Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Tennyson
FRS
Carbon print by Elliott & Fry, late 1860s
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
In office
19 November 1850 – 6 October 1892
MonarchVictoria
Preceded byWilliam Wordsworth
Succeeded byAlfred Austin
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
11 March 1884 – 6 October 1892
Hereditary Peerage
Succeeded byHallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
Personal details
Born6 August 1809
Lincolnshire, England
Died6 October 1892(1892-10-06) (aged 83)
Lurgashall, Sussex, England[1]
Resting placeWestminster Abbey
Spouse
Emily Sellwood
​
(m. 1850)​
Children
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge (no degree)
OccupationPoet Laureate (1850–1892)

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson FRS (/ˈtɛnɪsən/; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain some of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although described 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. Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Tennyson also excelled at short lyrics, such as "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears", and "Crossing the Bar". Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as "Ulysses". "In Memoriam A.H.H." was written to commemorate his friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and student at Trinity College, Cambridge, after he died of a stroke at the age of 22.[2] Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, "Ulysses", and "Tithonus". During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success.

A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplace in the English language, including "Nature, red in tooth and claw" ("In Memoriam A.H.H."), "'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", "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers", and "The old order changeth, yielding place to new". He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.[3]

Biography

Early life

Tennyson was born on 6 August 1809 in

Horncastle and Louth
. 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 was published locally when Alfred was only 17. One of those brothers,

future wife; the other was Frederick Tennyson
. Another of Tennyson's brothers, Edward Tennyson, was institutionalised at a private asylum.

The noted psychologist William James, in his book The Varieties of Religious Experience, quoted Tennyson concerning a type of experience with which Tennyson was familiar:

"A kind of walking trance I have frequently had, quite up from boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has often come upon me through repeating my own name. All at once, as it were out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being, and this was not a confused state but the clearest, the surest of the sure, utterly beyond words…"[11]

Education and first publication

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

Tennyson was a student of King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth from 1816 to 1820.[12] He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1827, where he joined a secret society called the Cambridge Apostles.[13] A portrait of Tennyson by George Frederic Watts is in Trinity's collection.[14]

At Cambridge, Tennyson met Arthur Hallam and William Henry Brookfield, who became his closest friends. 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.[12]

In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu".[15][16] Reportedly, "it was thought to be no slight honour for a young man of twenty to win the chancellor's gold medal".[12] He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", 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, second publication, Epping Forest

In the spring of 1831, Tennyson's father died, requiring him to leave Cambridge 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. Arthur Hallam came to stay with his family during the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emilia Tennyson.

John William Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott, 1888 (Tate Britain, London)

The May Queen

YOU must wake and call me early, call me early,
     mother dear;
To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad
     new-year, -
Of all the glad new-year, mother, the maddest,
     merriest day;
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to
     be Queen o' the May.

As I came up the valley, whom think ye should
     I see
But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the
     hazel-tree?
He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave
     him yesterday, -
But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to
     be Queen o' the May.

They say he's dying all for love, - but that can
     never be;
They say his heart is breaking, mother, - what
     is that to me?
There's many a bolder lad 'll woo me any sum-
     mer day;
And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to
     be Queen o' the May.

If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my
     resting-place;
Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look
     upon your face;
Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken
     what you say,
And be often, often with you when you think I'm
     far away.

So now I think my time is near; I trust it is.
     I know
The blessed music went that way my soul will
     have to go.
And for myself, indeed, I care not if I go to-day;
But Effie, you must comfort her when I am past
     away.

And say to Robin a kind word, and tell him not
     to fret;
There's many worthier than I, would make him
     happy yet.
If I had lived - I cannot tell - I might have
     been his wife;
But all these things have ceased to be, with my
     desire of life.

Forever and forever, all in a blessed home,
And there to wait a little while till you and
     Effie come, -
To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your
     breast, -
And the wicked cease from troubling, and the
     weary are at rest.

