Alfred, Lord Tennyson

526 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A background study of Alfred Tennyson

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was an interesting man that transferred his emotions into his works of literature. He was a sensitive person and using those emotions into his works of art helped him survive into old life. The biggest influence in Lord Tennyson’s life was his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. Hallam suddenly died and it left a tragic hole in his life. However, having his friend pass away proved better for Tennyson’s life as it transferred into a beneficial job for him. Tennyson’s short poems considered questions of death, faith, and immortality (Jobin). Three moments in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s life is his rough childhood, loss of loved ones, and national honor.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s rough childhood led him to worry about money all his life. The poet's grandfather had violated tradition by making his younger son, Charles, his heir, and arranging for the poet's father to enter the ministry. The contrast of his own family's relatively straitened circumstances to the great wealth of his aunt Elizabeth Russell and Uncle Charles Tennyson made Tennyson feel particularly impoverished and led him to worry about money all his life (Everett). Tennyson had a fear of epilepsy that ran in his family. His father and brother, Arthur, made their condition worse by drinking. After that, his brother was put into a mental institution and his father soon became paranoid and violent. The cost of everything worried Tennyson and he figured that becoming a writer would be the best for him. Tennyson and his other brother became known at Cambridge where he went to. His life could be described as in his poem, “Ulysses,” “All times I have enjoyed greatly, have suffered greatly.”
Lord Tennyson’s life was full of tragedy after his good friend, Arthu...

... middle of paper ...

... become a better person.

Works Cited

Everett, Glenn. "Alfred, Lord Tennyson: A Brief Biography." The Victorian Web. Victorian Web, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
Jobin, Tricia. "Alfred, 'Eccentric' Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)." Incompetech. Incompetech, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. .
Ross, David. "Alfred Tennyson Biography." Britain Express. Britain Express, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
Tant, Oscar. "Alfred Lord Tennyson." English Teaching Live. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
Zanzucchi, Anne. "Alfred Lord Tennyson." Robins Library Digital Projects. River Campus Libraries, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Influences and Sources of Theodore Roethke's Elegy for Jane

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tennyson, Alfred Lord. "In Memoriam A. H. H." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 3rd ed., Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1974. 1042-84.

    Read More

  • “Because I could not stop for Death” and “Annabel Lee”: Similarities, Differences, and Their Authors

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file. Sova, Dawn B. "Poe, Edgar Allan.

    Read More

  • Charge of the Light Brigade

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Blunden, Edmund and Heinemann, Eds. “Tennyson.” Selected Poems. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1960. p.1. print.

    Read More

  • The Lady of Shallot

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before Tennyson became rich and famous, the poet lived in desolation both financially and socially.    Tennyson embodied the "Victorian gospel of hard work", as evidenced in the way he "labored patiently, in poverty, w...

    Read More

  • Funerals of Kings

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Anthology Of English Literature. 8th. A. W W Norton & Co Inc, 2006.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe and the American Mind

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fisher, Benjamin F. The Cambridge Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting Homer's Odysseus and Tennyson's Ulysses

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed.

    Read More

  • King Alfred the Great

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    King Alfred the Great was born at Wantage, in 849, on a royal manor of his father's holding, a family estate which long afterward he himself would leave in legacy to his wife. Alfred was the youngest of five children, four sons and a daughter, born to Ethelwulf by his wife Osburh. When Alfred was four years old, his father, the king, who by now had long despaired of getting to Rome in the present state of things, decided to send Alfred there, to at least receive the blessing of the Holy Father. The pope at the time, Leo the IV, gave Alfred the blessing to become king. Alfred's time came in the year mid-April 871, when King Æthelred died. Only a king of full age could defend the land, and although Æthelred left children, Alfred, his constant companion in the war, was immediately recognized as his successor (Duckett 20).

    Read More

  • A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott

    2170 Words  | 5 Pages

    330-337. Tennyson, Alfred, Lord of the Lord. The Lady of Shalott. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Isolation In The Lady Of Shalott

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tennyson's poetry has stood the test of time because it successfully paints a time and place and reflects the feelings of the people in it. His ability to capture the feelings of uncertainty and loss that were characteristic of this time period, through his use of descriptions, diction, and pathetic fallacy made his poetry not only pleasing to the ear, but also historically important. He surpassed Wordsworth and other poets of his generation as Poet Laureate because his poems capture the important social issues of the Victorian Age such as the shift in religious belief as a result of science, the confusion surrounding women's roles in society, and the isolation that came as a result of the rapid social and economical changes that occurred.

    Read More

  • Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tennyson brings out the agony felt by Ulysses at his old age, The influence of the Industrial age can be seen in Tennyson's usage of the word 'profits' in the very first line . The character calls himself 'idle' showing his disillusionment at this ripe stage of life .The "still hearth" and "the barren crags" symbolize death. He continues complaining about his hapless state and the reader begins to detect the shallowness of character of this otherwise larger than life legend. He is so self-centered and full of self pity that he shows scant respect for those close to him and those that he rules as seen in lines 4-5. His pride keeps him from calling himself old, in that many words ; He has to allude to his wife's age to let the reader in on his own advanced years.

    Read More

  • Human Nature Of Religion Essay

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...en one cannot see it. While the morality of men is still there, Tennyson no longer seems to care when it comes. He now has God on his side and he knows that God shaped him for a reason… He will not let Tennyson rest until that reason is fulfilled. While Hallam’s death is still tragic, he still exists today, in Tennyson’s memories. Tennyson finishes his series with the phrase, “I shall not lose thee tho’ I die” (CXXX 16). Although Hallam no longer exists physically, his life has extended past that into the spiritual world and in the minds of those who loved him. Even today, he is still remembered thanks to Tennyson’s works of poetry. Unintentionally, Tennyson has answered his own questions about the morality of mankind. That even though our bodies might die, what we did and what we wrote will remain immortalized. Perhaps that is what God intended after all…

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Alfred Tennyson

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alfred Tennyson, born on August 6, 1809 to Reverend George and Elizabeth Tennyson at Somersby, Lincolnshire, England experienced a rather normal childhood. Tennyson attended Louth grammar school up until 1820, in which he was home schooled by his father afterwards (Kissane). However, Tennyson’s household did have its share of troubles. Tennyson’s father, despite being the eldest, had lost the inheritance to his younger brother whom Tennyson’s grandfather favored. Jaded, George Tennyson turned to alcohol and drugs creating a dark, unpleasant household atmosphere for Alfred Tennyson and his eleven siblings. Biographers never fail to include the “bad blood” of mental and physical debilities, including epilepsy that every child of the Tennyson

    Read More

  • Alfred Lord Tennyson Research Paper

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809 and died on October 6, 1892. Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1827 Tennyson began college at Cambridge University. The year he started college was also the same year his first volume of poetry was published (Allix). Tennyson's first poems did not receive very good feedback (Allix). During his time at Cambridge of of his fellow students and friends died (Allix). Tennyson's poems eventually caught attention because of his

    Read More

  • In Memoriam Alfred Lord Tennyson Analysis

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    He wants vengeance against death because he can no longer communicate with his dead friend. This anger anchors the speaker by allowing him to focus on something other than his grief over the loss of his friend. During the next stage of grief, bargaining, an individual wants life to return to the way it was before the loss of a loved one. Depression can be seen in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “In Memoriam A. H. H.” For example, in Canto 46 the speaker writes, “A lifelong tract of time revealed; / The fruitful hours of still increase; /

    Read More

More about Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Open Document