环球英语 — 404：Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Hello. I’m Ruby Jones.
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And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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‘It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’
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This is a very famous saying in the English language. People usually use it to talk about a failed love relationship. Many famous writers have used it. One of the most famous people to use it was Lord Alfred Tennyson. However, he was not talking about a lost love. Instead, he was talking about the death of a close friend.
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In today’s Spotlight we tell Lord Tennyson’s story. We tell of the friend he lost. We talk about how he overcame a difficult past. And we explore why his position as a great poet was in question.
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Alfred Tennyson was born in 1809 in Lincolnshire, England. His father was George Tennyson. George came from a wealthy family. And he was the oldest son. In those times the oldest son received the family money and high position. But George did not receive these honours. Instead his younger brother did. Also George suffered with the medical condition epilepsy. It affects the brain and attacks body control. It seizes the body and produces disordered movements. In the past people wrongly believed that epilepsy was a mental sickness. The bad feeling about his brother and the epilepsy left George angry. This affected his family, especially his children.
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In all, George had twelve [12] children. Alfred Tennyson was the fourth child. He was strongly influenced by his father. Like his father, he always worried about money. He also worried about his mental health. But Tennyson did gain something important from his father - a good education.
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Tennyson was a creative child. He loved to read. And he wrote poems from an early age with his brothers. But life at home became very difficult. George’s health was getting worse. And he turned to alcohol to ease his suffering. This caused him to be violent. Tennyson escaped the situation by going Cambridge University.
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At Cambridge, Tennyson’s life changed completely. Here, he won a prize for his poetry. He gained the respect of other students. It was also at Cambridge that Tennyson met Arthur Hallam. Hallam had a strong influence on his life. He was a gifted young man. And many people valued his opinions. Hallam was amazed by Tennyson’s poems. He encouraged Tennyson to write his poems. The two young men became best friends. Hallam was always there to support Tennyson during difficult times. And he was also there for Tennyson’s first big success.
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In 1830 a book of Tennyson’s poems was published. It was called “Poems Chiefly Lyrical”. The book contained the poem ‘Mariana’ that became very popular. It was based on one of Shakespeare’s plays. It tells of the sadness of a woman waiting for her lover to return. She tells how weary, how tired she is:
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‘She could not look at the sweet heaven,
Either at morning or evening time...
‘He comes not’ she said;
She said ‘I am aweary, aweary...’
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Three years later he published his next book of poetry. But this time not all of the critics liked his poems. Some of them criticised his work very strongly. Tennyson felt hurt by their words. So for almost ten years he did not publish any poetry. That same year Hallam suddenly became very sick. He died soon after at the age of twenty-two [22]. His death came as a complete shock to Tennyson.
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It took Tennyson many years to recover from the loss of Hallam. He used writing to help with his deep sadness. And he wrote his greatest poem ‘In Memoriam’ in honour of his friend. It took him seventeen [17] years to write it! The poem is very long. It contains one hundred and thirty-one [131] parts. In the poem Tennyson struggles with the meaning of life and death. The poem tells how he learns to deal with the loss of his friend, the friend who encouraged him the most. It is in this poem that he wrote the famous lines:
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‘It is better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.’
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Both the critics and the public liked the poem very much. The poem also won him the approval of Queen Victoria. She appointed him as the official poet of the country - the poet laureate. This meant he could write poems for important state events.
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Tennyson continued writing. He had great success with more poems. But other poets of his time began to question his greatness. And in the 20th century there was a negative feeling about his work. These later critics believed much of Tennyson’s work was empty language. They did not believe that it would survive in future generations.
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However, in recent years modern critics have started to offer a more balanced opinion of his work. They do admit his weaknesses as a poet. But they also respect his strengths - his use of language and images, his wonder at the mystery of life. They say a good amount of his work will stand the test of time.
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Tennyson was given the name Lord Tennyson by Queen Victoria. This was a great honour. But he did not really care about being a ‘lord’. He considered himself the poet of the people. Tennyson died in 1892. He is buried in Poet’s Corner in one of the most famous churches in London - Westminster Abbey. Tennyson wrote the poem ‘Crossing the Bar’ three years before he died. He asked that it always be placed as the final poem in any collections of his works.
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In this poem, he must cross a sand bar - a small hill of sand formed by currents along the coast. Crossing the sand bar represents crossing over from life to death. He is in a boat. A pilot is guiding him. The pilot is an expert in guiding ships in and out of ports. The pilot takes over from the ship captain to do this. The pilot knows the coast extremely well. So he helps the ship avoid rocks and reefs. In the poem the pilot represents God. God is the one who guides Tennyson into the next life after death. The poem ends with these words:
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‘Though away from the limits of Time and Place
The flood may take me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.’
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