From "The May Queen" poem by Alfred Tennyson[17]

In 1833 Tennyson published his second book of poetry, which notably included the first version of "

cerebral haemorrhage while on a holiday in Vienna. Hallam's death had a profound effect on Tennyson and inspired several poems, including "In the Valley of Cauteretz" and "In Memoriam A.H.H.", a long poem detailing the "Way of the Soul".[18]

Tennyson and his family were allowed to stay in the rectory for some time, but later moved to Beech Hill Park,

Sir Charles Tennyson, Tennyson met Thomas Carlyle in 1839, if not earlier.[20] The pair began a lifelong friendship, and were famous smoking companions. Some of Tennyson's work even bears the influence of Carlyle and his ideas.[21] Tennyson moved to London in 1840 and lived for a time at Chapel House, Twickenham
.

Third publication

On 14 May 1842, while living modestly in London, Tennyson published the two volume

The Princess (1870) and in Princess Ida
(1884).

It was in 1850 that Tennyson reached the pinnacle of his career, finally publishing his masterpiece, "

Hallam Tennyson
(b. 11 August 1852)—named after his friend—and Lionel (b. 16 March 1854).

Tennyson rented

Aldworth, in West Sussex in 1869.[23]
However, he retained Farringford, and regularly returned there to spend the winters.

Poet Laureate

Captioned "The Poet Laureate", caricature of Tennyson in Vanity Fair, 22 July 1871

In 1850, after William Wordsworth's death and Samuel Rogers' refusal, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate; Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Leigh Hunt had also been considered.[24] He held the position until his own death in 1892, the longest tenure of any laureate. Tennyson fulfilled the requirements of this position, such as by authoring a poem of greeting to Princess Alexandra of Denmark when she arrived in Britain to marry the future King Edward VII. In 1855, Tennyson produced one of his best-known works, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", a dramatic tribute to the British cavalrymen involved in an ill-advised charge on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War. 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".

Alfred Tennyson, portrait by P. Krämer

Tennyson declined a

Gladstone's earnest solicitation. In 1884 Victoria created him Baron Tennyson, of Aldworth in the County of Sussex and of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight.[25] He took his seat in the House of Lords on 11 March 1884.[12]

Tennyson also wrote a substantial quantity of unofficial political verse, from the bellicose "Form, Riflemen, Form", on the French crisis of 1859 and the

1832 Reform Act, Tennyson broke into a local church to ring the bells in celebration.[26]

Maud
), "Ask me no more", "Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington" and "Lancelot and Elaine". The sound quality is poor, as wax cylinder recordings usually are.

arbour at Farringford House, his 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 agnosticism and

Spinoza on his deathbed, saying of Bruno, "His view of God is in some ways mine", in 1892.[31]

Monument to Tennyson on Tennyson Down, Isle of Wight

Tennyson continued writing into his eighties. He died on 6 October 1892 at Aldworth, aged 83. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.[32] A memorial was erected in All Saints' Church, Freshwater. His last words were, "Oh that press will have me now!".[33] He left an estate of £57,206.[34] Tennyson Down and the Tennyson Trail on the Isle of Wight are named after him, and a monument to him stands on top of Tennyson Down. Lake Tennyson in New Zealand's high country, named by Frederick Weld, is assumed to be named after Lord Tennyson.[35]

He was succeeded as 2nd Baron Tennyson by his son, Hallam, who produced an authorised biography of his father in 1897, and was later the second Governor-General of Australia.

Tennyson and the Queen

Although

Albert, Prince Consort, was largely responsible for Tennyson's appointment as Laureate,[24] Queen Victoria became an ardent admirer of Tennyson's work, writing in her diary that she was "much soothed & pleased" by reading "In Memoriam A.H.H." after Albert's death.[36]

The two met twice, first in April 1862, when Victoria wrote in her diary, "very peculiar looking, tall, dark, with a fine head, long black flowing hair & a beard, oddly dressed, but there is no affectation about him."[37]

Tennyson met her a second time just over two decades later, on 7 August 1883, and the Queen told him what a comfort "In Memoriam A.H.H." had been.[38]

The art of Tennyson's poetry

Stained glass at Ottawa Public Library featuring Charles Dickens, Archibald Lampman, Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Tennyson, William Shakespeare, and Thomas Moore

As source material for his poetry, Tennyson used a wide range of subject matter ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from domestic situations to observations of nature. The influence of

Romantic poets published before and during his childhood is evident from the richness of his imagery and descriptive writing.[39] He also handled rhythm masterfully. The insistent beat of Break, Break, Break emphasises the relentless sadness of the subject matter. Tennyson's use of the musical qualities of words to emphasise 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 onomatopoeia, alliteration, and assonance
:

The moan of doves in immemorial elms
And murmuring of innumerable bees.

