This Norton Critical Edition includes: The Eversley Edition text of the poem, accompanied by Erik Gray's preface, full introduction and detailed explanatory footnotes. One illustration. A generous selection (new to the Third Edition) of background materials on In Memoriam's subject, Arthur Henry Hallam, as well as its literary and scientific contexts. Twelve contemporary reviews spanning 1850-55 (also new to this Third Edition) that suggest In Memoriam's initial reception. Eleven critical essays, five of them new to the Third Edition. A chronology, a selected bibliography and an index of first lines. About the Series Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for undergraduate readers. The three-part format-annotated text, contexts and criticism-helps students to better understand, analyse and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources students need.

Tennyson was one of the true great Victorian poets - much of his work is known throughout the world: 'Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die' 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' His genius is expressed through the precision and delicacy of the language of his lyrical poems. Some of his words were engraved in the 2012 Olympic village and his early poetry was a major influence on and inspiration for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Tennyson initially declined a baronetcy - indeed, he wrote a substantial amount of unoffical political poetry. To this day, he remains one of Britain's most popular poets. 'No man ever got very high by pulling other people down... Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself' Tennyson

It includes selections from the 1830, 1832, and 1842 volumes, together with songs from The Princess and In Memoriam; complete poems from the middle period, including Maud, Enoch Arden, and nine Idylls of the King, including the Dedication; and a generous offering from the late period, 1872-92. The authoritative texts are based on the Cambridge Tennyson; additional selections have been taken from Sir Charles Tennyson's editions of Tennyson's Unpublished Early Poems (1931) and The Devil and the Lady (1930), as well as the Eversley edition, with notes by the poet's son. The texts of the poems are copiously annotated and the lines of poetry conveniently numbered for easy reference. A special section, Juvenilia and Early Responses, offers easy access to work by the young Tennyson, not readily available elsewhere, together with responses from his contemporaries. Criticism includes significant statements on Tennyson as well as interpretations of the major poems. A special feature is Georg Roppen's essay on Tennyson and the theory of evolution. Other critical voices are those of A. C. Bradley, Harold Nicolson, Douglas Bush, Arthur J. Carr, T. S. Eliot, Paull F. Baum, John Killham, F. E. L. Priestley, Francis Golffing, and Robert W. Hill, Jr. A Chronology, Selected Bibliography, and Index are also included.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a more complex writer than his status as Queen Victoria's favorite poet might suggest. Though capable of rendering rapture and delight in the most exquisite verse, in another mode Tennyson is brother in spirit to Poe and to Baudelaire, the author of dark, passionate reveries. And though he treasured poetic tradition, his work nevertheless engaged directly with the great issues of his time, from industrialization and the crisis of faith to scientific progress and women's rights. A master of the short, intense lyric, he can also be sardonic, humorous, voluptuous, earthy, and satirical.
This collection includes, of course, such celebrated poems as "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade." There are extracts from all the major masterpieces--"Idylls of the King," "The Princess," "In Memoriam"--and several complete long poems, such as "Ulysses" and "Demeter and Persephone," that demonstrate his narrative grace. Finally, there are many of the short lyrical poems, such as "Come into the Garden, Maud" and "Break, Break, Break," for which he is justly celebrated.