The Poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, was born on the August 6th, 1809, and was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria’s reign and remains today a poet of worldwide fame. Much of his work is instantly recognizable and within a few words he distills perhaps the very essence of being English with such phrases as, “Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” and “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die.” His poems vividly capture and enthrall and among their number are “Break, Break, Break,” “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Tears, Idle Tears,” and “Crossing the Bar.” He died, mourned by an entire Nation on October 6th, 1892.