Alfred Tennyson was born at Somersby, a small hamlet among the
Lincolnshire wolds, on August 6th, 1809. His father, the Rev. George
Clayton Tennyson, the vicar of Somersby, was a man of large and
cultivated intellect, interested in poetry, mathematics, painting, music,
and architecture, but somewhat harsh and austere in manner, and subject
to fits of gloomy depression, during which his presence was avoided by
his family; he was sincerely devoted to them, however, and himself
supervised their education. His mother, Elizabeth Fytche, the daughter
of the Rev Stephen Fytche of Louth, was a kind-hearted, gentle, refined
woman, beloved by her family and friends. Her influence over her sons
and daughters was unbounded, and over none more so than Alfred, who in
after life recognized to the full what he owed to his mother.
The family was large, consisting of twelve sons and daughters, of whom
the eldest died in infancy. Alfred was the fourth child, his brothers
Frederick and Charles being older than he. The home life was a very
happy one. The boys and girls were all fond of books, and their games
partook of the nature of the books they had been reading. They were
given to writing, and in this they were encouraged by their father, who
proved himself a wise and discriminating critic. Alfred early showed
signs of his poetic bent; at the age of twelve he had written an epic of
four thousand lines, and even before this a tragedy and innumerable poems
in blank verse. He was not encouraged, however, to preserve these
specimens of his early powers, and they are now lost.
Alfred attended for a time a small school near his home, but at the age
of seven he was sent to the Grammar School at Louth. While at Louth he
lived with his grandmother, but his days at school were not happy, and he
afterwards looked back over them with almost a shudder. Before he was
twelve he returned home, and began his preparation for the university
under his father's care. His time was not all devoted to serious study,
but was spent in roaming through his father's library, devouring the
great classics of ancient and modern times, and in writing his own poems.
The family each summer removed to Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast.
Here Alfred learned to love the sea in all its moods, a love which lasted
through his life.
In 1827, after Frederick had entered Cambridge, the two brothers, Charles
and Alfred, being in want of pocket money, resolved to publish a volume
of poems. They made a selection from their numerous poems, and offered
the book to a bookseller in Louth, For some unknown reason he accepted
the book, and soon after, it was published under the title, _Poems by Two
Brothers_. There were in reality three brothers, as some of Frederick's
poems were included in the volume. The brothers were promised 20 pounds,
but more than one half of this sum they had to take out in books. With
the balance they went on a triumphal expedition to the sea, rejoicing in
the successful launching of their first literary effort.
In 1828 Charles and Alfred Tennyson matriculated at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where their elder brother Frederick had already been for some
time. Alfred was a somewhat shy lad, and did not at once take kindly to
the life of his college. He soon, however, found himself one of a famous
society known as "The Apostles," to which belonged some of the best men
in the University. Not one member of the "Apostles" at this time, but
afterwards made a name for himself, and made his influence felt in the
world of politics or letters. The society met at regular intervals, but
Alfred did not take much part in the debates, preferring to sit silent
and listen to what was said. All his friends had unbounded admiration
for his poetry and unlimited faith in his poetic powers. This faith was
strengthened by the award of the University Prize for English Verse to
Alfred in June, 1829. He did not wish to compete, but on being pressed,
polished up an old poem that he had written some years before, and
presented it for competition, the subject being _Timbuctoo_. The poem
was in blank verse and really showed considerable power; in fact it was a
remarkable poem for one so young.
Perhaps the most powerful influence on the life of Tennyson was the
friendship he formed while at Cambridge with Arthur Henry Hallam, the son
of the historian, Henry Hallam. The two became inseparable friends, a
friendship strengthened by the engagement of Hallam to the poet's sister.
The two friends agreed to publish a volume of poems as a
joint-production, but Henry Hallam, the elder, did not encourage the
project, and it was dropped. The result was that in 1830, _Poems,
Chiefly Lyrical_, was published with the name of Alfred Tennyson alone on
the title page. The volume was reviewed enthusiastically by Hallam, but
was more or less slated by Christopher North in the columns of
_Blackwoods' Magazine_. Tennyson was very angry about the latter review
and replied to the reviewer in some caustic, but entirely unnecessary,
verses.
In the same year Hallam and Tennyson made an expedition into Spain to
carry aid to the rebel leader against the king of Spain. The expedition
was not by any means a success. In 1831 Tennyson left Cambridge, without
taking his degree, and shortly after his return home his father died.
The family, however, did not remove from Somersby, but remained there
until 1837. Late in 1832 appeared another volume entitled _Poems by
Alfred Tennyson_. This drew upon the unfortunate author a bitterly
sarcastic article in the _Quarterly_, written probably by its brilliant
editor, John Gibson Lockhart. The result of this article was that
Tennyson was silent for almost ten years, a period spent in ridding
himself of the weaknesses so brutally pointed out by the reviewer.
