Alfred Tennyson Books

The man was genius, and this collection of his work is one of the best I have seen yet. AMAZING!

By the way, this Penguin book has the COMPLETE text of "In Memoriam." The Everyman's edition does not.

This little book is a good and inexpensive introduction to Tennyson, who was every Victorian lady's favorite. From a purely technical level, he was absolutely ingenious, perhaps the best poet of Victorian times. His poems were also easy to remember and recite aloud. For example, "The Lady of Shalott." Give this poem a try and you'll see what I mean.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

This is an excellent collection of Tennyson's poems,
very representative, very inclusive. In order to make
room for so many poems with full texts, the editor has
chosen not to include an Introduction. This, of course,
for the non-Tennyson reader or person wishing to know
more about him presents something of an obstacle. However,
a bit of rambling to one's own library, or a municipal
one, can solve that.
There is included a Chronology of important dates and
events concerning Tennyson's life. From this, a few of
the important facts seem to be: 1809--born at Somersby,
fourth son of Revd George Clayton Tennyson, Rector of
Somersby; 1816-1820--pupil at Louth Grammar School,
subsequently educated at home by his father; 1827--
publishes _Poems by Two Brothers_ with his brother
Charles, also enters Trinity College, Cambridge University;
1829--meets Arthur Henry Hallam, also a student at Trinity,
who was to become Tennyson's close friend and the fiance
of Tennyson's sister Emily, also wins the Chancellor's
Gold Medal with his prize poem "Timbuctoo", and becomes
a member of the "Apostles," a Cambridge debating society;
1830--publication of _Poems, Chiefly Lyrical_; 1831--death
of Tennyson's father, he leaves Cambridge without a
degree; 1833 (September) death of Hallam, his close
friend, from a cerebral hemorrhage while on holiday in
Vienna; 1840--beginning of almost a decade of depression
and ill health for Tennyson; 1850--marries Emily
Sellwood, appointed Poet Laureate of England; 1852--birth
of first son whom he names "Hallam"; 1883--accepts offer
of title of Baron, taking his seat in the House of
Lords in March 1884; 1892--dies on 6 October.
The poems in this anthology come from the major
publishings of Tennyson's poems. The first two:
"Timbuctoo" was published in the _Cambridge Chronicle
and Journal_ (1829) --and "The Idealist" was not
published during Tennyson's lifetime [this information

comes from the very good notes supplied by the Editor
Aidan Day at the back of the volume].
The poems included in this volume which the scholar or
general reader might wish to know are here collected
in one edition [full texts], along with many more
than these mentioned, are: The Lady of Shalott; Oenone;
The Palace of Art; The Hesperides; The Lotos-Eaters;
Morte d'Arthur; Ulysses; Locksley Hall; short poems
from _The Princess_; IN MEMORIAM, A.H.H. (1850);
MAUD (1855); Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington;
The Charge of the Light Brigade; Tithonous; Lucretius;
To E. FitzGerald; Tiresias; The Ancient Sage; Locksley
Hall Sixty Years After (1886); Demeter and Persephone;
Crossing the Bar. These poems are presented in
chronological order in the text, and the very good
Table of Contents in the front of the book tells
the poetry collection and its date from which the
poems come.
Tennyson is one of those interesting poets that take
a bit of time (at least for me) to get used to -- to
want to read, to really listen to. Having had the
experience of being required to memorize some of
Tennyson for my early academic training in school
at least got me acquainted with the more accessible,
but somewhat less deep poems. But it has taken several
years, much experience, and depressed grief over the
loss of a beloved, to bring me into synch with
the deeper poetry...or at least, being able to hear
it with deeper understanding, deeper reading.
From these poems it is hard to pick "favorites," and
that almost seems too trite a word. Maybe "meaningful"
would be more appropriate as a term. The two I would
select out would be "The Palace of Art" (1832; rev.
1842) and IN MEMORIAM, A.H.H. (1833), on the death
of his dear, beloved friend Arthur Hallam.
From "The Palace of Art," these lines resonate:
* * * * * * * * *
And with choice paintings of wise men I hung
The royal dais round.

For there was Milton like a seraph strong,
Beside him Shakespeare bland and mild;
And there the world-worn Dante grasp'd his song,
And somewhat grimly smiled.

And there the Ionian father of the rest;
A million wrinkles carved his skin;
A hundred winters snow'd upon his breast,
From cheek and throat and chin.
......
And thro' the topmost Oriels' coloured flame
Two godlike faces gazed below;
Plato the wise, and large-brow'd Verulam,
The first of those who know.

