The Last Tournament

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

Rating 4.0

Word count: 34K words
Chapters: 4

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.The Last Tournament by Baron Alfred Tennyson TennysonAuthor: Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2005

Editor's review

The Last Tournament is a narrative poem by Tennyson based on the Arthurian legends, one installment in his Arthurian series. It is not long, yet it vividly presents a knightly world where honor, love, and betrayal intertwine. The poem unfolds through tournament and courtly scenes, with language attentive to rhythm and imagery, reflecting a Victorian look back at, and reckoning with, chivalry. As a public-domain electronic text, it is well suited to experiencing Tennyson's narrative poetry style, and also to reading alongside other Arthurian works to observe how the same material is handled in different eras. Note that it is not a complete long epic; read on its own, it may lack surrounding context. The meter and diction of English poetry can also pose obstacles for beginners. It is advisable to first learn the background of the Arthurian stories, then read the verses slowly, attending to shifts in imagery and in the characters' attitudes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English poetry readers who enjoy Arthurian legend and chivalric themes
Literature enthusiasts who want to understand Tennyson's narrative poetry style
English literature students who need to read Victorian poetry texts
Readers with some English proficiency willing to read verse slowly

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a complete Arthurian epic with a continuous storyline
Beginners with little experience reading English poetry who rely on Chinese translations

Reading tips

First learn the basic background of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, then enter the poem's characters and events.
Read the verses aloud to feel the rhythm and sound; mark unfamiliar words and look them up after finishing a section.
Pay attention to the contrasts between tournament, courtly, and emotional descriptions, and note turns in the characters' attitudes.
Read alongside Tennyson's other Arthurian poems in order to fill in the context.

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

Do I need to read other Arthurian works before this poem?

Not strictly, but it is advisable to first learn the basic legendary framework of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This piece is not long, and its characters and events depend on that legendary background; if it is entirely unfamiliar, understanding the relationships and emotional conflicts will be difficult.

English poetry is hard to read. What can I do?

You can first read through once without worrying about full comprehension, then read aloud in sections, use a dictionary for key vocabulary, and pay attention to imagery and scene changes. There is no need to translate word by word; first grasp the narrative progression and the characters' attitudes, then go back to study difficult lines closely.

Is it suitable as an introduction to Tennyson?

It can serve as a short sample of his Arthurian material, but it is not necessarily the best introduction. To understand Tennyson systematically, it is better to read it together with his representative long and short poems and to learn about the Victorian background, rather than generalizing from a single piece.

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About the author

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892 Author

Alfred Tennyson, Baron Tennyson (1809-1892), was a British poet who succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850. His representative works include Idylls of the King, Maud, and Other Poems, and Enoch Arden. This library holds 17 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Drawing frequently on classical and medieval legend, his poetry is finely crafted and highly musical, combining Romantic sentiment with a Victorian concern for morality, faith and the meaning of life; Idylls of the King uses the Arthurian legends to explore the conflict between duty and desire. Available public information is limited, and no further biographical details are provided.