In 1833, Arthur Henry Hallam died, and for a time the light of life
seemed to have gone out for Alfred Tennyson. The effect of the death of
Hallam upon the poet was extraordinary. It seemed to have changed the
whole current of his life; indeed he is said, under the strain of the
awful suddeness and unexpectedness of the event, to have contemplated
suicide. But saner thoughts intervened, and he again took up the burden
of life, with the determination to do what he could in helping others.
From this time of storm and stress came _In Memoriam_.
From 1832 to 1842 Tennyson spent a roving life. Now at home, now in
London, now with his friends in various parts of England. He was
spending his time in finishing his poems, so that when he again came
before the world with a volume, he would be a master. The circle of his
friends was widening, and now included the greater number of the
master-minds of England. He was poor, so poor in fact that he was
reduced to the necessity of borrowing the books he wished to read from
his friends. But during all this time he never wavered in his allegiance
to poetry; he had determined to be a poet, and to devote his life to
poetry. At last in 1842 he published his _Poems_ in two volumes, and the
world was conquered. From this time onwards he was recognized as the
leading poet of his century.
In 1845, Tennyson, poor still, was granted a pension of 200 pounds,
chiefly through the influence of his friend Richard Monckton Milnes, and
Thomas Carlyle. There was a great deal of criticism regarding this
pension from sources that should have been favorable, but the general
verdict approved the grant. In 1847 appeared _The Princess_, a poem,
which, at that time, did not materially add to his fame; but the poet was
now hailed as one of the great ones of his time, and much was expected of
him.
In 1850 three most important events in the life of Tennyson happened. He
published _In Memoriam_, in memory of his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam; he
was appointed Poet Laureate, in succession to Wordsworth; and he married
Emily Selwood, a lady to whom he had been engaged for seventeen years,
but whom his poverty had prevented him from leading to the altar. From
this time onwards the life of the poet flowed smoothly. He was happily
married, his fame was established, his books brought him sufficient
income on which to live comfortable and well. From this point there is
little to relate in his career, except the publication of his various
volumes.
After his marriage Tennyson lived for some time at Twickenham, where in
1852 Hallam Tennyson was born. In 1851 he and his wife visited Italy, a
visit commemorated in _The Daisy_. In 1853 they removed to Farringford
at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, a residence subsequently purchased
with the proceeds of _Maud_, published in 1855. The poem had a somewhat
mixed reception, being received in some quarters with unstinted abuse and
in others with the warmest praise. In the year that _Maud_ was published
Tennyson received the honorary degree of D.C.L., from Oxford. In 1859
was published the first four of the _Idylls of the King_, followed in
1864 by _Enoch Arden and Other Poems_. In 1865 his mother died. In 1869
he occupied Aldworth, an almost inaccessible residence in Surrey, near
London, in order to escape the annoyance of summer visitors to the Isle
of Wight, who insisted on invading his privacy, which, perhaps, more than
any other he especially valued.
From 1870 to 1880 Tennyson was engaged principally on his dramas--_Queen
Mary_, _Harold_, and _Becket_,--but, with the exception of the last,
these did not prove particularly successful on the stage. In 1880
_Ballads and Poems_ was published, an astonishing volume from one so
advanced in years. In 1882 the _Promise of May_ was produced in public,
but was soon withdrawn. In 1884 Tennyson was raised to the peerage as
Baron Tennyson of Aldworth and Farringford, after having on two previous
occasions refused a baronetcy. In 1885 _Tiresias and Other Poems_ was
published. In this volume was published _Balin and Balan_, thus
completing the _Idylls of the King_, which now assumed their permanent
order and form. _Demeter and Other Poems_ followed in 1889, including
_Crossing the Bar_. In 1892, on October 6th, the poet died at Aldworth,
"with the moonlight upon his bed and an open Shakespeare by his side." A
few days later he was buried in Westminster Abbey, by the side of Robert
Browning, his friend and contemporary, who had preceded him by only a few
years.
Carlyle has left us a graphic description of Tennyson as he was in middle
life: "One of the finest--looking men in the world. A great shock of
rough, dusky dark hair; bright, laughing hazel eyes; massive aquiline
face--most massive yet most delicate; of sallow brown complexion, almost
Indian-looking; clothes cynically loose, free-and-easy; smokes infinite
tobacco. His voice is musically metallic--fit for loud laughter and
piercing wail, and all that may lie between; speech and speculation free
and plenteous; I do not meet in these late decades such company over a
pipe! We shall see what he will grow to." To this may be added a
paragraph from Caroline Fox: "Tennyson is a grand specimen of a man, with
a magnificent head set on his shoulders like the capital of a mighty
pillar. His hair is long and wavy and covers a massive head. He wears a
beard and mustache, which one begrudges as hiding so much of that firm,
powerful, but finely-chiselled mouth. His eyes are large and gray, and
open wide when a subject interests him; they are well shaded by the noble
brow, with its strong lines of thought and suffering. I can quite
understand Samuel Lawrence calling it the best balance of head he had
ever seen."