Alfred Tennyson, the poet laureate of England, was born at Sornersby,
Lincolnshire, April 9, 1810, and was the third of a large family of
children, eight of whom were boys and three girls. His father was a
clergyman, a man of remarkably fine abilities; his mother, as should
be the mother of a great poet, was a deeply religious woman with a
sensitive spirit that was keenly attuned to the aspects of nature. It
was from her that Tennyson inherited his poetic temperament combined
with the love of study that was a characteristic of his father.
Tennyson's brother, Charles, superintended the construction of his
younger brother's first poetic composition, which was written upon a
slate when the great laureate was a child of seven. Tennyson's parents
were people who had sufficient of this world's wealth to educate their
sons well, and Alfred was sent to Trinity College, where he as a mere
lad won the gold medal for a poem in blank verse entitled "Timbuctoo,"
which is to be found in all the volumes of his collected works, though
many of the other poems produced in that period are not given place.
[Illustration: ALFRED TENNYSON, POET LAUREATE OF ENGLAND.]
His first volume of poems was published in 1827, and in them the
influence of Byron, whom he passionately admired, is everywhere
visible. In 1830 he issued another volume, which defined his position
as a poet of great promise, but which was criticised by Christopher
North with the most biting sarcasm, and which was held up to ridicule
by the great Lockhart. More than ten years followed in which the poet
wrote nothing, then he began a literary career which lifted him to the
highest place in the literary world, a place which he has since held,
and as a lyric poet he has never been equaled.
In 1850 he issued that most wonderful production in any language, "In
Memoriam," which has enriched the English language by hundreds of
quotations and which in its delicate sentiment, its deep sorrow, its
reflective tenderness, has been the voice of many a soul similarly
bereft.
Had Tennyson never written anything but "In Memoriam," his fame would
have been assured, but "The Idylls of the King," "Enoch Arden," "The
Princess," and other great compositions will stand forever to his
credit. Of Tennyson's personal character much has been said and
written. As pure and sweet as his poetry, beloved by a large circle of
friends, active still in literary work, it may be said of him that he
has always worn
"without reproach
The grand old name of gentleman,"
and that his mellow old age is the ripening into fruit of "the white
flower of a blameless life."--_Chicago Graphic._
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