Tennyson was a craftsman who polished and revised his manuscripts extensively, to the point where his efforts at self-editing were described by his contemporary

Victorian period of his maturity in his feeling for order and his tendency towards moralising. He also reflects a concern common among Victorian writers in being troubled by the conflict between religious faith and expanding scientific knowledge.[43] Tennyson possessed a strong poetic power, which his early readers often attributed to his "Englishness" and his masculinity.[44] Well-known among his longer works are Maud and Idylls of the King, the latter arguably the most famous Victorian adaptation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. A common thread of grief, melancholy, and loss connects much of his poetry (including Mariana, The Lotos Eaters, Tears, Idle Tears, In Memoriam), possibly reflecting Tennyson's own lifelong struggle with debilitating depression.[45] T. S. Eliot famously described Tennyson as "the saddest of all English poets", whose technical mastery of verse and language provided a "surface" to his poetry's "depths, to the abyss of sorrow".[46] Other poets such as W. H. Auden maintained a more critical stance, stating that Tennyson was the "stupidest" of all the English poets, adding that: "There was little about melancholia he didn't know; there was little else that he did."[47]

Influence on Pre-Raphaelite artists

Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the

Elizabeth Siddall
.

Tennyson heraldry

A

heraldic achievement of Alfred, Lord Tennyson exists in an 1884 stained-glass window in the Hall of Trinity College, Cambridge
, showing arms:

Gules, a bend nebuly or thereon a

leopards rampant guardant gules semée de lys and ducally crowned or; Motto: Respiciens Prospiciens[49]
("Looking backwards (is) looking forwards").

These are a

See of Hereford
; the name "Tennyson" signifies "Denys's son", although no connection between the two families is recorded.

Works

A list of works by Tennyson follows:[50][51]

  • The Lover's Tale (Two parts published in 1833;[53] Tennyson suppressed it immediately after publication as he felt it was imperfect. A revised version comprising three parts was subsequently published in 1879 together with "The Golden Supper" as a fourth part.)[54]
  • "Rosalinde" (1833; suppressed until 1884)[55]
  • Poems (1842; with numerous subsequent editions including the 4th edition (1846) and 8th edition (1853));[56] the collection included many of the poems published in the 1833 anthology (some in revised form), and the following:

