Alfred Tennyson

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 330K words
Chapters: 33

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Alfred Tennyson by Andrew LangAuthor: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2003

Editor's review

This book is Andrew Lang's biographical and critical study of Alfred Tennyson, the British Poet Laureate, and ranks among the important early works on Tennyson. Lang brings the eye of both literary critic and folklorist; his writing goes beyond a chronological account of the poet's life, setting biographical experience against the evolution of his style to help readers grasp the spirit of Victorian poetry. The book offers detailed discussion of the verbal texture, imaginative mode, and historical situation of Tennyson's lyric poetry, providing background for reading such famous works as In Memoriam and Ulysses. As a public-domain ebook, it is moderate in length and easy to obtain, making it suitable as supplementary material for English literature courses or an introductory reference for poet studies. Note that it was written early, and its views reflect late nineteenth-century critical taste; readers should read it alongside later scholarship rather than take it as the sole authoritative conclusion. Overall, it is a poet's critical biography that combines documentary value with readability.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English literature students seeking background material on Victorian poetry
Tennyson enthusiasts who wish to understand the relation between the poet's life and his work
General readers interested in nineteenth-century British cultural history
Researchers and translation learners needing public-domain English sources

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic close reading and annotation of the poems
Readers who prefer contemporary scholarly perspectives and up-to-date research surveys
Beginners whose English reading ability is not yet sufficient for nineteenth-century prose

Reading tips

Read a few representative short poems by Tennyson first, then compare them with the relevant discussion in this book for a more concrete understanding.
While reading, note Lang's critical stance and the limitations of his era, and read alongside modern biographies of the poet.
List the works discussed in the book by date to form a simple timeline of the poet's creative development.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a poetry collection or a biography of Tennyson?

It is a critical biography by Andrew Lang that discusses Tennyson's life and poetic work; it is not a complete collection of the poet's works. The book quotes and comments on some poems, but its main body is biography and literary criticism, so readers who want the original poems need a separate poetry collection.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-English majors?

The book was written in the late nineteenth century, with long sentences, rather elegant diction, and allusions to English literature. It suits readers with college-level English reading ability and some knowledge of Victorian poetry; beginners may start with a Chinese translation's introduction or selected chapters before gradually approaching the original.

What should readers note when using a public-domain ebook edition?

Public-domain ebooks are prepared by volunteers, so formatting and notes may be less refined than in commercial editions, and some places may retain scanning artifacts. It is advisable to use the multiple formats offered by the official site, verify the sources of quoted poems yourself, and cite printed or authoritative editions as references.

Comments

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About the author

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a British writer, poet and folklorist best known for compiling collections of fairy tales and myths. The library holds 77 of his works, including The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Violet Fairy Book and The Brown Fairy Book, as well as Tales of Troy and Greece and The Homeric Hymns. He gathered, edited and retold folk tales from Europe and around the world, naming the volumes by colour; his clear, fluent prose served both children and folklore scholarship. These collections preserved a wealth of oral material and shaped the modern English-speaking world's image of fairy tales, leaving a lasting influence on fairy-tale publishing and comparative story research. Public information on his life is limited, so this note focuses on his editorial and literary contributions.