e in whose sunniest spot he was born, but in near
neighborhood to "the level waste, the rounding gray" of "the dark
fen," and within sight and sound of the "sandy tracts" and "the ocean
roaring into cataracts." Later, we find in some of the poems that have
made for themselves a place in the heart of all English-speaking
people, vivid pictures in words or phrases, recalling his travels in
Italy and Greece; and in the latter half of his life we follow him to
the southern part of England, to Surrey and the Isle of Wight, where
we find him in his "careless-ordered garden, close to the edge of a
noble down," or "hear the magpie gossip garrulous under a roof of
pine." But, to quote the lines that illustrate this autobiographic
element in Tennyson's poetry, or that show his happy way of making use
of his actual experiences, by which again we are able to get an
impression of his way of life, and of the manner of man he was, would
be to transfer a goodly portion of his verse to these pages.

Alfred Tennyson was born August 5, 1809, at Somersby, Lincolnshire,
and was the third son in a family of five sons and seven daughters
born to the Reverend George Clayton Tennyson, who was rector of
Somersby, and held, besides, the livings of Beg-Enderby and Great
Grimsby.

Tennyson's father was a man of various tastes and accomplishments,
dabbling in poetry, painting, architecture, music, the study of
language and mathematics, but doing nothing of note in any of these
things. Even as a preacher he seems to have made but little
impression, if we may judge by the answer made by one of his old
parishioners to the question: "What sort of sermons did Mr. Tennyson
preach?" "Eee read um from a paaper, an I didn't knaaw what um meant."
But the father's versatility doubtless did his children good service;
for in such a village as Somersby, the opportunities for general
culture were few. Up to the age of seven, when he was sent to the
grammar-school at Louth, Alfred was taught at home by his father. We
are told that in the case of each of his boys, Mr. Tennyson was in the
habit, before presenting them at the grammar-school, of making them
commit to memory and recite every day one of the Odes of Horace,
beginning with the Ode to Maecenas and ending with the "In Praise of
Augustus"--the last Ode of the four Books. Alfred went to Louth,
entering the grammar-school the Christmas after the battle of
Waterloo. His brother Charles was already there, and t