Alfred Tennyson was a poet all his life, writing more than a thousand works in virtually every poetic genre. Considered by his Victorian contemporaries the pre-eminent poet of the age, he has become a canonical figure who is widely read and studied today. Consequently, his poems appear on the syllabi of both survey courses in Victorian literature as well as upper-division and graduate-level topics courses that cover Victorian studies or address subjects such as environmental studies, religion, elegiac poetry, and Arthurian literature.

This companion makes Tennyson’s poetry accessible to contemporary readers by identifying some of the formal elements of the poems, highlighting their relevance to Tennyson’s Victorian contemporaries, and explaining their enduring appeal and value. Entries in the companion, organized alphabetically, provide essential details about Tennyson’s most anthologized poems, offer suggestions for reading and interpretation, and elucidate unfamiliar historical and literary allusions. Additional entries, a biography of Tennyson, and a selected bibliography of recent criticism offer information about the people, places, events, and issues that influenced Tennyson or were important to him and his contemporaries.

Laurence W. Mazzeno, president emeritus of Alvernia University, Reading, Pennsylvania, is the author or editor of 20+ books and more than 300 articles and reviews on literature and history. He lives in Arvada, Colorado.

Sue Norton, a lecturer of English at the Technological University Dublin since 1999, previously taught in University College Dublin, University College Cork and New Jersey City University.

Laurence W. Mazzeno

Series Editor Laurence W. Mazzeno

Associate Editor Sue Norton

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 250
Bibliographic Info: appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7321-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4084-6
Imprint: McFarland
Series: McFarland Companions to 19th Century Literature

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Abbreviations  3
Introduction: Tennyson, ­­Preeminent Victorian Poet and Innovator  4
Alfred Tennyson: A Brief Biography  9
Chronological List of Tennyson’s Major Publications  13
Alfred Tennyson: A Companion  15
Appendix: Selected Bibliography of Criticism  223
Works Cited  227
Index  235

“Mazzeno’s book offers what may come to be seen as an indispensable guide to the poet’s life, work and thought, a guide quite evidently based upon a Herculean compass of reading and research. This is a volume which can be warmly recommended reading for all Tennysonians, and it will surely now become a standard work of reference on the poet and his oeuvre.”—Tennyson Research Bulletin