Hallam's untimely death in 1833, which prompted the series of elegies later comprising In Memoriam, contributed greatly to Tennyson's despair.įinancial and Poetic Uncertainty For nearly a decade after Hallam's death Tennyson published no further poetry. Tennyson himself was morbidly fearful of falling victim to epilepsy or madness. One of Tennyson's brothers suffered a mental breakdown and required institutionalization. His father died in 1831, leaving Tennyson's family in debt and forcing his early departure from Trinity College. Hallam's enthusiasm was welcomed by Tennyson, whose personal circumstances had led to a growing despondency. The latter volume was published at the urging of Arthur Hallam, a brilliant Cambridge undergraduate who had become Tennyson's closest friend and was an ardent admirer of his poetry. Another collection, Poems, appeared in 1832 but was less favorably reviewed, many critics praising Tennyson's artistry but objecting to what they considered an absence of intellectual substance. Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, published in 1830, was well received and marked the beginning of Tennyson's literary career. Later that year, Tennyson enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the chancellor's gold medal for his poem “Timbuctoo” in 1829. Launched Writing Career In 1827, when he was almost eighteen years old, Tennyson's first volume of poetry, Poems by Two Brothers was published. He would make up phrases or discrete lines as he walked, and store them in his memory until he had a proper setting for them. One odd aspect of his method of composition was set in childhood as well. All his life he used writing as a way of taking his mind off his troubles. He began writing poetry long before he was sent to school. It also believed that George Tennyson was mentally unstable, and each of his children also suffered to some extent from drug addiction or mental illness.īiographers speculate that the general melancholy and morbidity expressed in much of Tennyson's verse is rooted in the unhappy environment at Somersby. Tennyson's father had been essentially disinherited and reacted by indulging in drugs and alcohol, creating an unpleasant domestic atmosphere often made worse by his violent temper. Landowner, he had obtained the rectory when his younger brother was designated as prospective heir to the family's estate. His father, George Clayton Tennyson, was a rector who maintained his benefice grudgingly as a means of supporting himself and his family. Unhappy Childhood with an Unstable Father The fourth of twelve children, Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, on August 6, 1809. Works in Biographical and Historical Context While Tennyson was the foremost poet of his generation and the poetic voice of Victorian England, many critics have since found his poetry excessively emotive and moralistic, though he is universally acclaimed as a lyricist of unsurpassed skill. He was immensely popular in his lifetime, especially in the years following the publication of his lengthy elegiac poem In Memoriam (1850). MAJOR WORKS : Poems (1842) In Memoriam (1849) “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1854) Maud (1855) Idylls of the King (1874) Overviewīritish author Alfred, Lord Tennyson is considered an icon of the Victorian period of English history and is regarded as one of the most accomplished lyric poets in the history of English verse. BORN: 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England
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