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The
great Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on the 5th August, 1809 in
Somersby near Horncastle. He came from a large family and had eight brothers and
four sisters. His father, George Clayton Tennyson was the Rector of Somersby and
Bag Enderby.
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The great master
of metric as well as of melancholia.
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| T.
S. Elliot on Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Alfred
began writing poetry at eight years old and by the age of twelve was in the midst
of a 6000 line epic. His work was first published in a book entitled Poems by
Two Brothers which, despite it's name, contained work by three of the Tennyson
brothers. Tennyson
attended school for only four years and received the rest of his education at
home. In 1827 he entered Trinity College Cambridge. While there he joined a group
called The Apostles. They debated all the great issues of the day and several
of the members remained close personal friends throughout Tennyson's life. While
he was at Cambridge, and with much support and encouragement from The Apostles,
Alfred's second book, Poems Chiefly Lyrical was published. In
1831 Tennyson's father died and Alfred returned to Sommersby without completing
his degree. In
1833 Tennyson's closest friend Arthur Hallam died. This was a great shock for
the poet and he began work on In Memorandum. It was not until 17 years later in
1850 that the work was finally finished and published.
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Statue of
Tennyson at
Lincoln Cathedral | It
was also in 1850 that he married Emily Sellwood. They met 14 years before and
had been engaged until Emily's father broke the engagement saying that Alfred
was too poor. Tennyson would not have any more money worries though as in November
1850 he was appointed Poet Laureate by Queen Victoria. Alfred
continued to produce a substantial amount of poetry and in 1883 he received a
peerage from Queen Victoria who had publicly commented that she had found great
consolation in Tennyson's poetry when Prince Albert had died. On
6th October, 1892 Tennyson died of gout with his wife and son by his side. He
is buried in Poets corner at Westminster Abbey and is still regarded as one of
the greatest British poets. | 
