Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in 1809 in Lincolnshire, the son of a clergyman.  He began writing early, publishing a book of poetry with his two brothers titled Poems by Two Brothers (1827).  Tennyson attended Cambridge for three years, returning home in 1831 after the death of his father.  He suffered from another devastating loss in 1833, when his good friend Arthur Henry Hallam, whom he met at Cambridge, died.  In 1850, Tennyson was named poet laureate and finally married Emily Sellwood, whom he had courted for 14 years but had not been able to marry due to his strained finances.  He was named a peer and served in the House of Lords, beginning in 1883. 

Tennyson published a number of poems relating to Arthurian legend throughout the course of his life, including “The Lady of Shalott” (1832), “Morte d’Arthur” (1842), The Princess (1847), and Idylls of the King, which first appeared in 1859 and was published in its complete form in 1888.  Although many readers have criticized his Arthur for being too feminine, Tennyson’s poem reflected Victorian tensions about female power and uncontrollable male violence.  Aware that he was writing about archaic subject matter, Tennyson always strove to make his poetry relevant to the modern reader.  Other notable works include In Memoriam (1850), “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1855), Maud (1855), and “Crossing the Bar” (1889).  Tennyson died in 1892 and was buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.

© Copyright Shea Davis 2007