Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This selection of Alfred, Lord Tennyson poems, chosen by Mick Imlah, is an indispensable introduction to the poet who first wrote the phrases 'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all', 'Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die' and 'Nature, red in tooth and claw'.

In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past.

In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past. By their choice of poems and by the personal and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the editors offer insights into their own work as well as providing an accessible and passionate introduction to some of the greatest poets in our literature.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92) was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, the sixth of eleven children of a clergyman. After a childhood marked by trauma, he went up to Cambridge in 1828, where he met Arthur Hallam, whose premature death had a lasting influence on Tennyson's life and writing. His two volumes of Poems (1842) established him as the leading poet of his generation, and of the Victorian period. He was created Poet Laureate in 1850 and in 1883 accepted a peerage.