Alfred Tennyson as a Victorian Poet

In his poem the "Locksley Hall" the hero denounces the materialistic outlook of the people of his time. He was in love with a girl named Amy. The girl had also great passion for him. But ultimately she surrendered to the threat of his parents and married a wealthy man. That is why the hero denounces his society for preferring wealth, power, and prestige, but overlooking the real spirit of man. He feels an urge to go to a country of the east. There he will live a life which is primitive, peaceful and more in keeping with the laws of nature. But he could not make up his mind to quit his country because he loves his country above everything else. Here we notice the young man has no revolutionary zeal. He will take things as they are. He concludes "better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay". A Victorian girl like Amy could not defy the authority of her parents. If she could do it would have been a challenge to authority, to order, to discipline. The larger section of the Victorian people did not like it. Tennyson was also of that group. Here he acts as their mouthpiece. The Victorians permitted indulgence in sex but restricted its sphere to conjugal felicity and happy married life. This is demonstrated in Paris choice of Helen and abandonment of Oenone. Kept in perspective, beauty, too, is surely a desirable attribute in life. But in Tennyson's version, Aphrodite promises Paris, if he decides for her, "the fairest and most loving wife in Greece". Since each of the goddesses proffers to Paris a means of his own self-aggrandizement, they are really bribing him and corrupting the ideal of a disinterested judgment turning solely upon reason and merit. Yet among several alternatives in life, a most loving wife could be a wise decision for a man to make and could lead to his greatest happiness, Paris's selecting Aphrodite and a loving wife, however, illustrates the ambiguity of circumstances in which we have to make choices. Helen is not simply a young woman capable of being the most beautiful and the most loving wife that Greece can provide. She is already a wife somebody else's wife. Thus ideals clash. To fulfil what is an ideal for Paris means destroying that of Menelaus. Also, to gain Helen, Paris must abandon and alienate Oenone, whose love turns to bitterness and hate.

Alfred Tennyson as a Victorian Poet

The Victorian age is also marked with a note of pessimism and frustration. People of the age felt exhausted with their never ending race against time and longed for a life of settled order, stability and peace. Tennyson reflects this trend of the period in his poem "Tithonus". Tithonus laments that while he is now a "gray shadow" he was once a beautiful man chosen as Aurora's lover. Now, though he cannot die, he remains forever old; and he must dwell in the presence of Aurora, who renews herself each morning and is thus forever young.

Victorian age was the age of new and newer invention and discovery. The conflict between religion and science had greatly persuaded the people to seek new knowledge. The desires to see the unseen, to know the unknown, the unquenchable thirst for knowledge were the characteristics of the Victorian age. There is a reference to Odysseus in "The Lotos Eaters" who like a typical Victorian is fired with energy to grasp the unattainable and the infinite. He is not eager to stay with the soldiers in the land of idleness.

Thus, we see that Tennyson was aware of the social and religious problems of his time. He tried to give voice to them. But his approach was partial. In spite of these facts he was a true representative of his age in expressing the intellectual, social and religious problems of his time that were most striking and new.

Additionally, he produced a large number of significant poetry that advanced English literature.

The Lady of Shalott this narrative poem tells the story of a woman who is cursed to live isolated on the island of Shalott, weaving a magical web and forbidden to look directly at the outside world. When she sees the knight Lancelot reflected in her mirror, she defies the curse and meets her tragic fate.

Ulysses poem Inspired by the character from Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses is a dramatic monologue where the legendary Greek hero reflects on his longing for adventure and his dissatisfaction with the quiet life of a ruler. He expresses his desire to set sail once more and seek new experiences, despite his old age.

In Memoriam A.H.H. this elegiac poem is a tribute to Tennyson's close friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died young. It explores the themes of grief, loss, and the search for meaning in the face of mortality. Through its sections, Tennyson grapples with doubt, faith, and ultimately finds solace in the idea of eternal life and the continuity of nature.

The Charge of the Light Brigade this poem commemorates the heroic but ill-fated charge of British cavalry during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. It vividly describes the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers who obeyed orders despite facing insurmountable odds, capturing both the glory and the horror of war.

Crossing the Bar this short lyrical poem serves as a reflection on death and the passage from life to the afterlife. Using the metaphor of crossing a sandbar as a ship goes out to sea, Tennyson expresses his hope and belief in the continuation of the soul's journey beyond the physical world.

These represent just a small sampling of Tennyson's extensive body of work, which demonstrates his versatility and his examination of universal subjects that struck a deep chord with Victorian readers.