III. Alfred Tennyson

　　1.一般識記 His Life & Literary Career

　　Alfred Tennyson （1809-1892） is certainly the most representative Victorian poet. His poetry voices the doubt & the faith， the grief & the joy of the English people in an age of fast social changes.

　　He was born at Somersby， Linconshire， the fourth son of a rather learned clergyman. In 1827， he & his elder brother published Poems by Two Brothers. In this juvenile work the influence of Byron & an attraction to oriental themes were shown. He was educated at the Trinity College， Cambridge & published his first signed work Poems， Chiefly Lyrical （1830） there. In 1832， one year after he left Cambridge， he published Poems， which contained a variety of poems， beautiful in melody & rich in imagery. In 1842， his next issue of Poems came out， collected in the book are the dramatic monologue "Ulysses"， the epic narrative " Morte d'Arthur，" the exquisite idylls "Dora" & " The Gardener's Daughter，" etc. In 1847， The Princess was published. Written in blank verse， it deals with the theme of women's rights & position. In 1850， Tennyson was appointed the Poet Laureate & he published his greatest work In Memoriam. The rest years of Tennyson's life was comfortable & peaceful， but he never stopped writing. In 1855， Tennyson published a monodrama Maud， a collection of short lyrics. Among the other works of his later period， "Rizpah，" "Enoch Arden，" " Merlin & the Gleam" & " Crossing the Bar" are worthy of note.

　　2.識記 His major poetic works & their theme

　　1） In Memoriam

　　Presumably it is an elegy on the death of Hallam， yet less than half of its l00 pieces are directly connected with him. The poet here does not merely dwell on the personal bereavement. As a poetic diary， the poem is also an elaborate & powerful expression of the poet's philo