-- Arthur Lord Tennyson.
* * * * * * * *

This is a rich collection of the work of Tennyson, and those who care for his verse will derive great pleasure from it. For myself most of Tennyson's longer poems have been more skimmed and tasted by me than really chewed and digested. Tennyson lives as a poet to me primarily through one poem, 'Ulysses'. This poem to my mind perfectly embodies a certain heroic stance toward life. It does this in immortal lines. The poem tells the story of the great Ulysses returning home after having voyaged and become ' a part of all I have met' . He is now not the youth who set out in the beginning but an elderly veteran. He begins with , 'Though much is taken much abides' And so in mid-life or in late- life having come home he is not content to rest. But is an ' old man explorer' who sets out again to meet and make his destiny. ' Though much is taken much abides, and though we are not that strength, which in old days, moved earth and heaven, that which we are we are, one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'
This kind of determination not only spoke to the Victorian world, and to Tennyson's own life- situation with its great losses and difficulties, but I believe will speak to mankind for so long as we are human.

Tennyson is a master of music, and allegedly among the most technically skilled of the distinguished English poets.There is I believe a considerable difference between the reputation he had in his own Victorian Times and the lesser reputation he has today.
For myself the great Tennyson poem is 'Ulysses'. Its inspiring message of setting out again to explore in old age is the predecessor of Eliot's" Old Men should be explorers". I will confess that longer poems like 'Enoch Arden' are not really in my mind and heart.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson-GENIUS, "mediator for God," Poet Laureate, Tennyson was and is the greatest and most beautiful voice to ever bloom from not just 19th century English Literature, but from English Literature as a whole. Simply put, he cleaned up Shakespeare's mess which had been almost cleaned fully by such great voices as Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Dickens.

ALL HUMAN EYES WILL MARVEL AT THE BEAUTY OF THE WORDS OF TENNYSON!!!!!

Of Tennyson's poems, In Memoriam A. H. H. and Maud stand out as personal favourites. In these poems he evokes a gentle blend of melancholy, connectedness with the land and countryside, and a tangible sense of the eternity of life and nature and ones personal destiny within these. His poems are mesmerizing, his rhythmic language and masterful blending of words draws a reader in, and has a hypnotic effect. He isn't trite, clumsy, or contrived. His subjects share the spirit of the Pre-Raphaelite painter's subjects, they are often brooding, forlorn, existing an empty, melancholic, roaming life in a garden of Eden. To the reader, his subjects are real, full and beautiful and are at once human and metaphysical.

I am a mariner, in fact a rather old one. The Tennyson poem, Crossing the Bar, as I remember it as a young man and as I read it today as an old man, has taken on new meaning and touched the center of my sensibilities.

The man that created poetry as an art, and held Europe at a stand still for nearly thirty five years as he held the title of Laurette, now finally his works become very obvious in his complete works, but nothing is more present of the fact then his poem "Odysses", a story about his life, through a myth, fable so to speak.
I grasp that to many times, becomes it feasts, yells, and then knows not me, exceptional is his play on words, and the game I so often play to control them.

OK, I'm that person who never pays more then I have too for a book version of anything. So when I ordered this $15 version rather then the mass market $4 one, I was VERY skeptical... this version blew me away for a paper back, it's large pencil drawn sketches on each page, true art work brought the story to life, it made you think about the words, and the charaters just poped off the pages. Well, well, worth the additional price! Excited Teacher...

Dore's art is fascinating. He matches his illustrations to the beauty and mystery of Idylls of the King.

Gustave Dore first published these intricate and beautiful wood-engraved book illustrations for Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" in the 1860s. Though many, many fabulous illustrations have been created for the legends of King Arthur and his Court these still remain among the finest. This book contains 36 black and white plates, each 7 1/2" x 10" and thus nicely sized for optimal viewing of the exquisite detail. A corresponding excerpt from "Idylls of the King" is printed on the facing page of each plate. Dore captured the grandeur and opulence of courtly life, the mystery and magic of the legendary times of Arthur and Merlin, the medieval costumes, furnishings and architecture all with a brilliance that will transport you. Highly recommended!

Unless you have a couple of thousand to plunk down on the first edition of the Idylls, published by Moxon, in the 1860s, in four folio volumes, then this edition is the next best thing. The illustrations are lovely and help to uplift Tennyson's verse. In fact, Dore becme so popular that this edition was often referred to at the time as "The Dore Tennyson," and rightfully so. Dore ismakes Tennyson's verse much better than it actually is; Tennyson, even though great, has a tendency to be somewhat maudlin and laboured in his retellikng of Idylls. If you enjoy Arturian Verse, I suggest you examine Swinburne's work in this area, or the little known Charles Williams, a contemporary of Swinburne's and in this reviewer's opinion the finest Arthurian poet of all. William Morris and Matthew Arnold have also done some interesting things.

