Alfred Tennyson
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892), He was the most popular and distinctive poet of the British Victorian era. His poetry reflects the dominant opinions and interests of his time more accurately than any other English poet of any era. The representative work is the poem "Mourning".
Chinese name: Alfred Tennyson
Foreign name: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Nationality: British
Date of birth : August 6, 1809
Date of death: October 6, 1892
Occupation: Poet
Main achievements: Became poet laureate in 1850
p>Representative work: "In Memoriam"
Gender: Male
Character's life
Childhood
Tennyson 1809 Born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, on August 6, 2011, he was the fourth of 12 brothers and sisters. The father is the village vicar. Young Tennyson read many books in his father's library and began writing poetry at the age of eight. In 1827, Alfred and his brothers Frederick and Charles published "The Poems of the Two Brothers", which actually included the works of the three brothers. Alfred's poetry tended to be bland, simply imitating the works of his idol Byron.
Early career
In 1828, Tennyson entered the famous Cambridge University. In 1829 his poem "Timbuktu" won the Chancellor's Gold Medal. He became a member of a student group, the Apostles, and inspired by these companions, he published "Lyric Poems" in 1830. Some critics liked "Mariana" and several other poems in the book, but overall the reviews were negative.
Start writing
Tennyson's father died in 1831, and Tennyson left Cambridge University without obtaining a degree. The following year he published a pamphlet called Poems, which was not widely accepted. The essayist Arthur Henry Hallam, Tennyson's closest friend and his sister's fiancé, died in 1833. Due to the double blow of losing a close friend and receiving negative reviews for his work, Tennyson did not publish any more works for nearly 10 years.
Poetry (two volumes, 1842) won warm welcome from critics and the public. The best poems include "The Shore" (inspired by the death of Hallam), "Morte d'Arthur" and "Locksley Hall". Tennyson's long poem "The Princess" (1847) is concerned with women's rights and attempts to prove that a woman's greatest achievement is a happy marriage (Gilberto and Sullivan adapted the poem into a revue "Princess Ida"). Some of Tennyson's best lyrical blank verse comes from the poem "The Princess," which begins with "tears, empty tears." Later versions added "Gently, Softly" and several other songs.
Late Activities
Three major events occurred in Tennyson's life in 1850. In Memoriam was finally published, and Tennyson had been working on it since Hallam's death. It includes 131 short poems, plus a preface and afterword. It is one of the greatest elegy in English literature and Tennyson's most able to withstand the test of time.
In June, Tennyson married Emily Sellwood. In November of the same year, Tennyson became the poet laureate after William Wordsworth.
Tennyson's first official work as poet laureate was the solemn but somewhat formal "On the Death of the Duke of Wellington" (1852). "The Light Cavalry Attack" was created in 1854 to commemorate the heroism of the British cavalry in the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War. "Maude" is a long monologue verse drama published in 1855. Critics were very critical of it.
After 1853, Tennyson lived most of the time at his estate in Farringford, Isle of Wight, sometimes living in a house he built in 1868 in Alvor, Surrey. inside. After the cold reception of "Maude", Tennyson isolated himself in Farringford and began to write the poem "The King's Narrative". The first part of the series, about King Arthur and his knights, was published in 1859 and was an immediate success.
"Enoch Arden" from Enoch Arden and Other Poems (1864) is one of Tennyson's most famous poems. Other less impressive historical dramas include Mary Queen (1875), Harold (1877), and Becket (1879). Complete versions of "The King's Narrative" and "Demeter and Other Poems" were published in 1889, and "The Death of Oenone, the Dream of Akaba and Other Poems" was published posthumously in 1892.
The beautiful short lyric poem "Crossing the Sandbar" in Ballads and Other Poems (1880) demonstrates Tennyson's quiet religious belief. The great poet died on October 6, 1892.
The psalm was recited by guests at his funeral. He was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, next to Chaucer.
Evaluation of the work
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many critics criticized the puritanism, serious attitude and excessive sentimentality of the Victorian era. Tennyson condensed the various prejudices and moral opinions of the British middle class in his works, which was his favorite material. Critics often overlook his creative skills and eloquence and overemphasize his shortcomings such as kitsch, excessive restraint, and superficial optimism.
In the mid-20th century, critics re-evaluated Tennyson, recognizing both the good aspects of his poetry and his shortcomings. His short lyric poems are very wonderful, and his descriptions of British scenery, nature and sounds of nature are excellent. His creative skills are almost flawless.