Alfred Tennyson - One Of England's Leading Poets

Alfred Tennyson, one of England's most popular poets, was born on August 6, 1809. He was the fourth of 12 children of the rector of Somersby, a village in Lincolnshire.

When Alfred was 7, he moved to reside where his grandmother lived in Louth and studied at the Louth grammar school. He hated the school because the master and the other boys bullied him. Alfred often just sat in a corner, reading a book. When he was 11, he returned home and was taught mostly by his father. He read widely from his father's library and began to write verses, plays, and ballads.

In 1827 Alfred and his brother Charles (1808-79) published Poems by Two Brothers. The next year Alfred entered Trinity College, Cambridge. The most important part of his experience there was his friendship with Arthur Hallam, the son of a well-known historian. Arthur encouraged and inspired Alfred to write. They were both members of a discussion group called the Apostles.

Tennyson won a prize for a poem in 1829 and published a second volume of poetry in 1830. He left Cambridge in 1831, before obtaining a degree. His father was not well, and after he died later that year, Tennyson remained at home as head of the house. An-other volume of his poetry appeared in 1832.
Hallam's death in 1833 was a great shock to Tennyson. He did not publish another volume of poetry until 1842.

After the publication of this fourth volume he was regarded as England's greatest living poet. When Wordsworth died in 1850, Tennyson took his place as poet laureate. The year 1850 was important for two other reasons: Tennyson married Emily Sellwood, and he published In Memoriam, a long poem in memory of Arthur Hallam.

The Tennysons lived on the Isle of Wight until 1870, when they built a second home in Surrey. Tennyson wrote, received many distinguished visitors, and traveled during the summer months. His poems about King Arthur and his knights, Idylls of the King (1859), were especially popular. One of his admirers and close friends was Queen Victoria. She made him a peer in 1884. Tennyson died on October 6, 1892.

By: Thomas M. Rooker

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