Alfred Lord Tennyson was one of the finest lyric poets in the English language. He wrote the epic Idylls of the King. His best known poems include "Charge of the Light Brigade," "Tears, Idle Tears," "In Memoriam," and the farewell "Crossing the Bar." His poetry is lyrical, dramatic, elegiac and epic.
Early Life of Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, was born on August 6, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, the son of a clergyman George Clayton Tennyson, and his wife, Elizabeth Fytche Tennyson. He was educated by his father, who encouraged his interest in poetry. Before age 15, he was writing verse plays and poetry in the style of Lord Byron.
Tennyson's Earlier Poems
When he was 18, Tennyson entered Cambridge University. That year some of his childhood poetry was published, along with poems by his brothers Frederick and Charles Tennyson Turner, in Poems by Two Brothers. At Cambridge Tennyson continued to write poetry and became close friend with English poet Arthur Henry Hallam.
The Prolific Poet Alfred Tennyson
Tennyson's second volume of poetry, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, contained the popular "Mariana." In his next collection are poems now regarded as being among his best, including "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Lotus Eaters." The following year Hallam died of brain hemmorhage, aged 22. Tennyson was deeply depressed, and he published little for 10 years but continued to write.
The two-volume Poems of 1842, including the poem "Locksley Hall" which offers astronomical references, established Tennyson as the most popular poet of the day. The new work included "Morte d'Arthur" and "Ulysses." In 1850, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate. The same year he published his greatest work, "In Memoriam," a tribute to the memory of Arthur Hallam. The famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" was published in the collection Maud.
Last Years of Tennyson
In his later years Tennyson devoted himself to writing his epic Idylls of the King, based on the legends of King Arthur. One of his last poems, a farewell, was "Crossing the Bar." In 1875, Tennyson published his first play, Queen Mary, and other dramatic works including Harold (1876), Becket (1884), and The Cup (1881).
He died at the age of 83, on October 6, 1892.
Works by Alfred Lord Tennyson
- Poems by Two Brothers, 1827
- Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, 1830
- Poems, 1832
- Poems, in two Volumes, 1842
- The Princess, 1847
- 'In Memoriam', 1850
- Maud, 1855
- Idylls of the King, 1859-1885
- Queen Mary, drama, 1875
- Harold, drama, 1876
- The Cup, drama, 1881
- Becket, verse drama, 1884
- The Foresters, 1892
Sources:
Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002
Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994
The Cambridge Literature in English, New Edition, edited by Ian Ousby,Cambridge, 1993
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