Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, on August 6, 1809, and died at Aldworth in Surrey in 1892. He was the third of twelve brothers and sisters, several of whom later showed evidences of genius. As early as 1827 he and his brother Charles published Poems by Two Brothers, for which they received ten pounds. At Trinity College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1828, he won the chancellor's gold medal for a prize poem Timbuctoo. On the death of his father in 1831 he left Cambridge without a degree. Before this in 1830 he had published Poems, chiefly Lyrical, and two years later in 1832 a new volume appeared which was severely criticised, though it contained much excellent work. The death of his close friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, in 1833 was a terrible blow to Tennyson and one from which it took him many years to recover. It was, however, the inspiration for his elegy In Memoriam, written for the most part during the period when the loss was felt most keenly. For some time after, Tennyson lived quietly, gaining in power and expression, and busy training himself for the future. The product of this seclusion came in two volumes of poetry, printed in 1842, which were enthusiastically greeted. In 1845 Wordsworth wrote, "Tennyson is decidedly the first of our living poets." The Princess; A Medley, appeared in 1847, and three years later he gave to the world the completed In Memoriam. This same year (1850) is also notable for his marriage with Miss Emily Sellwood and his appointment as poet-laureate in place of Wordsworth, who had just died.

From this time on his place in literature was secured, and he lived a happy life, making occasional short trips in England and on the continent, but remaining for the most part quietly at his estate on the Isle of Wight. Among his later works are Maud (1855), Enoch Arden (1864), Idylls of the King (finished 1872), a group of Ballads, and Other Poems (1880), and several dramas. He accepted a peerage in 1883. Nine years later he died and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Tennyson, in the range and scope of his work, in the variety of his interests, and in the versatility of his art, is the most representative poet of the nineteenth century. He tried many kinds of poetry and met with some success in all. He learned versification as Stevenson did his prose style, by long-continued study and practice, with the result that he became eventually a supreme literary artist, a master of melody in words. His diction is admirably precise and exact, and he is easy to read and understand. While he is rarely profound or searching, like Browning, neither is he overintellectual; but he embeds sane and safe thought in a mould of beauty. He was a national poet in his patriotism and fondness for English scenery. Finally he was an apostle of religious optimism, ready to combat the morbid beliefs which were disturbing contemporary philosophy.

Dora (Page 103)

Published in 1842.

The clearness and simplicity of this exquisite pastoral make any explanatory notes superfluous. Regarding it, Wordsworth once said to Tennyson, "I have been endeavoring all my life to write a pastoral like your Dora and have not yet succeeded."

Œnone (Page 108)

Most of this poem was written in 1830 while Tennyson was travelling in the Pyrenees Mountains with his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. The descriptions of scenery belong, therefore, to that district, and not to the vicinity of ancient Troy. Œnone was first published in 1832, but was afterward frequently revised; it appears here in the final form approved by Tennyson himself.

The conclusion of the story of Œnone and Paris may be read in Tennyson's own Death of Œnone or in William Morris's Death of Paris.

Enoch Arden (Page 117)

This poem was written in 1862, its actual composition taking only two weeks, although the poet had been considering the theme for some time. It was first printed in 1864 and became popular at once, sixty thousand copies being sold in a very short period.

[205] 36. Wife to both. This line is a prophecy of future events in the story.