1. Alfred Tennyson
Presented by : Dhruvita Dhameliya
Roll no : 06
Subject : Literature of the Victorians
Topic : Alfred Tennyson
Submitted to : S.B.Gardi Department of English,
MKBU
2. Alfred Tennyson :
Born : 6 August 1809
Died : 6 October 1892
Alfred Tennyson 1st Baron Tennyson was poet
laureate of the United Kingdom and one of the
most popular English poet.
Tennyson was born in somersby Lincolnshire,
England. He would be one of his family's 11
surviving children.
3. Early Life :
Alfred was the fourth of his parent's twelve children. Frederick and
Charles who were Tennyson’s brothers were also poets.
Education : He entered Trinity College Cambridge in 1827, where he
joined a secret society called the Cambridge Apostles.
At Cambridge, Tennyson met Arthur Hallam and William Henry
Brookfield,who became his closest friends.
Tennyson's reputation as poet increased at Cambridge. In 1829 he won
the chancellor gold medal with a poem called Timbuktoo
4. His first publication :
He published his first solo collection of poems, “
poems chiefly Lyrical” in 1830. “Clarible” and
“Mariana ” which remain some of the Tennyson’s
most celebrated poems,were included in this volume.
In the spring of 1831 , Tennyson's father died.
Requiring him to leave Cambridge before taking his
degree.
Arthur Hallam came to stay with his family during
the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's
sister Emilia Tennyson.
5. Second publication :
In 1833 Tennyson published his second book of poetry, which includes his best known
poems, “ The Lady of shalott” a story of a princess who can not look at the world
except through a reflection of mirror.
The volume met heavy criticism, which so discouraged Tennyson that he did not
publish again for 10 more years, although he continued to write.
A.H. Hallam’s death inspired him to write some of his masterpiece like “ Break, Break,
Break”, and “ In memoriam”.
Tennyson developed feelings for Rosa Boring in the 1830 and fell in love with her in
1834 but her wealth put her out of his league.
6. In 1838 , he was engaged to Emily sellwood but in 1840
the engagement broken off.
In 1842 he published two volumes of poems- in
volume- 1 he ravished his earlier poems, volume- 2 had
entirely of new poems , poems from volume -2 such as “
Locksley hall” “Tithonus” and “ Ulysses” met fame.
In 1850 , Tennyson was appointed poet Laureate
succeeding William Wordsworth to 1892 and remains
one of the most popular English Poets, in the same year
on 13th June ,he married ‘ Emily sellwood’
7. His important works :
The princess is a blank verse narrative poem, written by Alfred
Tennyson, published in 1847.
“Maud ” published in 1855 it is Tennyson's favourite amount his
poems. It is a series of soliloquies. Tennyson called it “ A
Monodrama”.
In 1874 , along with writing poems Tennyson tried his hand at
poetic dramas. His first work in this genre ‘ Queen Mary’.
8. In Memoriam :
“In Memoriam A .H.H “ is a poem by Tennyson, published in 1850. It is a
personal elegy by Tennyson for his Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam,
who died on holiday in Vienna in 1833 , aged 22 of cerebral haemorrhage.
It is widely considered to be one of the greatest poems of the 19th century.
Tennyson took 17years to complete this poem. The original title of the
poem was “ The way of the soul”.
The poem is written in four line ABBA stanzas of iambic tetrameter, and it is
divided into 133 cantos.
9. Continue….
This poem was a great ‘ favourite of Queen
Victoria, she ranked ‘ In memoriam’ next to the
Bible as a comfort in her grief.
“ Tis better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all”.
Love is such an important experience that even the
pain of losing someone you love is better than not
having loved that person.
10. Late years and Death
Tennyson continued writing into his eighties
and died on 6 October 1892, aged 83. He was
buried at Westminster Abey.
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 of
Australia .
