TENNYSON, ALFRED (Lord), the great English poet, and poet laureate,
was born at Somersby, Lincolnshire, in August, 1809, and died at
Aldworth, in October, 1892. He was unquestionably the greatest
English poet of his time and one of the greatest poets of all time.
He was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were educated at
Cambridge, and gave promise of marked intellectual gifts. Alfred
Tennyson's first volume, _Poems, Chiefly Lyrical_, was published in
1830, and met with a favourable reception, though its merits hardly
warranted the expectation of his later masterpieces. Other volumes
followed rapidly, exhibiting his powers as a poet. In 1850 Tennyson
gave to the world a poem which instantly quieted all doubts, of
which there had been some, as to his title to the highest rank
among contemporary poets, and which was universally received as an
ample warrant for his appointment to the poet-laureateship which
was made in the same year. This was his famous poem, _In Memoriam_.
_Maud_, published in 1855 added to the author's fame, and the same
may be said of the many shorter poems from his pen which preceded
the publication of the _Idyls of the King_, in 1859. The great
charm of Tennyson's poetry lies in his unequalled felicity of
diction; his choice and arrangement of words and adjustment of
epithets almost seem to be the result of inspiration, so happy are
they. The most striking characteristic of his verse is
refinement,--a delicacy of sentiment and expression that has
rarely, if ever, been attained by any poet. His influence upon the
poetical spirit of the age has been very potent, and to the purity
of his muse is due, in great degree, the comparative health of our
poetical literature.