18 September, 2022
Hello friends, Here I am writing a blog on a great poet Alfred Tennyson. In which information is given about Tennyson's life, education, family and his famous works.
∆ Alfred Tennyson :
→ About the poet :
Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of the most popular poet of the Victorian era in England. He was named poet laureate after William Wordsworth and served in the position for 42 years.
Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in August of 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. His father was a deeply religious man and worked as the rector of Somersby.
→ Education :
Since Tennyson was a scholar and poet himself, he provided his Alfred with an extensive literary education himself along with the sound knowledge of Latin and Greek languages which he considered essential for the upbringing of a good child. His formal education started in 1816 from Louth Grammar School, where he hardly spent four years and continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge after that until 1827. Free from the dominance of his father, he breathed a sigh of relief at Cambridge and was lauded to make new friends. On account of his intelligence, humor, impersonation, and gifted qualities, he won the admiration of those interested in poetry and conversation. Also, at Cambridge, he developed a lifelong friendship with Arthur Hallam, an English poet, and William Henry Brookfield, an Anglian priest. Both supported and encouraged him later in his literary endeavors. Unfortunately, after his father’s death, he left the university without completing his degree.
→ Family :
Tennyson would be one of his family's 11 surviving children. Tennyson grew up with two older brothers, four younger brothers and four younger sisters.
Tennyson's father was a church rector who earn a decent income, but the size of the family, meant expenses had to be closely watched.
However Tennyson's home was not a happy one. His father was an elder son who had been disinherited in favor of a younger brother, which engendered resentment. Even worse, his father was an alcoholic and drug user who at times physically threatened member of the family.
Tennyson's father died in 1831. His death meant straitened circumstances for the family, and Tennyson did not complete his degree. As a younger son, Tennyson was encouraged to find a profession, such as entering the church like his father. However, the young man boys determined to focus on poetry.
→ Some Important Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson :
Best Poems:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a leading Victorian writer, some of his best poems include “In Memoriam A.H.H.”, “The Eagle”, “Crossing the Bar”, “The Lady of Shalott”, “Lady Clara Vere de Vere” and “Break, Break, Break.”
From the above let us discuss a little about "In Memoriam A. H. H."
In Memoriam A. H. H.
by Alfred Lord Tennyson
∆ Summary of In Memoriam A. H. H :
→Popularity of “In Memoriam A. H. H.”:
Alfred Lord Tennyson, a great English poet, wrote ‘In Memoriam A. H. H.’ It is one of the famous poems about love. It was first published in 1850. There are 133 Cantos in the poem. This is the analysis of 27th The poem is written to honor his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who passed away at the young age of 22. It is one of the greatest poems ever written in the 1900s. The poet expresses his emotions while grieving. He complains about the cruelty of nature and temporary life while including science and faith.
→"In Memoriam A. H. H.” As a Representative of Human Nature:
The poem accounts for the speaker’s sentiment upon losing his close friend. He takes the readers to consider a prisoner who is put into prison or a bird who is in the birdcage, but it does not mind because it has not tasted the fruits of free life. The poet does not feel envy at them. To him, man and the bird share the same characteristics. A man is psychologically captivated or he is devastated from within. The beauty outside does not attract him at all.
Then he compares himself with psychopath ex-murderer who has no sense to consider the horrific nature of his own crime because his conscience never wakes up. He prefers to be alone and content with his emotions, rather than putting himself in the circle of people and getting stomped. In the final stanza, he says that he has understood the nature of his grief, for inside, it hurts him, but to him, it is better to have felt loved and lost it than to have never experienced this unique emotion.
→Major Themes in In “Memoriam A. H. H”:
Sorrow, love, and life are the major themes of this poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker tries to make us understand that when a person is satisfied with his condition, nothing in the world can put him down. To support his argument, he talks about the caged bird, a prisoner, and a psychopath murderer just to make people realize that when a person is into a difficult situation, then the light and glory outside cannot rejuvenate him. Through acceptance, the poet is trying to recover from the pain of losing his dear friend. He adds, although there are many valuable things in our life, yet none of those can replace the feeling and comfort that love provides.
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