This book (and all in the portable poets collection from Everyman's Library) is wonderfully presented, bound, printed and the size is truly perfect for carrying around day to day or packing for a trip. The selection of Tennyson's work is broad - as such it is has something for everyone and every occasion, though if you have or desire a complete collection your money would be best spent elsewhere, unless you don't mind duplicates. As with all Everyman's Library publications it is hardcover with a nice cloth page marker, making it all the more portable.

According to Wikipedia , Tennyson is the second most quoted author in the English language, after Shakespeare. This collection provides a surprisingly broad survey of a poetic career spanning more than sixty years. The book is portable , attractively packaged and needing you, to take it on a trip to mountain or beach.( Or a mid-winter's read by the fireside.) The selections are often stirring and profound and there is an over-arching ambience of melancholia...." Come down , o maid , from yonder mountain height "...It's all high drama I tell ye.

This is one of the best collections of Tennyson's poems I have ever read. Tennyson's wonderful poems are artfully compiled into this book. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Tennyson's poetry or just wants to see what its all about.

I cannot think of a better way to introduce the poetry of Lord Tennyson than this small volume. The selection is excellent and of interest you the young reader. The commentary is quite relevant as are the pictures which accompany it. I find that often now, our young people go all the way through the early grades in school and many of them have never heard of Alford, Lord Tennyson,much less read their poetry. This was the sort of stuff my generation and the generation before it grew up on and cut our teeth on. I do not feel I am any worse for the wear. I am fearful that we are bringing up an entire generation (rightfully or wrong, although I feel it is the later) of young folks who will have no appreciation to this great art form and will miss a lot. This book helps. This entire series helps, as a matter of fact and I certainly recommend you add this one and the others to your library. Actually, it is rather fun reading these with the young folk and then talking about them. Not only do you get to enjoy the work your self and perhaps bring back some great memories, but you have the opportunity to interact with your child or student. It is actually rather surprising what some of the kids come up with. I read these to my grandchildren and to the kids in my classes at school. For the most part, when I really get to discussing the work with them, they enjoy it. Recommend this one highly.

Busco "In Memoriam, Maud..." en español; u otros títulos

This is a fine book study of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poems of battle and war. Using the epic tradition of Homer and Virgil as a context, Lovelace examines the substantial body of work Tennyson produced on warfare and battle, ranging from his under-studied early poems through his justly famous mature work. Anyone who has read the Idylls of the King, that darkly glorious vision of Arthur and the Round Table, will profit from this examination of the range and scope of Tennyson's interest in combat, both his stirring evocations of what Lovelace terms "the glory of battle" and also in the "volatile, self-destructive potential of battle wrath." This is a scholarly work that explores issues still very much alive in the 21st century.

I chose this poem because I like war and also because Lord Tennyson Alfred is so descriptive. Tennyson Alfred used an idiom when he says "Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell," because the Light Brigade wasn't really coming back from Hell's jaws or the jaws of Death. I chose this poem also because it memorializes the suicidal charge that the Light Brigade made so valiantly against the Cossacks and Russians.

With these superb readings of classic Romantic narrative poems, you can forget about CGI special effects, thundering soundtracks, exorbitant budgets & empty hype -- all that's needed for an unforgettable experience is the transporting magic of the Word, the Voice, and the Imagination. From the lush "Eve of St. Agnes," replete with sensuous imagery & intense emotion, to the chilling & relentless lovers' tragedy of "The Haystack in the Floods," to the spiritual voyage of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and more, here are poems that will take you into another, richer world, read with both precision & passion. Most highly recommended!

After many, many years of good intentions I finally read Tennyson's Idylls of the King. What a pleasure and delight. The poetry is impressive, and the depiction of the Round Table is epochal. I have also compared it to some of Mallory. While Mallory established the standard for the Arthurian legend (in English, at any rate), Tennyson's poetry is far more impressive. The stories themselves seem more impressive in Tennyson's sure hands. Unfortunately, I also made the mistake of watching "Camelot" on video recently; what a travesty. Guenevere is referred to as Ginny, Sir Lancelot is called Lance, and the over-all Hollywood approach is debasing and embarrassing. One could be turned off from Camelot forever as a result of this atrocious film. Let us give praise for Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. It is magnificent!