I.

Introduction

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet, one of the great representative figures of the Victorian Age. His writing encompasses many poetic styles and includes some of the finest idyllic poetry in the language.

Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, on August 6, 1809. His initial education was conducted largely by his clergyman father, Dr. George Clayton Tennyson. The boy showed an early interest and talent in poetic composition, working original poems in a variety of meters and also successfully imitating the style of such famous poets as Lord Byron, whom he greatly admired. By the time he was 15, Tennyson had produced several blank-verse plays and an epic. Some of his boyhood poetry was published in collaboration with his brother Charles in Poems by Two Brothers (1827).