Tennyson

by Alfred Tennyson, Kingsley Amis (Editor)

Norman Page's selection represents Tennyson's work in many poetic forms over more than sixty years. The poems chosen exemplify Tennyson's dual role as public and private poet--as spokesman for the anxieties of his time, and as an introspective, sometimes neurotic individual. With a substantial introduction, explanatory notes and bibliographic information, this collection is an essential historical introduction and critical commentary on Tennyson.

Genres: Poetry, Literary Criticism

224 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 1972

About the author

Works, including In Memoriam in 1850 and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854, of Alfred Tennyson, first baron, known as lord, appointed British poet laureate in 1850, reflect Victorian sentiments and aesthetics.

Elizabeth Tennyson, wife, bore Alfred Tennyson, the fourth of twelve children, to George Tennyson, clergyman; he inevitably wrote his books. In 1816, parents sent Tennyson was sent to grammar school of Louth.

Alfred Tennyson disliked school so intensely that from 1820, home educated him. At the age of 18 years in 1827, Alfred joined his two brothers at Trinity College, Cambridge and with Charles Tennyson, his brother, published Poems by Two Brothers , his book, in the same year.

Alfred Tennyson published Poems Chiefly Lyrical , his second book, in 1830. In 1833, Arthur Henry Hallam, best friend of Tennyson, engaged to wed his sister, died, and thus inspired some best Ulysses and the Passing of Arthur .

Following William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson in 1850 married Emily Sellwood Tenyson, his childhood friend. She bore Hallam Tennyson in 1852 and Lionel Tennyson in 1854, two years later.

Alfred Tennyson continued throughout his life and in the 1870s also to write a number of plays.

In 1884, the queen raised Alfred Tennyson, a great favorite of Albert, prince, thereafter to the peerage of Aldworth. She granted such a high rank for solely literary distinction to this only Englishman.

Alfred Tennyson died at the age of 83 years, and people buried his body in abbey of Westminster.

Reviews

[André · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had only read short poems by Tennyson, such as "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and "The Kraken," which are phenomenal in my opinion. After reading this book, containing several of Tennyson's poems, I have to conclude that those are his best poems: the deep, dark poems, the mostly lyrical poems. His narrative poems however were disappointing, because they seem to lose all lyricism. Every lengthy narrative poem left me thinking: "this would have been better as a simple prose narrative." Taking into account that most poems in this book are precisely the lengthy narrative ones, which in my opinion are Tennyson's worst, I have to recommend that people read his shorter, lyrical ones.

[Jacek]

April 25th, 2021 : A brief (300 pages, minus appendices) but satisfying overview of the life of the poet, and a terrific introduction to what makes his verse great. I read out of sequence at first; the chapter on Idylls of the King, in which Ricks quotes both the bits he adores and the bits he deplores, sometimes in the same short quote, hooked me. So I went back to the beginning. The early life (through the passing of Arthur Hallam, let's say) is fascinating, as the early poetry rarely is. And it seems to be circa In Memoriam (itself many years in the making) that the maker discovers himself. And I can't help but love the biographer—who else would quote The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest in a book about the Victorian poet laureate...?

[Janice Leff · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite poems, Ulysses . . .
"Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now the strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are,
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

[Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful reading of a well-curated selection of Tennyson's work.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost a star for me because the whole recording is only a little over an hour long. Still, a good representative sampling, very ably read. Available as an audio download from nypl.org