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Poetical Works: Tennyson
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668 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1892
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About the author
Alfred Tennyson
2,144 books1,442 followersWorks, including
In Memoriam
in 1850 and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854, of Alfred Tennyson, first baron, known as lord, appointed British poet laureate in 1850, reflect Victorian sentiments and aesthetics.
Elizabeth Tennyson, wife, bore Alfred Tennyson, the fourth of twelve children, to George Tennyson, clergyman; he inevitably wrote his books. In 1816, parents sent Tennyson was sent to grammar school of Louth.
Alfred Tennyson disliked school so intensely that from 1820, home educated him. At the age of 18 years in 1827, Alfred joined his two brothers at Trinity College, Cambridge and with Charles Tennyson, his brother, published Poems by Two Brothers , his book, in the same year.
Alfred Tennyson published Poems Chiefly Lyrical , his second book, in 1830. In 1833, Arthur Henry Hallam, best friend of Tennyson, engaged to wed his sister, died, and thus inspired some best Ulysses and the Passing of Arthur .
Following William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson in 1850 married Emily Sellwood Tenyson, his childhood friend. She bore Hallam Tennyson in 1852 and Lionel Tennyson in 1854, two years later.
Alfred Tennyson continued throughout his life and in the 1870s also to write a number of plays.
In 1884, the queen raised Alfred Tennyson, a great favorite of Albert, prince, thereafter to the peerage of Aldworth. She granted such a high rank for solely literary distinction to this only Englishman.
Alfred Tennyson died at the age of 83 years, and people buried his body in abbey of Westminster.
Elizabeth Tennyson, wife, bore Alfred Tennyson, the fourth of twelve children, to George Tennyson, clergyman; he inevitably wrote his books. In 1816, parents sent Tennyson was sent to grammar school of Louth.
Alfred Tennyson disliked school so intensely that from 1820, home educated him. At the age of 18 years in 1827, Alfred joined his two brothers at Trinity College, Cambridge and with Charles Tennyson, his brother, published Poems by Two Brothers , his book, in the same year.
Alfred Tennyson published Poems Chiefly Lyrical , his second book, in 1830. In 1833, Arthur Henry Hallam, best friend of Tennyson, engaged to wed his sister, died, and thus inspired some best Ulysses and the Passing of Arthur .
Following William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson in 1850 married Emily Sellwood Tenyson, his childhood friend. She bore Hallam Tennyson in 1852 and Lionel Tennyson in 1854, two years later.
Alfred Tennyson continued throughout his life and in the 1870s also to write a number of plays.
In 1884, the queen raised Alfred Tennyson, a great favorite of Albert, prince, thereafter to the peerage of Aldworth. She granted such a high rank for solely literary distinction to this only Englishman.
Alfred Tennyson died at the age of 83 years, and people buried his body in abbey of Westminster.
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September 1, 2025
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, remains one of the most resonant voices of Victorian poetry, and encountering his Complete Poetical Works is nothing short of an immersive journey through the consciousness of an era marked by profound change, spiritual uncertainty, and aesthetic brilliance.
My own engagement with Tennyson has been a slow, evolving affair: first encountering his collected works in 2019 and subsequently revisiting them twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each reading revealed new layers of his poetic universe, demonstrating both the timelessness of his themes and the musicality of his verse.
Tennyson’s poetry, at its heart, is a meditation on human experience in its most expansive sense. The reader is simultaneously drawn into the intimate sphere of personal emotion and the vast sweep of societal and philosophical contemplation. What strikes one immediately in the Complete Poetical Works is Tennyson’s versatility.
From the haunting lyricism of The Lady of Shalott to the grand historical vision of The Charge of the Light Brigade, from the introspective and elegiac meditation of In Memoriam to the mythic explorations of Idylls of the King, Tennyson navigates a range of registers with astonishing command. Each poem is a careful construction of rhythm, diction, and sound, creating a resonance that lingers beyond the textual encounter.
Revisiting Tennyson during the isolation of the pandemic was particularly illuminating. The global crisis imposed a sense of temporal and existential dislocation, a condition Tennyson himself often explores through themes of loss, uncertainty, and moral contemplation. In Memoriam, a sequence written in the wake of the death of his close friend Arthur Hallam, provided both solace and a mirror to the pervasive grief and anxiety of those months.
The alternating movements of despair and tentative hope within the sequence resonated with the uncertainty of the times. Tennyson’s capacity to render grief in measured, almost ritualised verse provided a framework through which to navigate the personal and collective sense of loss. Reading lines such as “’Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” was not merely a literary experience; it became a moment of reflection, a way to process the fragmented emotions of enforced solitude.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Tennyson’s poetry is his ability to blend formal precision with emotional depth. The musicality of his lines is often striking, yet it is never ornamental for its own sake. In The Lady of Shalott, the interplay of rhyme and metre mirrors the delicate weaving of the Lady’s tapestry and the tragic inevitability of her fate. The repetition of motifs—light and shadow, weaving and reflection, the river as a symbol of inexorable passage—creates a layered reading experience. Here, Tennyson is both storyteller and philosopher, inviting the reader to contemplate the relationship between art, perception, and the human condition. Each rereading brought subtle shifts in understanding: the Lady’s isolation and her tragic choice resonated differently against the backdrop of enforced confinement during lockdown, transforming the narrative into a meditation on the human yearning for connection and the perils of enforced detachment.
Tennyson’s engagement with history and myth is another facet of his enduring appeal. Idylls of the King reinterprets the Arthurian legends with a moral seriousness that elevates the tales beyond mere romantic adventure. The cyclical interplay of heroism, betrayal, and redemption mirrors human experience in its perennial moral and ethical dilemmas. Reading these poems during the pandemic, when societal structures felt fragile and leadership often uncertain, made Tennyson’s exploration of virtue and vice strikingly relevant. The poems invite reflection on collective responsibility, the consequences of choices, and the possibility of moral regeneration, providing not only literary pleasure but ethical provocation.
Beyond myth and history, Tennyson’s lyric poetry captures the subtleties of the natural world with exquisite sensitivity. Poems such as Mariana and Break, Break, Break demonstrate his capacity to evoke setting as both a physical and psychological space. Nature is never merely a backdrop; it is a participant in the emotional and existential life of the speaker. During periods of isolation, the attentive reading of these poems encouraged a heightened awareness of one’s own surroundings and a recognition of the small, often overlooked details of daily life. The waves breaking on the shore, the winter frost, and the quiet decay of a deserted moor—these images are invested with moral and emotional significance, bridging the external and internal landscapes of experience.
Tennyson’s command of narrative poetry also deserves reflection. The Charge of the Light Brigade, while brief, demonstrates an extraordinary ability to condense historical action into a vivid, rhythmic evocation of courage and futility. The poem exemplifies Tennyson’s belief in the power of poetry to both commemorate and interrogate. The repeated lines, the insistent cadence, and the stark clarity of the narrative thrust the reader into the immediacy of battlefield experience. Even in rereading, the poem retains its power to elicit awe and introspection, reminding us of the enduring human capacity for courage amid chaos and confusion.
Rereading Tennyson during the pandemic also highlighted his preoccupation with time and mortality. His reflections in In Memoriam and other elegiac poems foreground the tension between temporal transience and spiritual longing. Tennyson’s mastery of form—particularly the iambic tetrameter and the careful deployment of rhyme—creates a sense of continuity even as he meditates on impermanence. The poems operate on multiple levels: as personal lament, philosophical inquiry, and cultural commentary. Each rereading, especially in the context of prolonged isolation, illuminated different dimensions of this tension, revealing the ways in which Tennyson’s meditations on loss and hope resonate across centuries and circumstances.
Another dimension worth noting is Tennyson’s linguistic dexterity. His vocabulary is both precise and musical, capable of evoking subtle gradations of feeling and atmosphere. Words are chosen with care, often imbued with multiple resonances, creating layers of meaning that reward attentive reading. This meticulous attention to language is particularly evident in his shorter lyrics, where the economy of expression intensifies emotional impact. Reading Tennyson in multiple sittings revealed the cumulative effect of these linguistic choices, a reminder of the poet’s skill in balancing accessibility with complexity.
Tennyson’s poetry also engages deeply with philosophical and existential questions. In works such as Ulysses, the tension between rest and action, the desire for knowledge, and the inevitability of mortality are explored with psychological subtlety and rhetorical brilliance. Ulysses’ restlessness becomes a lens through which to examine human ambition, curiosity, and the confrontation with the finite nature of life. In the context of rereading during periods of uncertainty, these poems offered both challenge and consolation, urging reflection on personal purpose and the responsibilities inherent in human endeavour.
Importantly, Tennyson’s poetry invites ethical reflection without resorting to didacticism. Virtue, courage, grief, and love are presented as lived experiences rather than abstract ideals. The reader is drawn into the moral universe of the poems, where choices are fraught with consequences and ethical considerations are inseparable from emotional realities. The interplay between ethical inquiry and aesthetic pleasure exemplifies Tennyson’s enduring literary achievement and contributes to the richness of the reflective experience of his poetry.
Finally, reading Tennyson repeatedly cultivated a sense of intimacy with his verse. The poems’ recurring motifs, meditative qualities, and formal musicality create a sense of companionship across readings. Familiar lines become touchstones for reflection, moments of resonance that echo the reader’s evolving understanding of life, loss, and human aspiration. This intimacy, strengthened through repeated engagement, underscores the enduring relevance of Tennyson’s poetry and the capacity of great literature to sustain meaning across contexts and personal circumstances.
In conclusion, my engagement with Tennyson: The Complete Poetical Works has been a layered, evolving journey. From the initial reading in 2019 to the revisitations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the poetry revealed new depths of meaning, emotional resonance, and philosophical insight with each encounter. Tennyson’s work combines formal mastery, linguistic dexterity, and profound engagement with human experience. His exploration of grief, mortality, ethical choice, love, and ambition resonates across centuries, offering solace, challenge, and aesthetic pleasure. Reading Tennyson is not merely an exercise in literary appreciation; it is an ongoing conversation with one of the most articulate and empathetic voices of the Victorian era. The Complete Poetical Works stand as a testament to the enduring power of poetry to illuminate, console, and provoke reflection, making each rereading an opportunity to discover both the poet’s vision and one’s own evolving understanding of the human condition.
My own engagement with Tennyson has been a slow, evolving affair: first encountering his collected works in 2019 and subsequently revisiting them twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each reading revealed new layers of his poetic universe, demonstrating both the timelessness of his themes and the musicality of his verse.
Tennyson’s poetry, at its heart, is a meditation on human experience in its most expansive sense. The reader is simultaneously drawn into the intimate sphere of personal emotion and the vast sweep of societal and philosophical contemplation. What strikes one immediately in the Complete Poetical Works is Tennyson’s versatility.
From the haunting lyricism of The Lady of Shalott to the grand historical vision of The Charge of the Light Brigade, from the introspective and elegiac meditation of In Memoriam to the mythic explorations of Idylls of the King, Tennyson navigates a range of registers with astonishing command. Each poem is a careful construction of rhythm, diction, and sound, creating a resonance that lingers beyond the textual encounter.
Revisiting Tennyson during the isolation of the pandemic was particularly illuminating. The global crisis imposed a sense of temporal and existential dislocation, a condition Tennyson himself often explores through themes of loss, uncertainty, and moral contemplation. In Memoriam, a sequence written in the wake of the death of his close friend Arthur Hallam, provided both solace and a mirror to the pervasive grief and anxiety of those months.
The alternating movements of despair and tentative hope within the sequence resonated with the uncertainty of the times. Tennyson’s capacity to render grief in measured, almost ritualised verse provided a framework through which to navigate the personal and collective sense of loss. Reading lines such as “’Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” was not merely a literary experience; it became a moment of reflection, a way to process the fragmented emotions of enforced solitude.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Tennyson’s poetry is his ability to blend formal precision with emotional depth. The musicality of his lines is often striking, yet it is never ornamental for its own sake. In The Lady of Shalott, the interplay of rhyme and metre mirrors the delicate weaving of the Lady’s tapestry and the tragic inevitability of her fate. The repetition of motifs—light and shadow, weaving and reflection, the river as a symbol of inexorable passage—creates a layered reading experience. Here, Tennyson is both storyteller and philosopher, inviting the reader to contemplate the relationship between art, perception, and the human condition. Each rereading brought subtle shifts in understanding: the Lady’s isolation and her tragic choice resonated differently against the backdrop of enforced confinement during lockdown, transforming the narrative into a meditation on the human yearning for connection and the perils of enforced detachment.
Tennyson’s engagement with history and myth is another facet of his enduring appeal. Idylls of the King reinterprets the Arthurian legends with a moral seriousness that elevates the tales beyond mere romantic adventure. The cyclical interplay of heroism, betrayal, and redemption mirrors human experience in its perennial moral and ethical dilemmas. Reading these poems during the pandemic, when societal structures felt fragile and leadership often uncertain, made Tennyson’s exploration of virtue and vice strikingly relevant. The poems invite reflection on collective responsibility, the consequences of choices, and the possibility of moral regeneration, providing not only literary pleasure but ethical provocation.
Beyond myth and history, Tennyson’s lyric poetry captures the subtleties of the natural world with exquisite sensitivity. Poems such as Mariana and Break, Break, Break demonstrate his capacity to evoke setting as both a physical and psychological space. Nature is never merely a backdrop; it is a participant in the emotional and existential life of the speaker. During periods of isolation, the attentive reading of these poems encouraged a heightened awareness of one’s own surroundings and a recognition of the small, often overlooked details of daily life. The waves breaking on the shore, the winter frost, and the quiet decay of a deserted moor—these images are invested with moral and emotional significance, bridging the external and internal landscapes of experience.
Tennyson’s command of narrative poetry also deserves reflection. The Charge of the Light Brigade, while brief, demonstrates an extraordinary ability to condense historical action into a vivid, rhythmic evocation of courage and futility. The poem exemplifies Tennyson’s belief in the power of poetry to both commemorate and interrogate. The repeated lines, the insistent cadence, and the stark clarity of the narrative thrust the reader into the immediacy of battlefield experience. Even in rereading, the poem retains its power to elicit awe and introspection, reminding us of the enduring human capacity for courage amid chaos and confusion.
Rereading Tennyson during the pandemic also highlighted his preoccupation with time and mortality. His reflections in In Memoriam and other elegiac poems foreground the tension between temporal transience and spiritual longing. Tennyson’s mastery of form—particularly the iambic tetrameter and the careful deployment of rhyme—creates a sense of continuity even as he meditates on impermanence. The poems operate on multiple levels: as personal lament, philosophical inquiry, and cultural commentary. Each rereading, especially in the context of prolonged isolation, illuminated different dimensions of this tension, revealing the ways in which Tennyson’s meditations on loss and hope resonate across centuries and circumstances.
Another dimension worth noting is Tennyson’s linguistic dexterity. His vocabulary is both precise and musical, capable of evoking subtle gradations of feeling and atmosphere. Words are chosen with care, often imbued with multiple resonances, creating layers of meaning that reward attentive reading. This meticulous attention to language is particularly evident in his shorter lyrics, where the economy of expression intensifies emotional impact. Reading Tennyson in multiple sittings revealed the cumulative effect of these linguistic choices, a reminder of the poet’s skill in balancing accessibility with complexity.
Tennyson’s poetry also engages deeply with philosophical and existential questions. In works such as Ulysses, the tension between rest and action, the desire for knowledge, and the inevitability of mortality are explored with psychological subtlety and rhetorical brilliance. Ulysses’ restlessness becomes a lens through which to examine human ambition, curiosity, and the confrontation with the finite nature of life. In the context of rereading during periods of uncertainty, these poems offered both challenge and consolation, urging reflection on personal purpose and the responsibilities inherent in human endeavour.
Importantly, Tennyson’s poetry invites ethical reflection without resorting to didacticism. Virtue, courage, grief, and love are presented as lived experiences rather than abstract ideals. The reader is drawn into the moral universe of the poems, where choices are fraught with consequences and ethical considerations are inseparable from emotional realities. The interplay between ethical inquiry and aesthetic pleasure exemplifies Tennyson’s enduring literary achievement and contributes to the richness of the reflective experience of his poetry.
Finally, reading Tennyson repeatedly cultivated a sense of intimacy with his verse. The poems’ recurring motifs, meditative qualities, and formal musicality create a sense of companionship across readings. Familiar lines become touchstones for reflection, moments of resonance that echo the reader’s evolving understanding of life, loss, and human aspiration. This intimacy, strengthened through repeated engagement, underscores the enduring relevance of Tennyson’s poetry and the capacity of great literature to sustain meaning across contexts and personal circumstances.
In conclusion, my engagement with Tennyson: The Complete Poetical Works has been a layered, evolving journey. From the initial reading in 2019 to the revisitations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the poetry revealed new depths of meaning, emotional resonance, and philosophical insight with each encounter. Tennyson’s work combines formal mastery, linguistic dexterity, and profound engagement with human experience. His exploration of grief, mortality, ethical choice, love, and ambition resonates across centuries, offering solace, challenge, and aesthetic pleasure. Reading Tennyson is not merely an exercise in literary appreciation; it is an ongoing conversation with one of the most articulate and empathetic voices of the Victorian era. The Complete Poetical Works stand as a testament to the enduring power of poetry to illuminate, console, and provoke reflection, making each rereading an opportunity to discover both the poet’s vision and one’s own evolving understanding of the human condition.
May 1, 2025
**Poetry or a nnovella"
Poetry is definitely not my thing, but I made it through most of them. I figured I shouldn't give it less than 4 stars because of personal preference, though. 😉
It was fun reading "The Lady of Shalott," in its entirely. I definitely heard Meagan Follows' voice in my head while reading it - especially the parts she quotes in Anne of Green Gables. 😁
Poetry is definitely not my thing, but I made it through most of them. I figured I shouldn't give it less than 4 stars because of personal preference, though. 😉
It was fun reading "The Lady of Shalott," in its entirely. I definitely heard Meagan Follows' voice in my head while reading it - especially the parts she quotes in Anne of Green Gables. 😁
lost-interest
September 3, 2016I give up. I'm not into poetry .
July 19, 2020
I have an 1871 printing of The Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate. This edition has many beautiful engravings illustrating the poems. Like all my old books, it's beginning to fall apart. Tennyson's best is among my favorite poetry. Here is a list of poems I particularly liked:
Lady of Shalott
The Kraken
Lotos-Eaters
The Day-Dream
Claribel
Recollection of the Arabian Nights
Amphion
Second Song To the Same (i.e. The Owl)
I can appreciate his longer poetry, like Idylls of the King, but I find it slow going. His poetry in praise of the beauty of particular women gets old pretty fast. Also his poetry in praise of the Duke of Wellington, or Milton-- it's all a little over-the-top. You get the feeling he was a bit of a sycophant. (I make exception for his poetry in praise of Victoria and the Crystal Palace, which I have been reading about lately.) Overall, he is a through-and-through Victorian.
His ability to make beautiful sound and beautiful imagery is unparalleled. He also resembles a fantasy author, before there was such a genre. Here he imagines an SF scenario:
Well—were it not a pleasant thing
To fall asleep with all one’s friends;
To pass with all our social ties
To silence from the paths of men;
And every hundred years to rise
And learn the world, and sleep again;
To sleep thro’ terms of mighty wars,
And wake on science grown to more,
On secrets of the brain, the stars,
As wild as aught of fairy lore;
And all that else the years will show,
The Poet-forms of stronger hours,
The vast Republics that may grow,
The Federations and the Powers;
Titanic forces taking birth
In divers seasons, divers climes;
For we are Ancients of the earth,
And in the morning of the times.
He brings the Arabian Nights to life:
The fourscore windows all alight
As with the quintessence of flame,
A million tapers flaring bright
From twisted silvers look'd to shame
The hollow-vaulted dark, and stream'd
Upon the mooned domes aloof
In inmost Bagdat, till there seem'd
Hundreds of crescents on the roof
Of night new-risen, that marvellous time,
To celebrate the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid.
Here is a celebration of the Ent-wives:
The mountain stirr'd its bushy crown,
And, as tradition teaches,
Young ashes pirouetted down
Coquetting with young beeches;
And briony-vine and ivy-wreath
Ran forward to his rhyming,
And from the valleys underneath
Came little copses climbing.
The linden broke her ranks and rent
The woodbine wreathes that bind her,
And down the middle, buzz! she went,
With all her bees behind her.
The poplars, in long order due,
With cypress promenaded,
The shock-head willows two and two
By rivers gallopaded.
The birch-tree swang her fragrant hair,
The bramble cast her berry,
The gin within the juniper
Began to make him merry.
Came wet-shot alder from the wave,
Came yews, a dismal coterie;
Each pluck'd his one foot from the grave,
Poussetting with a sloe-tree:
Old elms came breaking from the vine,
The vine stream'd out to follow,
And, sweating rosin, plump'd the pine
From many a cloudy hollow.
And wasn't it a sight to see
When, ere his song was ended,
Like some great landslip, tree by tree,
The country-side descended;
And shepherds from the mountain-caves
Look'd down, half-pleased, half-frighten'd,
As dash'd about the drunken leaves
The random sunshine lighten'd!
Lady of Shalott
The Kraken
Lotos-Eaters
The Day-Dream
Claribel
Recollection of the Arabian Nights
Amphion
Second Song To the Same (i.e. The Owl)
I can appreciate his longer poetry, like Idylls of the King, but I find it slow going. His poetry in praise of the beauty of particular women gets old pretty fast. Also his poetry in praise of the Duke of Wellington, or Milton-- it's all a little over-the-top. You get the feeling he was a bit of a sycophant. (I make exception for his poetry in praise of Victoria and the Crystal Palace, which I have been reading about lately.) Overall, he is a through-and-through Victorian.
His ability to make beautiful sound and beautiful imagery is unparalleled. He also resembles a fantasy author, before there was such a genre. Here he imagines an SF scenario:
Well—were it not a pleasant thing
To fall asleep with all one’s friends;
To pass with all our social ties
To silence from the paths of men;
And every hundred years to rise
And learn the world, and sleep again;
To sleep thro’ terms of mighty wars,
And wake on science grown to more,
On secrets of the brain, the stars,
As wild as aught of fairy lore;
And all that else the years will show,
The Poet-forms of stronger hours,
The vast Republics that may grow,
The Federations and the Powers;
Titanic forces taking birth
In divers seasons, divers climes;
For we are Ancients of the earth,
And in the morning of the times.
He brings the Arabian Nights to life:
The fourscore windows all alight
As with the quintessence of flame,
A million tapers flaring bright
From twisted silvers look'd to shame
The hollow-vaulted dark, and stream'd
Upon the mooned domes aloof
In inmost Bagdat, till there seem'd
Hundreds of crescents on the roof
Of night new-risen, that marvellous time,
To celebrate the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid.
Here is a celebration of the Ent-wives:
The mountain stirr'd its bushy crown,
And, as tradition teaches,
Young ashes pirouetted down
Coquetting with young beeches;
And briony-vine and ivy-wreath
Ran forward to his rhyming,
And from the valleys underneath
Came little copses climbing.
The linden broke her ranks and rent
The woodbine wreathes that bind her,
And down the middle, buzz! she went,
With all her bees behind her.
The poplars, in long order due,
With cypress promenaded,
The shock-head willows two and two
By rivers gallopaded.
The birch-tree swang her fragrant hair,
The bramble cast her berry,
The gin within the juniper
Began to make him merry.
