The Rhetorical and Critical Theories of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to set forth the results of a study from original sources of the rhetorical and critical theories of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In a study of this sort, without doubt the best sources of information are the statements made by the writer himself, not alone in his letters and interviews but also in the literature which he has produced. In the case of Tennyson, the latter is almost the only source of firsthand information available, for he had a horror of biographers and so very carefully saw to it that most of his letters were destroyed before he died; and as for recorded interviews, it appears that he avoided any great discussion of his theories so that he has left almost nothing aside from his writings which can tell us what he thought of poetry and its composition. The only other source of information is the Memoirs written by his son Hallam, the second Lord Tennyson. These, however, are much more valuable as giving us an insight into the character of the poet than in furnishing us any information regarding his theories of poetry and composition. This is exactly as Tennyson would have it and may perhaps be considered his basic theory of literature. Indeed he is quoted by his son to have said that he thanked God that he knew nothing and the world knew nothing about Shakespeare except from his writings. These, therefore, have been the chief source from which the conclusions expressed in the following pages have been drawn the edition "of the poems which has been a constant source of reference is the edition published by Macmillan and Company and edited by Hallam Tennyson, containing notes and explanations by the author himself Since no volume of the early poems in their original forms has been available, I have depended upon the notes in this edition of the poems, on "the fragments of these poems "which have been included in the Memoirs, and upon a small volume of selected poems edited by William James Rolfe for the basis of such discussions as I have included regarding the revisions made in certain of his poems. Much has been written concerning Tennyson and his poetry, and such of these articles as I have found in any way helpful, I have listed in the bibliography which accompanies this paper. But nearly all of this material has been based upon the sources which I have already named, and as various conflicting conclusions have been drawn, I have preferred to stand by the original sources and draw my own conclusions. If these do not agree with the conclusions to which others have come, all I can say is that they are, nevertheless, the opinions which I have formed after a careful study of the poems which Tennyson has left us.