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Alfred Tennyson

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Born: August 05 1809

Died: 0505 10 18921892

Alfred Tennyson, invariably known as Alfred Lord Tennyson on all his books, was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, the fourth of the twelve children of George Tennyson, clergyman, and his wife, Elizabeth. In 1816 Tennyson was sent to Louth Grammar School, which he disliked so intensely that from 1820 he was educated at home until at the age of 18 he joined his two brothers at Trinity College, Cambridge and with his brother Charles published his first book, Poems by Two Brothers the same year.

His second book, Poems Chiefly Lyrical was published in 1830. In 1833, Tennyson's best friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who was engaged to his sister, died, inspiring some of his best work including In Memoriam, Ulysses and the Passing of Arthur.

In 1850, following William Wordsworth, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate and married his childhood friend, Emily Sellwood. They had two children, Hallam born in 1852 and Lionel, two years later. In 1884, as a great favourite of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he was raised to the peerage and was thereafter known as Baron Tennyson of Aldworth. He was the first Englishman to be granted such a high rank solely for literary distinction.

Tennyson continued to write poetry throughout his life and in the 1870s also wrote a number of plays. he died in 1892 at the age of 83 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

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Alfred Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson

Books from Alfred Tennyson

The Lady of Shalott

Idylls of the King

Tennyson's Poetry

In Memoriam

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Tennyson: Poems

Poetical Works: Tennyson

The Complete Works of Alfred Tennyson

King Arthur Collection (Including Le Morte d'Arthur, Idylls of the King, King Arthur and His Knights, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

Tennyson: Selected Poems

Maud

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Lady of Shallot, the Lady of the Fountain, and Other Classic Poems and Tales of Camelot

The Suppressed Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Selections from Wordsworth and Tennyson

Lady Clare

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Coming and Passing of Arthur

Best in Children's Books, Volume 42

AmblesideOnline Year 4 Poetry: Tennyson, Dickinson, Wordsworth (annotated)