On this date in English literary history – May 14, 1842,
Alfred Lord Tennyson, published Poems. While the 32-year-old poet had
already published several other books of verse, Poems, which included
works like "Ulysses" and "Morte D'Arthur," was considered
his best work to date. The book confirmed his growing stature as a poet after
more than a decade of writing. Tennyson was born into a chaotic and disrupted
home on August 6, 1809 in Somersby, England. His father, the eldest son of a
wealthy landowner, was disinherited in favor of his younger brother. Forced to
enter the Church to support himself, the Rev. Dr. George Tennyson became a
bitter alcoholic. However, he educated his sons in the classics, and Alfred
Tennyson, the fourth of 12 children, went to Trinity College at Cambridge in
1827. The same year, he and his brother Charles published Poems by Two
Brothers. At Cambridge, Tennyson befriended a circle of intellectual
undergraduates who strongly encouraged his poetry. Chief among them was Arthur
Hallam, who became Tennyson's closest friend and who later proposed to
Tennyson's sister.
In 1830, Tennyson published Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.
The following year, his father died, and he was forced to leave Cambridge for
financial reasons. Besieged by critical attacks and struggling with poverty,
Tennyson remained dedicated to his work and published several more volumes. The
sudden death of Tennyson's dear friend Arthur Hallam in 1833 inspired several
important works throughout Tennyson's later life, including the masterful In
Memoriam of 1842. The publication of Poems in 1842 boosted
Tennyson's reputation, and in 1850 Queen Victoria named him poet laureate. At
long last, Tennyson achieved financial stability and finally married his fiancée
Emily Sellwood, whom he had loved since 1836. Tennyson's massive frame and
booming voice, together with his taste for solitude, made him an imposing
character. He craved solitude and bought an isolated home where he could write
in peace. In 1859, he published the first four books of his epic Idylls of
the King. Eight more volumes would follow. He continued writing and
publishing poems until his death on October 6, 1892 in Sussex, England.
Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous books that includes Literary Legends of the British Isles: The Lives and Burial Places of 50 Great Writers. The book was honored as a finalist in the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for autobiography/ biography. Visit the author’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link:
