Australia.

The art of Tennyson's poetry

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Alfred
Tennyson, portret by P.Krämer-Friedrich [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Tennyson used a wide range of
subject matter, ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from
domestic situations to observations of nature, as source material for his
poetry. The influence of John
Keats and other [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] published before and during his
childhood is evident from the richness of his imagery and descriptive writing.
He also handled [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
masterfully. The insistent beat of Break, Break, Break emphasizes the
relentless sadness of the subject matter. Tennyson's use of the musical
qualities of words to emphasize his rhythms and meanings is sensitive. The
language of "I come from haunts of coot and hern" lilts and ripples
like the brook in the poem and the last two lines of "Come down O maid
from yonder mountain height" illustrate his telling combination of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]:

The moan of doves in immemorial elms

And murmuring of innumerable bees.

Tennyson was a craftsman who
polished and revised his manuscripts extensively. Few poets have used such a
variety of styles with such an exact understanding of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.];
like many Victorian poets, he experimented in adapting the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of Greek and Latin poetry to
English. He reflects the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of his maturity in his feeling
for order and his tendency towards moralizing and self-indulgent melancholy. He
also reflects a concern common among [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in being troubled by the
conflict between religious faith and expanding scientific knowledge. Like many
writers who write a great deal over a long time, he can be pompous or banal,
but his personality rings throughout all his works—work that reflects a grand
and special variability in its quality. Tennyson possessed the strongest poetic
power; he put great length into many works, most famous of which are Maud
and Idylls of the King, the latter one of literature's treatments of the
legend of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
and The [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]]}

Partial list of works

From
Poems, Chiefly Lyrical (1830):

The
Dying Swan
The
Kraken
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Lady Clara
Vere de Vere (1832)
From
Poems (1833):

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The Lady of
Shalott (1832, 1842) - three versions painted by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1888, 1894 and 1916). Also
put to music by Loreena
McKennitt on her album The Visit (1991).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1833)
From
Poems (1842):

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
(1834)
"[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]" (1833)

From
The Princess; A Medley (1847)

"[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]"
Now
Sleeps the Crimson Petal - it later appeared as a song in the
film [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], with musical arrangement
by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
"[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]"

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
(1849)
Ring Out, Wild
Bells (1850)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1851)
The
Sister's Shame^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
From
Maud; A Monodrama (1855/1856)

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The Charge of the Light
Brigade (1854) - an early recording exists of Tennyson reading
this.

From
Enoch Arden and Other Poems (1862/1864)

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The
Brook - contains the line "For men may come and men may go, But
I go on for ever" which inspired the naming of a men's
club in New York City.

Flower in
the crannied wall (1869)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - Song cycle with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
(1871)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (1876) - began
a revival of interest in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
(composed 1833-1874)
Locksley
Hall Sixty Years After (1886)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
(1889)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] -
a play with incidental
music by Arthur
Sullivan (1891)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (published after his death by
Hallam Tennyson)^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The Lord Tennyson [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 1869 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] by Julia Margaret Cameron
Born	6 August 1809(1809-08-06) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Died	6 October 1892(1892-10-06) (aged 83) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Occupation	Poet laureate
Influences[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] · [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]