Alfred TennysonAlfred Tennyson (1809-1892)(1809-1892)

Features of his poetryFeatures of his poetry

• 1.resort to the world of romances: classical, medieval and English (The Idylls of the King).

• 2.skilled in the lyric, the dramatic monologue;

• 3.perfect control of the sound of English and consummate choice and taste in words.

The EagleThe Eagle

• Ideas:• 1. a poem in memory of his friend Hallam;

• 2.a poem in praise of noble persons;

• 3.a hymn of independence and freedom;

The EagleThe Eagle

• Form and devices:

• 1.single rhyme in each stanza—singleness and aloneness of the eagle;

• 2.alliteration in the first line—the hard consonant /k/ in the three words suggests hardness of the rock and firmness of the bird;

The EagleThe Eagle

• Form and devices:

• 3.imagery or symbolism—

• the eagle is symbolic of a noble person and free spririt;

• the wrinkled sea: the masses or ordinary people;

• the sun: truth

The EagleThe Eagle

• Form and devices:

• 4.contrast between the two stanzas:motionlessness and thunderbolt-like action

Break, Break, BreakBreak, Break, Break

• Ideas and artistic features:

• 1. a lyric on the loss of youth, innocence and happiness;

• 2.deep grief, sincere feelings;

• 3.smoothness of rhythm, musical effect;

Break, Break, BreakBreak, Break, Break

• Ideas and artistic features:

• 4.images and symbols;

• 5.sound devices: long vowels, metrical features(anapestic+iambic+spondaic);

• 6.translations of the title

Third Generation of RomanticsThird Generation of Romantics

• Alfred Tennyson is like Keats: sensuousness

• melancholy

• Robert Browning is like Shelley:a taste for musicality