Tennyson by Philip Henderson

Tennyson by Philip Henderson

Originally published in 1978, this book re-examines the life of Tennyson and places both his achievements and his inadequacies in a fresh perspective. The author draws a vivid picture of the poet’s most important emotional relationships: with his brilliant and unstable father; with his friend Arthur Hallam; with the flirtatious Rosa Baring, whose rejection of him gave rise to the fury and bitterness of Locksley Hall and Maud; and with the saintly Emily Sellwood, whom he married after a ten-year courtship. With the aid of extensive quotations, Philip Henderson shows how Tennyson appeared through the eyes of his friends and contemporaries among them the Carlyles, the Brownings, Thackeray, Edward Lear and Henry James. Looking into the future, Tennyson sensed many of the disasters of the 20th century and by the time of his death in 1892, Tennyson had become nationally acknowledged as a poet of the highest distinction.

Original Review of Tennyson: Poet and Prophet:

‘…a useful biography, selected from material offered by many scholars notably Charles Tennyson, RW. Rader, John Kilham and Christopher Ricks…’ Elaine Jordan, Essays in Criticism, Volume XXIX, Issue 2, 1979.

Philip Henderson (1906–1977) was a British novelist and literary critic.