Alfred lord tennyson poems biography of rory

During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success. He was born into a middle-class family distantly descended from John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers. His father, George Clayton Tennyson —was rector of Somersby —also rector of Benniworth — and Bag Enderby, and vicar of Grimsby He raised a large family and "was a man of superior abilities and varied attainments, who tried his hand with fair success in architecture, painting, music, and poetry.

He was comfortably well off for a country clergyman and his shrewd money management enabled the family to spend summers at Mablethorpe and Skegness on the eastern coast of England".

Alfred lord tennyson poems biography of rory: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, then Poet Laureate,

Tennyson's father "carefully attended to the education and training of his children". Tennyson and two of his elder brothers were writing poetry in their teens and a collection of poems by all three was published locally when Alfred was only One of those brothers, Charles Tennyson Turnerlater married Louisa Sellwood, the younger sister of Alfred's future wife; the other was Frederick Tennyson.

Another of Tennyson's brothers, Edward Tennyson, was institutionalised at a private asylum. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, inwhere he joined a secret society called the Cambridge Apostles.

Alfred lord tennyson poems biography of rory: 1) Sir Rory was a proud

His first publication was a collection of "his boyish rhymes and those of his elder brother Charles" entitled Poems by Two Brothers, published in Reportedly, "it was thought to be no slight honour for a young man of twenty to win the chancellor's gold medal". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in Return to Lincolnshire, second publication, Epping Forest In the spring ofTennyson's father died, requiring him to leave Cambridge before taking his degree.

He returned to the rectory, where he was permitted to live for another six years and shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family. Tennyson experienced difficulty in reading and writing, because he was extremely short-sighted, so he worked on his poetry in his head. At Cambridge he was urged by members of The Apostles to put his poems into writing, after hearing him recite it from memory at their meetings.

Important friendships developed between Tennyson and other members of the club, but it was his friendship with Arthur Hallam which had most impact on him as a poet. A volume of poems by Tennyson, published inreceived some harsh reviews and this put the poet off publishing anything for the next nine years. Tennyson wrote some of his most personal poems afterfollowing the sudden death of his dearest friend Hallam at the age of See the Tennyson Family Tree.

The contrast of his own family's relatively straitened circumstances to the great wealth of his aunt Elizabeth Russell and uncle Charles Tennyson who lived in castles!

Alfred lord tennyson poems biography of rory: The Tennyson Society exists

He also had a lifelong fear of mental illness, for several men in his family had a mild form of epilepsy, which was then thought a shameful disease. His father and brother Arthur made their cases worse by excessive drinking. His brother Edward had to be confined in a mental institution afterand he himself spent a few weeks under doctors' care in In the late twenties his father's physical and mental condition worsened, and he became paranoid, abusive, and violent.

In Tennyson escaped the troubled atmosphere of his home when he followed his two older brothers to Trinity College, Cambridge, where his tutor was William Whewell — see nineteenth-century philosophy.

Alfred lord tennyson poems biography of rory: A line from Alfred

Share article Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of the most famous English poets of all time, with a career spanning 62 years… Ben Johnson 10 min read Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was born in the village of Somersby in Lincolnshire to George Tennyson, a rector, and his wife Elizabeth on 6 Augustthe third of their eleven surviving children.

Arguably one of the most famous English poets with a career lasting 62 years he not only became Lord Alfred 1st Baron Tennyson and succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate inbut was also a source of great comfort to Queen Victoriafollowing the death of Prince Albert in Having been disinherited by his own parents, George suffered from chronic depression and nervous disorders which were exacerbated by his heavy drinking and made him prone to violence.

Given his family history it is not perhaps surprising that Tennyson had a life long fear and fascination of mental illness and its effects, and indeed Tennyson himself was prone to periods of depression and lethargy. Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School in Lincolnshire between andbefore being educated at home by his father.