Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809- 1892) was the representative poet of Victorian age. He was born 6 August 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He belongs to an aristocratic family. He was poet Laureate during much of ‘Queen Victoria’ reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor’s Gold Medal at Cambridge University for one of his first piece. “Timbuktu”. Alfred Lord Tennyson, as hi is called, was the Poet Laureate of the time. He was indeed a major poet of the Victorian Period is often called the “The age of Tennyson”.

Alfred Lord Tennyson


Education and Early life of Alfred Lord Tennyson–

Tennyson was the fourth of 12 children, born into an old Lincolnshire family, his father was a rector. Alfred, with two of his brothers, Fredrick and Charles, was sent in 1815 to ‘Lonth Grammar’. Alfred was precocious, and before his teens he had composed in the style of Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Scott and John Milton. Lord Byron was a dominant influence on the young Tennyson. In 1827 Alfred and Charles joined Fredrick at Trinity college, Cambridge. There Alfred made friendship with Arthur Hallam. This was the deepest friendship to Tennyson’s life. In May 1836his brother Charles married Louisa Sellwood of Horncastle and at the wedding Alfred fell in love with her sister Emily Sellwood, and in one-year 1850, their love changed into marriage. The same year he was appointed the poet Laureate in succession to Wordsworth. He got a socked of his life when his dearest and best friend, Arthur Hallam, died in 1833. On the death of his close friend’s death, Tennyson composed “In Memoriam”- a vast poem of 131 sections of varying length, with a prologue and epilogue. Tennyson died in 1892 and was buried with all the honours that the Poet Laureate deserved. The day before death he asks his son to take 3 dramas of Shakespeare.

  1. King Lear
  2. Cymbeline
  3. Troilus and Caressed

In 1892 peacefully he died and Cymbeline was found in front of him.

Tennyson’s Literary Works –

Tennyson first published his solo collection of poems, “poems chiefly lyrical” in 1830. in 1833 Tennyson published his second book of poetry, which notably included the first version of “The Lady of Shallot”. Tennyson while living in London in 1842, published the two volumes ‘Poems’, of which the first included works already published and the second was made up almost entirely of new poems. They met with immediate success; poems from this collection, such as Locksley Hall, Break, Break, Break and Ulysses. Tennyson’s work has been re-read with interest for its strong acknowledgement and analysis of problematic areas of psychic and social existence. Some of his great poems, sonnets, drama, lyric etc. are as follows:

Dramas and Monologues

Maud: A Monodrama (1855) 

It is a story of a lover who passes from morbidness to ecstasy, then to anger and murder, followed by insanity and recovery. This poem is Tennyson’s favourite.

Queen Mary (1875) –

Queen Mary is a drama written by Tennyson.

Harold (1876)

Becket (1884)

The Falcon

The promise of May

The Foresters: Robin Hood and Maid Marian

The Longer Poems

The Lady of Shallot

The lady of Shallot is Tennyson’s narrative poem in four parts. It is about the tragic love of Elaine. It concentrates on the relation of art with life and the problem related to the isolation of the artist. Shallot is an island. The poem is symbolic poem. The lady was imprisoned near Comelet river .She found a curse and she can not see the river. So she used mirror to see the river and the atmosphere of there.

Ulysses –

“Ulysses” is Tennyson’s dramatic monologue in blank verse. It is based on Dante’s Inferno. It is written in 1833 and published in 1842. it reflects a passion for knowledge and adventure. Ulysses does not like to waste time. He does not want to sit idly at home. Ulysses faces the old age problem. He declared that there is little pleasant staying at home with old wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus. He earns to explore more- can not rest from travel. “To strive to seek, to find not to be yield”.

Morte d'Arthur,

The Lotus Eaters-

The Lotus Eaters is a poem by Tennyson. It was inspired by his trip to Spain with his close friend Arthur Hallam, where they visited the Pyreness Mountains. The poem starts with the line, “Courage I he said and pointed towards the land”. The poem describes a group of mariners who, upon eating the lotus are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world .


In Memoriam –

Tennyson’s poem ‘In Memoriam’ is not merely a pastoral elegy but also a deeply philosophical reflection on religion science and immortality. In Memoriam by Tennyson is a requiem for the poet’s beloved friend ‘Arthur Hallam’, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833.

Idylls of the king

Coming of Arthur

The lover’s Tall


  • A dream of a fair woman
  • Sir Launcelat and Queen Guinevere
  • Enoch Arden
  • The Princess
  • The Charge of the light Bridge
  • Dora


Some important sonnets, lyrics and other shorter poems

New Year’s Eve

To Alfred Tennyson, my grandson

The revenge

The sleeping beauty

Milton

Break, Break, Break

Crossing the bar

Timbuktu

The brook

Akbar’s tomb.


Conclusion –

Tennyson often regarded as the chief representative of Victorian age in poetry. He firmly believed in doctrine of evolution. He became the mouthpiece of his century’s doubts, difficulties, and craving for the certainties of religious faith. He advocated the growth of religion and science, knowledge and faith in perfect harmony. W. H. Hudson says – “The change which Tennyson’s thought underwent in regard to social and political questions itself reveals his curios sensitiveness to the tendencies of his time; for the sanguine temper of his early manhood, the doubts, misgivings, and reactionary utterances of his middle age, and the chastened hopefulness of his last years, are alike reflection of successive moods which were widely characteristic of his generation”.   


FAQ (frequently asked questions):-
  • What is Alfred, Lord Tennyson famous for?
 Answer- Alfred Lord Tennyson is the representative poet of the Victorian age. Victorian age is known as the age of peace and prosperity. this age is also called the age of scientific discoveries and invention. He is famous for his poetry. Hope and faith are the general message that he gives through his poetry. Tennyson held the position of the poet Laureate for the longest period in England. Tennyson saw the world with the eye of a poet a well as with the eye of a scientist. He wrote many books in his life but his poetry was his masterpiece. His The Idylls of the King, In Memoriam, Maud, The Princess is the best poems of Victorian era.
  • What are Tennyson's three famous poems?
Answer- Lord Tennyson is the most greatest poet of Victorian age . All  of his works are the finest creation of literature. there are some best poems composed by Tennyson-  The lady of Shallot, The Lotus Eater, Maud, Break, Break, Break, The princess, Crossing the Bar, The brook etc.

  • Who called Tennyson as the saddest of all English poets?

Answer: T.S. Eliot.