It’s a Hard Enough Life (An analysis of Alfred Tennyson’s life influences on his poetic work)

Being rich and famous doesn’t mean that you are happy. In fact some of the poorest people in the world can be the happiest. For one, money doesn’t buy happiness; happiness is sought through a person’s feelings. In the life of Alfred Lord Tennyson, even though he holds expanses in the rich world, his life is ruled by unhappiness. According to the website, “Poets.org” Alfred’s early life was consumed with grief and anxiety. His father suffered frequent mental breakdowns due to heavy alcoholism. While Alfred’s brother often had violent fights with his father and was later confined to an insane asylum, while another one of Alfred’s brothers became an opium addict. These factors in Alfred’s early life possibly led him to become one of the greatest poets in the Victorian era. Throughout the rest of his life, tragic events such as the ones in his early existence inspired him to write his poetry. The three texts of In Memoriam A.H.H. the Lady of Shalott, and the poem Ulysses, all have life events behind them that helped inspire Alfred Tennyson to write these poems.

To begin with, the poem In Memoriam A.H.H. a tragic event, such as the ones in Alfred’s early life inspired him to write this poem. According to the British Broadcasting Company’s web site, “Bonekickers” A man by Arthur Henry Hallam met Tennyson in Cambridge in the year of 1829. They developed a very close relationship with each other. They both travelled together and in 1832 Hallam became engaged to Tennyson’s sister. However after learning of Hallam’s death when his body was found in Vienna after his family visited the Alps, Tennyson was crushed by the news. Tennyson entered a deep state of depression and eventually he wrote several texts over his friend’s death, one bei...

... middle of paper ...

...caused Tennyson for concern when he saw the powerful nation of Great Britain begin to lose its steam. With the rise of a powerful nation across the Atlantic, Tennyson found the inspiration to write about this concern of his.

Works Cited

• Acadamy of American Poets. (2014). Poets.org. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from Alfred Tennyson: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/300

• British Broadcasting Company. (2014). Bonekickers. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bonekickers/history/arthur.shtml

• Listverse. (2014). Listverse. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from Top Ten Greatest Empires in History: http://listverse.com/2010/06/22/top-10-greatest-empires-in-history/

• Wilson, J.(1825) Noctes Ambrosiance.

• Wojtczak, H. (2010). WOMEN'S STATUS IN MID 19TH-CENTURY ENGLAND. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/history/index.htm