This critical biography analyzes Tennyson's poetic development and his place in literature. It describes his influences, both classical and personal, and illuminates his working methods, for example: a constant revision of earlier material and an emphasis on oral rather than written poetry. Levi gives detailed textual criticism of some poems, but also shows acute psychological understanding of, for example, how Tennyson's famous friendship with Arthur Hallam affected his poetry over a long lifetime. Tennyson's relationships, often stormy but also affectionate, with other important figures of the Victorian era such as Gladstone, Carlyle and Queen Victoria herself, are vividly described, as are his attitudes towards other poets such as Wordsworth, whom he succeeded as Poet Laureate in 1850, and the same year that he married Emily Sellwood after an extraordinary 17-year engagement.
- ISBN10 0333529952
- ISBN13 9780333529959
- Publish Date 25 March 1994 (first published 12 March 1993)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 4 July 2000
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Papermac
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 384
- Language English