Quotes of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was a renowned English poet often hailed as the Victorian era's preeminent representative. Born in Lincolnshire, England, Tennyson displayed his poetic talent from an early age, composing his first verses as a teenager. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he solidified his literary aspirations and formed lifelong friendships with fellow poets like Arthur Hallam.

Tennyson's career was marked by a sense of romanticism blended with a keen interest in social and scientific developments of his time. His early poetry collection, "Poems Chiefly Lyrical" (1830), caught the attention of literary circles, while "In Memoriam" (1850), a tribute to his deceased friend Hallam, showcased his mastery of elegiac verse.

In 1859, Tennyson published "Idylls of the King," a series of narrative poems that reimagined the Arthurian legends in a Victorian context. Queen Victoria's admiration for his work led to his appointment as the Poet Laureate in 1850, a position he held for over four decades.

Tennyson's writing evolved with the changing times, and he embraced more reflective and philosophical themes in works like "Maud" (1855) and "The Princess" (1847). His poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854) immortalized the heroism of British soldiers during the Crimean War. His final collection, "Crossing the Bar," remains a poignant reflection on mortality. Alfred Lord Tennyson's poetic legacy endures through his exploration of human emotions, nature, and the zeitgeist of the Victorian era.

 

Quotes of Alfred Lord Tennyson

·        'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

·        Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead life to sovereign power.

·        I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.

·        Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.'

·        Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.

·        So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.

·        Authority forgets a dying king.

·        A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier times.

·        Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

·        A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.

·        Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.

·        Better not be at all than not be noble.

·        Sin is too stupid to see beyond itself.

·        He makes no friends who never made a foe.

·        What rights are those that dare not resist for them?

·        A day may sink or save a realm.

·        Ring out the false, ring in the true.

·        Such a one do I remember, whom to look at was love.

·        We cannot be kind to each other here for even an hour. We whisper, and hint, and chuckle and grin at our brother's shame; however you take it we men are a little breed.

·        There's no glory like those who save their country.

·        Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last.

·        Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die.