Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), born in Lincolnshire, England, showed early talent, writing his first long poem at the age of twelve. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the intellectual club the Apostles, led by Arthur Hallam, who became a close friend. Tennyson’s long elegy In Memoriam, a tribute to Hallam, made Tennyson famous. In his later years Tennyson accepted a peerage, becoming Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Among his other well-known works are “Ulysses,” “The Lady of Shalott,” the epic poem Idylls of the King, and “Crossing the Bar,” written a few years before his death. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

From “In Memoriam”

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
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