ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Poet of the Past
THIS famous poem was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in 1889, three years before he died. Short but extremely moving, it has become well known through use at funerals and memorial services, and over the years has provided comfort to countless readers because of its solemn but reassuring tone. Although the speaker is describing his own death, he makes it clear that he does not fear it and he does not want those he leaves behind to mourn his passing.
Tennyson is believed to have written the poem (after a severe illness) while on the sea, crossing the Solent from Aldworth to Farringford on the Isle of Wight, where he had a house. Another suggestion is that he may have written it on a yacht anchored in Salcombe where there is a notorious “moaning” sandbar at the entrance to the harbour.
“The words,” he said, “came to me in a moment.” The sunset is the close of the day, heralding the end of his life, while crossing the bar as he puts out to sea is a metaphor for leaving this world for the next. These transitions are shown as entirely natural and Tennyson is, like the tide, simply returning home. It is not unreasonable therefore to believe that returning home to Farringford contributed to his peaceful state of mind. Shortly before he died he asked his son, Hallam, to ensure that any published editions of his poems always ended with Crossing the Bar.
Alfred Tennyson was born on 6 August, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire. His father, George Clayton Tennyson (1778-1831), was a Church of England clergyman and the rector of several Lincolnshire villages before becoming the Vicar of Grimsby in 1815. His mother, Elizabeth Fytche (1781-1865), was also the daughter of a local clergyman. A contemporary document reported that Tennyson’s father “carefully attended to the education and training of his children.”
Tennyson and two of his elder brothers were writing poetry in their teens and a collection was published locally when Alfred was just 17. He went to school at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1827. In the spring of 1831, Tennyson’s father died and he had to leave Cambridge without taking his degree.
Fortunately, the family were allowed to stay in the rectory but later moved to Beech Hill Park in Essex. Tennyson’s son recalled: “There was a pond in the park on which in winter my father might be seen skating, sailing about on the ice in his long blue cloak. He liked the nearness of London, where he resorted to see his friends, but he could not stay in town even for a night, his mother being in such a nervous state that he did not like to leave her . . .”
Tennyson did move to London in 1840, and in 1842, while living modestly, he published the two volume Poems. The first included works already published, but the second made up almost entirely of new poems. They met with immediate success; poems from this collection included, Break, Break, Break and a new version of The Lady of Shalott .In 1850, Tennyson finally published his masterpiece In Memoriam A.H.H., dedicated to Hallam, his close friend from Cambridge. In the same year he married Emily Sellwood, whom he had known since childhood. They had two sons, Hallam and Lionel.
Tennyson bought Farringford House on the Isle of Wight in 1856. He subsequently moved to Aldworth in West Sussex, although always returning to Farringford in the winter.
In 1850, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate by
Prince Albert and enjoyed fulfilling the requirements of this prestigious role, including authoring a poem of greeting to Princess Alexandra of Denmark when she arrived in Britain to marry the future King Edward VII. In 1855, Tennyson produced one of his best known works, The Charge of the Light Brigade, a dramatic tribute to British cavalrymen during the Crimean War. In 1884 Queen Victoria made him Baron Tennyson of Aldworth.
Tennyson continued writing into his 80s and died on 6 October, 1892, aged 83. He was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. A monument to him stands on the top of Tennyson Down on the Isle of Wight, and Lake Tennyson in New Zealand is named after him.