Alfred Tennyson

1809 - 1892 *

Victorian poet

English author often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. Tennyson succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850; he was appointed by Queen Victoria and served 42 years. Tennyson's works were melancholic, and reflected the moral and intellectual values of his time, which made them especially vulnerable for later critic.

"Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake.
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me."
(from 'The Princess')

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was b... [read entire biography]

          Source: Petri Liukkonen

TENNYSON, ALFRED TENNYSON, 1st BARON (1809-1892), English poet, was born at Somersby, Lincolnshire, on the 6th of August 1809. He was the fourth of the twelve children of the Rev. George Clayton Tennyson (1778-1831) and his wife Elizabeth Fytche (1781—1865). The Tennysons were an old Lincoinshire family settled at Bayon’s Manor. The poet’s grandfather, George Tennyson, M.P., had disinherited the poet’s father, who was settled hard by in the rectory of Somersby, in favour of the younger son, Char... [read entire biography]

          Source: External Publication

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This laurel greener from the brows
Of him that uttered nothing base. -- To the Queen.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons, when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet. -- To the Queen.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

Broad based upon her people's will,
And compassed by the inviolate sea. -- To the Queen.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

For it was in the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid. -- Recollections of the Arabian Nights.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

Dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,
The love of love. -- The Poet.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

A still small voice spake unto me,
"Thou art so full of misery,
Were it not better not to be?" -- The Two Voices.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

This truth within thy mind rehearse,
That in a boundless universe
Is boundless better, boundless worse. -- The Two Voices.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

Tho' thou wert scattered to the wind,
Yet is there plenty of the kind. -- The Two Voices.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

No life that breathes with human breath
Has ever truly longed for death. -- The Two Voices.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

Like glimpses of forgotten dreams. -- The Two Voices.

Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

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* Some dates of birth and death are approximated. If this is the case, see note at the end of biography, above. Dates of birth and death are AD, unless otherwise specified.