Came wet-shot alder from the wave,
Came yews, a dismal coterie;
Each pluck'd his one foot from the grave,
Poussetting with a sloe-tree:
Old elms came breaking from the vine,
The vine stream'd out to follow,
And, sweating rosin, plump'd the pine
From many a cloudy hollow.
And wasn't it a sight to see
When, ere his song was ended,
Like some great landslip, tree by tree,
The country-side descended;
And shepherds from the mountain-caves
Look'd down, half-pleased, half-frighten'd,
As dash'd about the drunken leaves
The random sunshine lighten'd!
October 9, 2017
Amazing reading, although not for the faint-hearted. The Memorium was beautiful and highly recommended for anyone working through grief after the death of a loved one.
March 7, 2018
Tennyson was poet laureate and the darling of the Romantic Age in England. Enobled by Victoria he was the son of a poor parish priest who had 12 children, the family living on in the manse after the father’s death until forced to move. The death of his friend Hallam figured highly in his life and verse.
To ears accustomed to Blank and Free Verse it seems remarkable that everything here rhymes. To modern ears some of this verse can seem somewhat stilted but his ability to express himself in rhyming verse is nothing short of remarkable. The order of words in a sentence is altered to emphasize certain thoughts and facilitate rhymes in a manner that has come to be thought of as poetic expression. Think of the way Yoda talks in Star Wars. This is the poet of the Victorian Era.
After working our way through the early works and short poems we come to long form verse. The Princess is 80 pages followed by In Memoriam written to mark the death of his friend, another 80 pages.
And so a year after I began the reading I reach the close though with a 6 month hiatus for travel.
The book was my mother’s. Truly an antique printed at a time when copyrite dates were not yet part of the process. Leatherbound with ancient plastic wrapper long disintegrated enclosed in cardboard case. Printed in fine type on onion skin paper with built-in ribbon bookmark.
The final long-form poem is a classic tale of a love triangle involving two boys and a girl in a small port town. In an age before modern communications sailors disappeared for decades at a time without any word reaching home. Some were lost without record, were shipwrecked on isolated desert islands inspiring tales such as Robinson Crusoe, or traveled the world on shipboard knowing little of the exotic ports of call they visited save the bars and brothels of the waterfront.
To ears accustomed to Blank and Free Verse it seems remarkable that everything here rhymes. To modern ears some of this verse can seem somewhat stilted but his ability to express himself in rhyming verse is nothing short of remarkable. The order of words in a sentence is altered to emphasize certain thoughts and facilitate rhymes in a manner that has come to be thought of as poetic expression. Think of the way Yoda talks in Star Wars. This is the poet of the Victorian Era.
After working our way through the early works and short poems we come to long form verse. The Princess is 80 pages followed by In Memoriam written to mark the death of his friend, another 80 pages.
And so a year after I began the reading I reach the close though with a 6 month hiatus for travel.
The book was my mother’s. Truly an antique printed at a time when copyrite dates were not yet part of the process. Leatherbound with ancient plastic wrapper long disintegrated enclosed in cardboard case. Printed in fine type on onion skin paper with built-in ribbon bookmark.
The final long-form poem is a classic tale of a love triangle involving two boys and a girl in a small port town. In an age before modern communications sailors disappeared for decades at a time without any word reaching home. Some were lost without record, were shipwrecked on isolated desert islands inspiring tales such as Robinson Crusoe, or traveled the world on shipboard knowing little of the exotic ports of call they visited save the bars and brothels of the waterfront.
November 6, 2015
I've been dipping in and out of this for a while now. I'm not a huge poetry lover but I bought this at University as I was studing 'In Memoriam' and I didn't read any more of it at the time. So I decided to read it at last, 8 years later. Some poems took a lot of concentration to understand. Some bored me. Some I enjoyed ('Enoch Arden').
November 18, 2007
Tennyson was a presence throughout my school years -- and likely before that as my mother could refer to poems readily as did others in my immediate family. These were the standards, the classics and they wer taught and read. The language is grand -- and lovely to turn to from time to time.
April 15, 2015
Have not read this particular book, but have read his poems in collections and truly, he has a skill with words. He writes so beautifully, it's easy to lose the metaphorical meaning in his text, but it is a pleasure to go back and re-read his work, dissecting line for line.
August 10, 2007
read some of it. Enjoy it greatly
May 2, 2011
Stunning.
October 5, 2012
Loved 'The Lady of Shallot' and a few others. Lovely rhythm.
September 24, 2014
A collection of the poems of Tennyson.
Including Early Poems - The Lady of shallot, English Idylls - Princess, and Elaine, amongst others.
Including Early Poems - The Lady of shallot, English Idylls - Princess, and Elaine, amongst others.
March 24, 2016
I loved the Princess and "In Memoriam", it still in my mind, but I will re-read it sometimes...
