Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tennyson composed the first verse at the age of eight, and finished a blank poetry play by the time he was fourteen years old. From 1816 to 1820 he attended grammar school at Louth. Tennyson finally went on to Trinity College at Cambridge from 1828 until 1831. During College years he met people that became his friends for the rest of life. These persons had a major effect on Tennyson's poetry. His first verse was published in 1827 at the time he was at Cambridge. Poetry collection "Poems by Two Brothers" appeared in print soon after that. It comprised verses by Alfred as well as his brother Charles. Soon after, Alfred got an award for composing "Timbuctoo" and published his first personal book, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.

Charles married Louisa Sellwood that was the sister of Emily, Tennyson's fiancee. Charles and Louisa's family life was awful, and, therefore, Emily's father did not permit her to marry Alfred. Charles was addicted to Opium, but ultimately set himself straight. Another Alfred's brother had been taken to an insane asylum where he lived until his death. All of these occasions are embodied in Tennyson's poems.

Alfred's father left this world in the year of 1831. Tennyson abandoned Cambridge without getting a degree and his subsequent volume of poetry was disapproved of by critics. That happened because Tennyson's verses were not up to parity from his state of mind. To make situation even poorer his best friend Hallam passed away in 1833. Tennyson had fallen into depression and did not print any poems for a decade. However, he did write all through those years without publishing.

Eventually, ten years afterward Tennyson became well-known after publishing the two volumes of Poems. That book included "Morte d' Arthur" and "Break, Break, Break" volumes. In 1850, he composed "In Memoriam" poem devoted to his friend Hallam. With all of the disastrous events happening, Tennyson was reassured when he found out that Emily Sellwood was finally able to become his wife. They loved each other throughout all fourteen years. The couple traveled a lot; however, they considered Farringford to be their home. They resided there for a definite period each year for the rest of their lives.

One more encouraging event happened in 1850 when Tennyson was selected laureate of Great Britain. Alfred was to take a place of William Wordsworth. As the laureate he composed a lot of verses such as "Charge of the Light Brigade" and "Maud." At that period of Tennyson's life a lot of people liked his poetry. However, nowadays we recognize how significant his poetry actually is. Another famous writer once said, "Few poets have produced acknowledged masterpieces in so many different poetic genres as Tennyson; he furnished perhaps the most notable example in English letters of the eclectic style" (qtd. in Dickey 238).

From 1874 to 1879, Tennyson composed several plays for a companion who owned a theatre. Unexpectedly, the assistant of his companion was Bram Stoker. Tennyson's final release was printed two weeks after his death. He demanded "Crossing the Bar" to be all the time published as his final in any volume of his works. He expired on October 6, 1892 from a lethal syncope and was buried in Westminster Abbey after a splendid memorial service.