By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The Princess, a long narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson published in 1847, is not much read or studied now. In the vast editions of Tennyson’s collected works, it languishes unread alongside his plays about Thomas Becket and his various ‘sequel’ poems (‘Mariana in […]
Tag: Alfred Lord Tennyson
‘Ring Out, Wild Bells’: A Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Taken from his long elegy In Memoriam, published in 1850, this poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92) virtually concludes the cycle of poems as a whole. In Memoriam A. H. H. is an elegy, comprising a whopping 133 cantos, for Tennyson’s friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who had died suddenly in […]
‘The Brook’: A Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Just as rivers flow into the sea, so brooks flow into larger rivers, as Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92) highlights in this charming poem, ‘The Brook’: ‘And out again I curve and flow / To join the brimming river, / For men may come and men may go, / But I […]
A Short Analysis of Tennyson’s ‘Tithonus’
By Dr Oliver Tearle ‘Tithonus’ is not as famous as some of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s other dramatic monologues – ‘Ulysses’ enjoys considerably more popularity – but it is worth analysing because it offers something different from much other poetry. As the poet-critic William Empson put it, ‘Tithonus’ is ‘a poem […]
A Short Analysis of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
By Dr Oliver Tearle ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson‘s most famous poems. Here is the poem, followed by a few words by way of textual analysis. Its meaning is relatively straightforward, but some of its linguistic effects are worth commenting on.