Citations

  1. ^ "British Listed Buildings Aldworth House, Lurgashall". British Listed Buildings Online. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  2. ^ Stern, Keith (2007). Queers in History. Quistory Publishers.
  3. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. 1999.
  4. ^ Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Brief Biography, Glenn Everett, Associate Professor of English, the University of Tennessee at Martin
  5. ^ Savage-Armstrong, George Francis (1888). The Ancient and Noble Family of the Savages of the Ards, with Sketches of English and American Branches of the House of Savage: Comp. From Historical Documents and Family Papers. pp. 50–52.
  6. ^ "TENNYSON, George (1750-1835), of Bayon's Manor, Lincs. | History of Parliament Online".
  7. ^ "George Tennyson".
  8. ^ "Tennyson". 11 January 2016.
  9. ^ "The Tennysons in Market Rasen :: Market Rasen, All Our Stories".
  10. ^ Savage-Armstrong, George Francis (1888). The Ancient and Noble Family of the Savages of the Ards, with Sketches of English and American Branches of the House of Savage: Comp. From Historical Documents and Family Papers. pp. 50–52.
  11. ^ James, William The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. Eastford, CT:Martino Fine Books, p. 295. 1902/2012. ISBN 1614273154
  12. ^ a b c d Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Eugene Parsons (Introduction). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1900.
  13. ^ "Tennyson, Alfred (TNY827A)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  14. ^ "Trinity College, University of Cambridge". BBC Your Paintings. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  15. ^ Friedlander, Ed. "Enjoying "Timbuktu" by Alfred Tennyson"
  16. ^ "Lincolnshire People – Famous Yellowbellies – Alfred, Lord Tennyson". BBC. 31 August 2005. Archived from the original on 31 August 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  17. ^ A Library of Poetry and Song: Being Choice Selections from The Best Poets. With An Introduction by William Cullen Bryant, New York, J.B. Ford and Company, 1871, pp. 239-242.
  18. ^ a b c H. Tennyson (1897). Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, New York: MacMillan.
  19. ^ "History of Holy Innocents Church" Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Highbeachchurch.org. Retrieved 27 April 2012
  20. S2CID 164191497
    .
  21. JSTOR 43466076
    .
  22. ^ The Home of Tennyson Archived 24 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Rebecca FitzGerald, Farringford: The Home of Tennyson Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine official website
  23. ^ Good Stuff. "Aldworth House – Lurgashall – West Sussex – England – British Listed Buildings". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
  24. ^ a b Batchelor, John. Tennyson: To Strive, To Seek, To Find. London: Chatto and Windus, 2012.
  25. ^ "No. 25308". The London Gazette. 15 January 1884. p. 243.
  26. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-515054-4
    .
  27. ^ Ormond, Leonee (1993). Alfred Tennyson: A Literary Life. Springer. p. 146.
  28. ^ "primaveraproductions.com". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
  29. ^ "Cambridge Book and Print Gallery". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2006.
  30. ^ "Tennyson, Science and Religion". victorianweb.org.
  31. ^ Freethought of the Day, 6 August 2006, Alfred Tennyson Archived 3 December 2012 at archive.today
  32. ^ Stanley, A.P., Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (London; John Murray; 1882), p. 240.
  33. ^ Andrew Motion, BBC Radio 4, "Great Lives: Alfred, Lord Tennyson", broadcast on 4 August 2009
  34. ^ Christopher Ricks (1972). Tennyson. Macmillan, p. 236
  35. ISBN 9780143204107
    .
  36. ^ "Queen Victoria's Journals – Information Site". queenvictoriasjournals.org. 5 January 1862.
  37. ^ "Queen Victoria's Journals – Information Site". queenvictoriasjournals.org. 14 April 1862.
  38. ^ "Queen Victoria's Journals – Information Site". queenvictoriasjournals.org. 7 August 1883.
  39. ^ Grendon, Felix (July 1907). "The Influence of Keats upon the Early Poetry of Tennyson". The Sewanee Review. 15 (3): 285–296. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  40. ISBN 0838640389
    . Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  41. ^ "Tennyson". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  42. ISBN 0674874153
    . Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  43. ISBN 0313305382
    . Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  44. ISBN 978-1137288899
    . Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  45. S2CID 154831984
    .
  46. ^ T. S. Eliot, Selected Prose of T. S. Eliot. Ed. Frank Kermode. New York: Harcourt, 1975. P. 246.
  47. ^ Carol T. Christ, Catherine Robson, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume E: The Victorian Age. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt & M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 2006. p. 1111
  48. ^ "The Pre-Raphaelites". The British Library. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  49. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 1091
  50. ^ Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson (1898). The complete poetical works of Tennyson. David O. McKay Library Brigham Young University-Idaho. Boston, Houghton Mifflin.
  51. ^ "Alfred, Lord Tennyson | English poet". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  52. OCLC 3944791
    .
  53. OCLC 228706138
    .
  54. OCLC 771863316
    .
  55. ^ Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson Baron (1898). The Poetic and Dramatic Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Houghton Mifflin. p. 21.
  56. OCLC 1008064829, volume I and volume II
    .
  57. OCLC 2024748
    .
  58. OCLC 3968433
    .
  59. ^ "Poetry Lovers' Page: Alfred Lord Tennyson". poetryloverspage.com.
  60. OCLC 926377946
    .
  61. OCLC 1246230498
    .
  62. OCLC 1086925503
    .
  63. ^ "Becket and other plays by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson – Free Ebook". Retrieved 20 September 2014 – via Project Gutenberg.
  64. Hallam Tennyson (ed.). The Life and Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson
    . Vol. 8. Macmillan. pp. 261–263.

General bibliography

External links
Digital collections of works
Institutional collections of works
Additional biographical information
Other works
Court offices
Preceded by British Poet Laureate
1850–1892 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New title Baron Tennyson
1884–1892 		Succeeded by
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