Alfred lord tennnyson life - born in 1809 in somersby, england - 4th of 12 children - worried about money due to relative poverty compared with aunt and uncle who lived in castles. - lifelong fear of mental illness because of several family members having epilepsy, a shameful disease at the time. - father was violent and abusive because of alcohol usage School - attended trinity college, Cambridge, became renowned for poetry. - in the apostles, a club that met to discuss philosophy – remained friends with members entire life - Arthur hallan was important friend – engaged Emily Tennyson. Poetry - sensitive to criticism; received mixed reception of 1832 poems - engaged to get married, but couldn’t afford it, so broke it off. - 1842 poems was successful, became popular poet, relieved financial stress. - appointed poet laureate in 1850, establishing him ass a popular Victorian era poet. - composed much of his poetry in his head, perhaps because he had extreme shortsightednesss. End of days - with popularity, earned substantial income. - bought house in countryside, wrote in seclusion (on his own) - often wore black cloak and wide black hat to suggest his life was full of hardship. The eagle. - inspired by living in the alps - captures majestic event of eagle diving off a cliff. - why care? to look again at this event of the nature with fresh, child-like 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 1809 12 Trinity Apostles . . A black cloak Lord . My name’s lord Byron 1) Byron was an English poet who lived during the romantic period. He was one of the leading figures in this time. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets. He remains widely read and still influential. 2) George Gordon Byron was born on 22 January 1788, on Holles street in London – Byron was the only child of captain John Byron and his second wife Catherine Gordon. Byron’s paternal grandparents were Vice-admiral john Byron and Sophia Trevanion. Having survived a shipwreck as a teenage midshipman, Vice-admiral John Byron set a new speed record for circumnavigative the globe. Byron’s father had previously been somewhat scandalously married to Amelia, Marchioness of Carmarthen, with whom he had been having an affair – the wedding took place just weeks after her divorce from her husband, and she was around 8-months pregnant. The marriage was not a happy one, and their first two children – Sophia Georgina, and an unnamed boy – died in infancy. Amelia herself died in 1784 almost exactly a year after the birth of their third child, the poet’s half-sister Augusta Marry.
