ALFRED LORD TENNYSON

BET DAYS haha

TENNYSON QUICK FACTS
Victorian era British writer, novelist, poet.
Poet Laureate of the UK during much of Queen
Victoria's reign.
Remains one of the most popular poets in the
English language.
Works include, Crossing The Bar, The Eagle,
and In Memoriam.
EARLY YEARS AND FAMILY
Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England on
August 6, 1809. He would be one of his family's 11 surviving children
(his parents' firstborn died in infancy). Tennyson grew up with two
older brothers, four younger ones and four younger sisters.

Tennyson's father was a church rector who earned a decent income, but
the size of the family meant expenses had to be closely watched.
Therefore, Tennyson only attended Louth Grammar School (where he
was bullied) for a few years. The rest of his pre-university education was
overseen by his well-read father. Tennyson and his siblings were raised
with a love of books and writing; by the age of 8, Tennyson was penning
his first poems.

However, Tennyson's home wasn't a happy one. His father was an elder
son who had been disinherited in favor of a younger brother, which
engendered resentment. Even worse, his father was an alcoholic and
drug user who at times physically threatened members of the family.
AS A YOUNG MAN
In 1827, Tennyson had his first poetry published in Poems by Two
Brothers(though actually three Tennyson brothers contributed to the
volume). That same year, Tennyson began to study at Trinity College
at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his two older brothers were also
students

It was at university that Tennyson met Arthur Hallam, who became a close
friend, and joined a group of students who called themselves the Apostles.
Tennyson also continued to write poetry, and in 1829, he won the
Chancellor's Gold Medal for the poem "Timbuctoo." In 1830, Tennyson
published his first solo collection: Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.

Tennyson's father died in 1831. His death meant straitened circumstances for
the family, and Tennyson did not complete his degree. As a younger son,
Tennyson was encouraged to find a profession, such as entering the church
like his father. However, the young man was determined to focus on poetry.
STRUGGLES OF A POET
At the end of 1832 (though it was dated 1833), he published another
volume of poetry: Poems by Alfred Tennyson. It contained work that
would become well known, such as "The Lady of Shalott," but received
unfavorable reviews. These greatly affected Tennyson, and he
subsequently shied away from publication for a decade, though he
continued to write during that time.

After leaving Cambridge, Tennyson had remained close to Arthur Hallam,

who had fallen in love with Tennyson's sister Emily. When Hallam died
suddenly in 1833, likely from a stroke, it was a devastating loss for the
poet and his family.
 Tennyson developed feelings for Rosa Baring in the 1830s, but her wealth put
her out of his league (the poem "Locksley Hall" shared his take on the
situation: "Every door is barrd with gold, and opens but to golden keys"). In
1836, Tennyson fell in love with Emily Sellwood, sister to his brother
Charles's wife; the two were soon engaged. However, due in part to concerns
about his finances and his health there was a history of epilepsy in the
Tennyson family, and the poet worried he had the disease Tennyson ended
the engagement in 1840.

Tennyson finally published more poetry in the two-volume Poems (1842).

Highlights included a revised "The Lady of Shalott," and also "Locksley Hall,"
"Morte d'Arthur" and "Ulysses" (which ends with the well-known line, "To
strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"). This work was positively reviewed.
Unfortunately, in 1842 Tennyson lost most of his money after investing in an
unsuccessful wood-carving venture. (Tennyson would recover some of the
funds in 1845, thanks to an insurance policy a friend had taken out for him.)
SURROUNDING DEATHS
After his father came back after persuaded to go
abroad, he died.
- His fathers history of Epilepsy and mixture of
excessive drinking was the cause of his death in 1831.
Alfred left Cambridge without a degree after this death.
The same year that Arthur had died was also the same
year his brother Edward was confined to a mental
institution. There he was left to die until 1890. The
confinement of his own brother made Alfred question
his own mental illness.
His mother died in 1865.
SUMMARY OF WORK
His work explores the theories of science and
modern progress and also portrays sympathy.
Many of his poems are based off of his own
emotions and past experiences, but he doesnt
allow those aspects to single out only one
reader. He writes his poetry so that many people
can relate. Alfreds poems are written for more
then one interpretation to be concluded.
REMEMBERING ALFRED LORD
TENNYSON
Even two hundred years after his death,
Tennysons poems are still known and studied
world wide.
He is known as the chief representative for the
Victorian Era.
And most importantly he is known for being able
to combine his personal melancholy with the
common doubts of his time period to produce
epic poems.
BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM:
This approach begins with the simple but central
insight that literature is written by actual people and
that understanding an authors life can help readers
more thoroughly comprehend the work. Hence, it
often affords a practical method by which readers can
better understand a text. However, a biographical
critic must be careful not to take the biographical
facts of a writers life too far in criticizing the works
of that writer: the biographical critic focuses on
explicating the literary work by using the insight
provided by knowledge of the authors life.
 NOTHING WILL DIE
BY ALFRED LORD TENNYSON
When will the stream be aweary of flowing
Under my eye?
When will the wind be aweary of blowing
Over the sky?
When will the clouds be aweary of fleeting?
When will the heart be aweary of beating?
And nature die?
Never, oh! never, nothing will die;
The stream flows,
The wind blows,
The cloud fleets,
The heart beats,
Nothing will die.
Nothing will die;
All things will change
Thro eternity.
Tis the worlds winter;
Autumn and summer
Are gone long ago;
Earth is dry to the centre,
But spring, a new comer,
A spring rich and strange,
Shall make the winds blow
Round and round,
Thro and thro,
Here and there,
Till the air
And the ground
Shall be filld with life anew.
The world was never made;
It will change, but it will not fade.
So let the wind range;
For even and morn
Ever will be
Thro eternity.
Nothing was born;
Nothing will die;
All things will change.
 This in an early poem by Tennyson, which appeared in his first book (Poems, chiefly lyrical)
published in 1830. I like this poem, and the poem that will follow it tomorrow (the cheerfully
titled, All things will die). I thought it was most appropriate to post them consecutively because
they seem to go together. They present entirely contrasting perspectives on the world and on
existence, and I think it is really interesting to compare the two.
In this first poem, Nothing will die, the speaker seemingly believes in a world that is in constant
motion, constant change, always going Round and round,/ Thro and thro. The world depicted
is one where nature never tires of its cycles: The stream flows,/ The wind blows,/ The cloud
fleets,/ The heart beats,/ Nothing will die. I love the way Tennyson uses this energetic rhythm
here to reflect the rhythms of the natural world (I also love fleet as a verb!) Life moves
constantly through the seasons, always coming full circle to Spring, which fills it with life anew.
The defining statement in this poem, I think, is The world was never made;/ It will change, but
it will not fade. This is a beautiful expression of the idea that if the world was never
created/born then it need not end; if something is born it must die, but if something
simply exists, without being born or created, then it can be said to be eternal. Our notions of God
(in most religions, I think) tell us that he is uncreated and can never die (i.e. he is eternal.) I like
this idea of death not existing, but of it simply being a change, and part of a continual cycle.
I think that this poem could also be read as being a poem of denial the voice of one so afraid of
death that he tries to convince himself that Nothing will die. Read in this way, the rhythm of the
poem seems feverish and frantic a mantra to convince oneself of a fantasy. However, I dont
personally read it like that.