Nestling quietly in the Lincolnshire Wolds is the village of Somersby, it was here that poet Alfred Tennyson
was born on the 6th of August in 1809.
was born on the 6th of August in 1809.
The fourth of twelve children, he was tutored by his father, the Reverend George Tennyson in classical and modern
languages. Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School but was eager to leave home due to family problems.
He left Lincolnshire in 1827 to attend Trinity College, Cambridge and by 1830 he had published a few poems, in 1832
he published a second volume of work that were not received well. Shocked by so negative reviews Tennyson
would not publish another book for nine years.
In 1836, he became engaged to Emily Sellwood but financial troubles caused his Emily's family to call off the engagement. The year 1842, was a turning point for Tennyson, his work received great praise and had become popular, by 1850 with the
publication of In Memoriam A H H, our local poet became one of Britain’s most popular poets. Tennyson was named Poet Laureate
in succession to Wordsworth and in that same year he married Emily Sellwood by whom he had two sons,
Hallam and Lionel. By the age of forty one, Tennyson had established himself as the most popular poet of the
Victorian era culminating in 1884 with a peerage, after which he was known as Alfred Lord Tennyson.
languages. Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School but was eager to leave home due to family problems.
He left Lincolnshire in 1827 to attend Trinity College, Cambridge and by 1830 he had published a few poems, in 1832
he published a second volume of work that were not received well. Shocked by so negative reviews Tennyson
would not publish another book for nine years.
In 1836, he became engaged to Emily Sellwood but financial troubles caused his Emily's family to call off the engagement. The year 1842, was a turning point for Tennyson, his work received great praise and had become popular, by 1850 with the
publication of In Memoriam A H H, our local poet became one of Britain’s most popular poets. Tennyson was named Poet Laureate
in succession to Wordsworth and in that same year he married Emily Sellwood by whom he had two sons,
Hallam and Lionel. By the age of forty one, Tennyson had established himself as the most popular poet of the
Victorian era culminating in 1884 with a peerage, after which he was known as Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Statue of Tennyson outside Lincoln Catheral (Own Photograph)
Tennyson died on October 6, 1892, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Today he is the second most frequently quoted writer in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare.
Tennyson wrote a number of phrases that we use all the time today one being 'Better to have loved and lost, than never to
have loved at all' from his In Memoriam and "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die' from his poem
The Charge of the Light Brigade.
We must not forget my favourtie work of his The Lady of Shallot.
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
Today he is the second most frequently quoted writer in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare.
Tennyson wrote a number of phrases that we use all the time today one being 'Better to have loved and lost, than never to
have loved at all' from his In Memoriam and "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die' from his poem
The Charge of the Light Brigade.
We must not forget my favourtie work of his The Lady of Shallot.
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
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