November 10, 2024
I have not read all of the works in this collection, but those that I have read are listed and rated below:
--“Come Down, O Maid” (from “The Princess”): A shepherd sings to a young lady to come down from the mountains into the valley to find love. Rating: 4/5
--“Crossing the Bar”: Tennyson uses the metaphor of “crossing the bar” to discuss his approaching death. Rating: 2/5
--“The Eagle” (fragment): The speaker describes the mighty eagle and surprises the reader with a turn of mood in the last line. Rating: 3.5/5
--“The Hesperides”: The guardians of a golden apple tree sing a song about their watch over the tree. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Kraken”: The speaker surveys the mysterious and powerful creature of the deep. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Lady of Shalott”: a young woman who lives alone in a castle cannot look toward Camelot under threat of a curse. Rating: 4/5
--“Locksley Hall”: The speaker laments a love who left him and contemplates the progress of society. In my personal opinion, the speaker is prejudiced and whiney. Rating: 1.5/5
--“The Lotos-Eaters”: the speaker recounts the effects of the lotus flower on the mental states of Odysseus’s men. Rating: 4/5
--“Lucretius”: Lucretius, an Epicurean philosopher, has been driven to insanity by a love potion given to him by his wife. He experiences troubling dreams and chooses to take his own life. In his final speech, he explains his dissatisfaction with life, his belief that the gods do not care about or interact with the world, and his desire to exert his will by killing himself. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Mariana”: A woman despairs over the absence of her lover. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Merlin and the Gleam”: Tennyson outlines his poetic career by comparing himself to Merlin. Rating: 1.5/5
--“Morte d’Arthur”: After being seriously wounded in battle, King Arthur calls upon the faithfulness of his last knight. Rating: 3/5
--“Saint Simeon Stylites”: Tennyson uses the voice of Simeon Stylites, an ascetic saint who sat atop a pillar for 30 years, to create a fictional discourse in which the saint alternates between professing his sinfulness and expressing his worthiness to be considered a saint while enumerating his sufferings. The poem is something of a satire. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Splendor Falls” (from “The Princess”): The speaker calls for the bugles to blow, and he draws a connection between their echoes and the “echoes” of people in our lives. Rating: 1.5/5
--“Tears, Idle Tears” (from “The Princess”): The speaker uses powerful metaphors to express the depth of his sorrow over a loss. Rating: 4/5
--“Tithonus”: Tithonus recalls his youth, when he asked the goddess Aurora, who was in love with him, to give him eternal life. She granted his request but did not give him eternal youth, and now, an old man, he begs her to take back her gift. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Ulysses”: This poem shows a different side of Ulysses (a.k.a. Odysseus) than readers see in the Odyssey. It portrays an older Ulysses who has been stuck at home ruling for many years and is longing to experience adventure once more. Rating: 3.5/5
--“To Virgil”: Tennyson praises the ancient poet Virgil. Rating: 1.5/5
--“The Vision of Sin”: A man who lived a hedonistic lifestyle in his youth gives a bitter speech indicating the corruption of humankind and meaninglessness of much human action. Rating: 3/5
--“Come Down, O Maid” (from “The Princess”): A shepherd sings to a young lady to come down from the mountains into the valley to find love. Rating: 4/5
--“Crossing the Bar”: Tennyson uses the metaphor of “crossing the bar” to discuss his approaching death. Rating: 2/5
--“The Eagle” (fragment): The speaker describes the mighty eagle and surprises the reader with a turn of mood in the last line. Rating: 3.5/5
--“The Hesperides”: The guardians of a golden apple tree sing a song about their watch over the tree. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Kraken”: The speaker surveys the mysterious and powerful creature of the deep. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Lady of Shalott”: a young woman who lives alone in a castle cannot look toward Camelot under threat of a curse. Rating: 4/5
--“Locksley Hall”: The speaker laments a love who left him and contemplates the progress of society. In my personal opinion, the speaker is prejudiced and whiney. Rating: 1.5/5
--“The Lotos-Eaters”: the speaker recounts the effects of the lotus flower on the mental states of Odysseus’s men. Rating: 4/5
--“Lucretius”: Lucretius, an Epicurean philosopher, has been driven to insanity by a love potion given to him by his wife. He experiences troubling dreams and chooses to take his own life. In his final speech, he explains his dissatisfaction with life, his belief that the gods do not care about or interact with the world, and his desire to exert his will by killing himself. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Mariana”: A woman despairs over the absence of her lover. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Merlin and the Gleam”: Tennyson outlines his poetic career by comparing himself to Merlin. Rating: 1.5/5
--“Morte d’Arthur”: After being seriously wounded in battle, King Arthur calls upon the faithfulness of his last knight. Rating: 3/5
--“Saint Simeon Stylites”: Tennyson uses the voice of Simeon Stylites, an ascetic saint who sat atop a pillar for 30 years, to create a fictional discourse in which the saint alternates between professing his sinfulness and expressing his worthiness to be considered a saint while enumerating his sufferings. The poem is something of a satire. Rating: 2.5/5
--“The Splendor Falls” (from “The Princess”): The speaker calls for the bugles to blow, and he draws a connection between their echoes and the “echoes” of people in our lives. Rating: 1.5/5
--“Tears, Idle Tears” (from “The Princess”): The speaker uses powerful metaphors to express the depth of his sorrow over a loss. Rating: 4/5
--“Tithonus”: Tithonus recalls his youth, when he asked the goddess Aurora, who was in love with him, to give him eternal life. She granted his request but did not give him eternal youth, and now, an old man, he begs her to take back her gift. Rating: 3.5/5
--“Ulysses”: This poem shows a different side of Ulysses (a.k.a. Odysseus) than readers see in the Odyssey. It portrays an older Ulysses who has been stuck at home ruling for many years and is longing to experience adventure once more. Rating: 3.5/5
--“To Virgil”: Tennyson praises the ancient poet Virgil. Rating: 1.5/5
--“The Vision of Sin”: A man who lived a hedonistic lifestyle in his youth gives a bitter speech indicating the corruption of humankind and meaninglessness of much human action. Rating: 3/5
on-hold-fict
July 14, 2022Status: POEMS (p. 41-101) have been read only up to “New Year’s Eve” (p. 79).
