Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 – October 6, 1892) was one of the most popular English poets of his time.

The Poet Laureate

He held the position of Poet Laureate from 1850 until his death, turning out appropriate but mediocre verse, such as a poem of greeting to Alexandra of Denmark when she arrived in Britain to marry the future King Edward VII. In 1855, Tennyson produced one of his best known works, The Charge of the Light Brigade, a dramatic tribute to the British cavalrymen involved in an ill-advised charge on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. Other works written as Laureate include Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington and Ode Sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition.

Related Topics:
Poet Laureate - Alexandra of Denmark - Edward VII - The Charge of the Light Brigade - Crimean War

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Queen Victoria was an ardent admirer of Tennyson's work, and in 1884 created him Baron Tennyson, of Aldworth in the County of Sussex and of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. He was the first English writer raised to the peerage.

Related Topics:
Queen Victoria - 1884

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Recordings exist of Lord Tennyson declaiming his own poetry, but they are of poor quality.

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Tennyson continued writing into his eighties, and died on October 6, 1892. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. He was succeeded as 2nd Baron Tennyson by his son, Hallam, who produced an authorised biography of his father in 1897, and was later the second Governor-General of Australia.

Related Topics:
Westminster Abbey - Hallam - Biography - 1897 - Governor-General of Australia

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