Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is the most popular and distinctive poet in Victorian England. His poems accurately reflect the dominant views and interests of his time, which is unmatched by English poets of any time. The representative work is a series of poems "mourning".

Life of the characters

Childhood

Tennyson was born in somsby, Lincolnshire, on August 6, 1809, ranking fourth among 12 brothers and sisters. My father was a vicar of the village. Young Tennyson read a lot of books in his father's Library and began to write poems at the age of 8. In 1827, Alfred and his brothers Frederick and Charles published the two brothers' poetry anthology. In fact, this book includes the works of the three brothers. Alfred's poems tend to be plain, just imitating the works of Byron.

Early career

In 1828, Tennyson entered the famous Cambridge University. In 1829, his poem Timbuktu won the president's gold medal. He became a member of the apostles, a student group, and was inspired by these Companions to publish the collection of lyrical poems in 1830. Some critics like Mariana and other poems in this book, but generally speaking, they have more negative comments.

Start writing

Tennyson's father died in 1831 and left Cambridge University without a degree. The next year he published a pamphlet called poetry, but it was not widely accepted. The essayist Arthur Henry Haram, Tennyson's closest friend and his sister's fiance, died in 1833. Under the double blow of the loss of close friends and bad criticism of his works, Tennyson did not publish any more works in the past 10 years.

Poetry (two volumes, 1842) won a warm welcome from critics and the public. Some of the best poems include "Pai An Qu" (inspired by the death of horam), "the death of King Arthur" and "Locksley hall". Tennyson's long poem Princess (1847) is related to women's rights and interests, and tries to prove that women's greatest achievement is a happy marriage (Gilberto and Sullivan adapted the poem into the farce Princess ADA). Some of Tennyson's best lyric poems come from the poem princess, which begins with tears, empty tears. Later versions added "gently, gently" and several other songs.

Late activity

In 1850, three great events took place in Tennyson's life. "Mourning" was finally published, and Tennyson has been working on it since Harlem's death. It consists of 131 short poems with a preface and postscript. It is one of the greatest elegy in English literature and Tennyson's works that can stand the test of time.

In June, Tennyson married Emily Sellwood. In November of the same year, Tennyson became poet laureate after William Wordsworth.

Tennyson, as the first official work of poet laureate, is a solemn but somewhat restrained mourning for the death of the Duke of Wellington (1852). In 1854, he wrote "light cavalry attack" to commemorate the heroism of British cavalry in the battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War. Maud, a long monologue poetic drama published in 1855, has been criticized by critics.

After 1853, Tennyson spent most of his time on his farm in farringford, Isle of Wight, and sometimes lived in a house he built in alvo, Surrey, in 1868. After the cold reception of Maud, Tennyson closed himself in fordhard and began to write a series of poems the king's narrative poems. The first part of the series, published in 1859, about King Arthur and his knights, was an immediate success.

In Enoch Arden and Other Poems (1864), Enoch Arden is one of Tennyson's most famous poems. Several other less impressive historical plays include Queen Mary (1875), Harold (1877), and Beckett (1879). The complete versions of the king's narrative poems and Demeter's and other poems were published in 1889, and the death of onone, the dream of Akaba and other poems were published after his death in 1892.

The beautiful short lyric poem crossing the sandbank in ballads and Other Poems (1880) shows Tennyson's quiet religious belief. The great poet fell asleep on October 6, 1892. At his funeral, the guests recited the poem. He was buried in the poet's corner of Westminster Abbey, next to Chaucer.

Work evaluation

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, many critics criticized Victorian Puritanism, serious attitude and excessive sentimentality. In his works, Tennyson concentrated all kinds of prejudices and moral opinions of the British middle class, which is his favorite material. Critics often neglect his writing skills and eloquence, and overemphasize his shortcomings such as kitsch, prudence and superficial optimism.

In the middle of the 20th century, critics're evaluation of Tennyson not only recognized the good aspects of his poetry, but also accepted his shortcomings. His short lyric poems are very wonderful, and his description of English scenery, natural scenery and sounds of nature is excellent. His creative skills are almost flawless.