Maud have been read only up to Part I, XVI (p. 398).
“Maud” lines:
Have read fully these poems:
-- To The Queen
-- Poems, Chiefly Lyrical
-- In Memoriam A. H. H. **
-- The Charge of the Light Brigade
Maud have been read only up to Part I, XVI (p. 398).
“Maud” lines:
Catch not my breath. O clamorous heart,
Let not my tongue be a thrall to my eye,
For I must tell her before we part,
I must tell her, or die.
Have read fully these poems:
-- To The Queen
-- Poems, Chiefly Lyrical
-- In Memoriam A. H. H. **
-- The Charge of the Light Brigade
March 22, 2020
Tennyson is mainly a storyteller who does it in verse.He does some in brogue, but mainly in straight up English. Is Idylls of the King is probably his most famous which is his version of the Arthur in Camelot story. He also wrote the Charge of the Light Brigade. This is a complete collection of his poetry and frankly I like him better than Shelley. t is a long read.
August 24, 2020
Beautiful 1898 edition. is a bit battered. I struggled with several of the poems but enjoyed the help and rumminations of Clara Mae Robbins (? a sorority sister at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana) scattered throughout (marginations and such). If you are reading this I found a pressed rose between pages 566 and 7 - “Queen Mary,” act I, scene V. I’ll be happy to return it...
August 4, 2022
"Thou who stealest fire, from the fountains of the past, to glorify the present; oh, haste visit my low desire! Strengthen me, enlighten me!" (Ode to Memory)
It has taken me awhile to finish because I used it as filler between great reads. I needed to finish, and every page enjoyable to see how formed messages.
It has taken me awhile to finish because I used it as filler between great reads. I needed to finish, and every page enjoyable to see how formed messages.
May 11, 2019
There's a neat little word I often use to describe collections of poetry - inconsistent. Applicable here for sure.
February 3, 2020
i’m a sucker for this depressed guy 😥
November 26, 2018
I love it.
March 17, 2023
Willows whiten, aspens quiver, little breezes dusk and shiver, thro' the wave that runs forever by the island in the river, flowing down to Camelot. Four gray walls and four gray towers, overlook a space of flowers, and the silent isle imbowers, the Lady of Shalott.” It's this one that gets me every time - the Lady of Shalott. Tennyson's poetry embodies romance. His poetry is full of memorable and melodic lines. His use of rhyme, meter, and repetition create a rhythmic and lyrical quality that makes his poems a joy to read out loud. Tennyson was known for his romanticism and his poetry often explores the joys and sorrows of love. Many of his most famous poems, such as "In Memoriam" and "The Lady of Shalott," deal with themes of loss and grief. His use of nature imagery, such as in "The Brook" and "The Eagle," create a sense of beauty and wonder that is both timeless and inspiring.
January 28, 2008
Once again, I haven't read a fraction of what he wrote (one reason's 'cause for some reason the writers of the period wrote HUGE amounts of words, the other's that he wasn't my favorite).
February 22, 2009
I really like Tennyson's poetry. I've studied various poems by him, including "The Kraken" and "The Eagle", and I liked reading more widely. I love the Arthurian stuff, in particular.
Want to read
July 3, 2011In two volumes, both of which appear to be original leather-bound editions.
Want to read
July 3, 20111885 edition.
Want to read
May 7, 2012I actually own the edition that was published in 1872 by James R Osgood and Company. Found at an antiques auction in a box of miscellaneous old books that nobody wanted.
September 12, 2018
I though it was very well composed, full of emotion and historical faction which fit nicely into the poems
August 25, 2019
It took longer than a year but here we are !!!
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