Alfred Tennyson. English poet . Named “Lord”, honored as a national poet and enshrined as the greatest of the Victorian era. Most of his work is inspired by mythological and medieval themes , and is characterized by his musicality and the psychological depth of his portraits. Later in his career he made several attempts to write theatrical dramas, although with little or reduced success.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Trajectory
- 2 Marriage
- 3 Death
- 2 Author’s phrases
- 3 Works of the author
- 4 Sources
Biographical synthesis
His father, a descendant of King Edward III of England , raised him in strict classical ways. He studied at “Trinity College”, Cambridge , where he won the Chancellor gold medal and joined the literary group “The Apostles” starting his long literary career ever since.
In 1830 he wrote the first lyric poems, followed ten years later by “The Lady of Shalott” , “The Lotus-eaters” , “Morte d’Arthur” and “Ulysses” , works praised by critics.
Trajectory
From a young age he manifested his poetic aptitudes in his first compositions in the manner of Pope and Milton. At the age of nineteen he published his first book of poems in collaboration with his brother Charles, Poems of two brothers ( 1823 ) and the following year he entered “Trinity College” in Cambridge, where he came into contact with a highly prestigious secret society , “The Apostles” and he met his great friend, Arthur Hallan, in memory of whom he wrote one of his most famous poems, In memoriam ( 1850 ), considered his masterpiece.
His first major book, “Poemas” mainly lyrical, appeared in 1830 and three years later he published the second, “Poemas”, which was not as well received by critics, despite being a more consistent collection and achieved, with a greater mastery of technique and mythological, classical and medieval construction and which gives rise to moral reflection.
Despondent by this failure and by the death, that same year, of his friend from Cambridge, the poet Arthur Henry Hallam , to whom he had a very strong emotional bond. The two friends had spent much time talking about poetry and philosophy , writing poems and traveled the south of France and Germany .
He remained unpublished for ten years, until his third book of poems appeared in 1942 , with which he regained a certain literary prestige, a fact that encouraged him to publish, in 1847 , a long poem on the condition of modern women , The Princess , with the one who consecrated himself as a poet.
Three years later, the aforementioned In memoriam appeared , after which he was appointed an official poet, thus taking the place that Wordsworth had left vacant. As such, he wrote the Ode for the Death of the Duke of Wellington ( 1852 ) and The Charge of the Light Brigade , with the aim of singing national glories. Supported by this official position, to which the title of lord would be added in 1884 , he worked on the composition of a series of prose poems on King Arthur , which culminated in 1859 with The Idylls of the King.. Belonging to post-romanticism, most of his work is inspired by mythological and medieval themes, and is characterized by its musicality and the psychological depth of its portraits.
Marriage
In 1835 he fell deeply in love with Rosa Baring, a lady of great beauty and fortune, whose rejection inspired some of his most hurt poems and reminded him of his precarious social position. But in 1836 he met Emily Sellwood whom he married in 1850, three years after the publication of The Princess. In 1852 the couple had their first child, who was given the name Hallam.
Tennyson’s fame was well established, and in 1854 they had to move to the Isle of Wight to escape the hordes of admirers who besieged their home. In the following years he wrote prolifically: Maud and other poems appeared in 1855 , Idylls of the King in 1859, and Enoch Arden in 1864 .
Queen Victoria was a great admirer of Tennyson’s work, naming him Baron in 1884 and giving him this title over Aldworth in the county of Sussex and at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight.
Death
Death surprised Alfred Tennyson when he was still correcting his last book of poems, “The Death of Enone”, in ( 1892 ).
Alfred Tennyson love quote
Author’s phrases
- It will never be too late to look for a better and newer world, if we put courage and hope into the effort.
- Knowledge comes, wisdom stays.
Author’s works
- In Memoriam, 1850 .
- The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1855 .
- Enoch Arden, 1864 .
- The Idylls of the King 1859– 1885 .
- Becket, 1884 .
- Tiresias, 1885 .
