A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 46

_Lives_ by Craik (1882), Leslie Stephen (1882), Churton Collins (1893), etc. _Works_ ed. by Sir Walter Scott (19 vols., 1814, etc.) Bonn's Standard Library (1897-1908).

SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES (1837-1909).--Poet, _s._ of Admiral S. and of Lady Jane Ashburnham, _dau._ of the 3rd Earl of A., _b._ in London, received his early education in France, and was at Eton and at Balliol Coll., Oxf., where he attracted the attention of Jowett, and gave himself to the study of Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, with special reference to poetic form. He left Oxf. without graduating in 1860, and in the next year _pub._ two plays, _The Queen Mother_ and _Rosamund_, which made no impression on the public, though a few good judges recognised their promise. The same year he visited Italy, and there made the acquaintance of Walter Savage Landor (_q.v._). On his return he lived for some time in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, with D.G. Rossetti (_q.v._), and G. Meredith (_q.v._). The appearance in 1865 of _Atalanta in Calydon_ led to his immediate recognition as a poet of the first order, and in the same year he _pub._ _Chastelard, a Tragedy_, the first part of a trilogy relating to Mary Queen of Scots, the other two being _Bothwell_ (1874), and _Mary Stuart_ (1881). _Poems and Ballads_, _pub._ in 1866, created a profound sensation alike among the critics and the general body of readers by its daring departure from recognised standards, alike of politics and morality, and gave rise to a prolonged and bitter controversy, S.

defending himself against his a.s.sailants in _Notes on Poems and Reviews_.

His next works were the _Song of Italy_ (1867) and _Songs before Sunrise_ (1871). Returning to the Greek models which he had followed with such brilliant success in _Atalanta_ he produced _Erechtheus_ (1876), the extraordinary metrical power of which won general admiration. _Poems and Ballads_, second series, came out in 1878. _Tristram of Lyonnesse_ in heroic couplets followed in 1882, _A Midsummer Holiday_ (1884), _Marino Faliero_ (1885), _Locrine_ (1887), _Poems and Ballads_, third series (1889), _The Sisters_ (1892), _Astrophel_ (1894), _The Tale of Balen_ (1896), _Rosamund, Queen of the Lombards_ (1899), _A Channel Pa.s.sage_ (1904), and _The Duke of Gandia_ (1908). Among his prose works are _Love's Cross Currents_ (1905) (fiction), _William Blake, a Critical Essay_ (1867), _Under the Microscope_ (1872), in answer to R. Buchanan's _Fleshly School of Poetry_, _George Chapman, a Critical Essay_ (1875), _A Study of Shakespeare_ (1879), _A Study of Victor Hugo_ (1886), and _A Study of Ben Jonson_ (1889).

S. belongs to the cla.s.s of "Poets' poets." He never became widely popular. As a master of metre he is hardly excelled by any of our poets, but it has not seldom been questioned whether his marvellous sense of the beauty of words and their arrangement did not exceed the depth and ma.s.s of his thought. _The Hymn to Artemis_ in _Atalanta_ beginning "When the hounds of Spring are on Winter's traces" is certainly one of the most splendid examples of metrical power in the language. As a prose writer he occupies a much lower place, and here the contrast between the thought and its expression becomes very marked, the latter often becoming turgid and even violent. In his earlier days in London S. was closely a.s.sociated with the pre-Raphaelites, the Rossettis, Meredith, and Burne-Jones: he was thus subjected successively to the cla.s.sical and romantic influence, and showed the traces of both in his work. He was never _m._, and for the last 30 years of his life lived with his friend, Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, at the Pines, Putney Hill. For some time before his death he was almost totally deaf.

SYLVESTER, JOSHUA (1563-1618).--Poet and translator, is chiefly remembered by his translation from the French of Du Bartas' _Divine Weeks and Works_, which is said to have influenced Milton and Shakespeare. He seconded the _Counterblast against Tobacco_ of James I. with his _Tobacco Battered and the Pipes Shattered ... by a Volley of Holy Shot thundered from Mount Helicon_ (1620), and also wrote _All not Gold that Glitters_, _Panthea: Divine Wishes and Meditations_ (1630), and many religious, complimentary, and other occasional pieces. S., who was originally engaged in commerce, acted later as a sort of factor to the Earl of Ess.e.x.

SYMONDS, JOHN ADDINGTON (1840-1893).--Writer on art and literature, _s._ of a physician in Bristol, was _ed._ at Harrow and Oxf. His delicate health obliged him to live abroad. He _pub._ (1875-86) _History of the Italian Renaissance_, and translated the _Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini_. He also _pub._ some books of poetry, including _Many Moods_ (1878) and _Animi Figura_ (1882), and among his other publications were _Introduction to the Study of Dante_ (1872), _Studies of the Greek Poets_ (1873 and 1876), _Shakespeare's Predecessors in the English Drama_ (1884), and Lives of various poets, including Ben Jonson, Sh.e.l.ley, and Walt Whitman. He also made remarkable translations of the sonnets of Michelangelo and Campanella, and wrote upon philosophical subjects in various periodicals.

SYNGE, JOHN MILLINGTON (1871-1909).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ near Dublin, _ed._ privately and at Trinity Coll., Dublin. He wrote _Riders to the Sea_, _In the Shadow of the Glen_ (1905), _The Well of the Saints_ (1905), _The Play Boy of the Western World_ (1907), and _The Aran Islands_ (1907).

TABLEY DE, JOHN BYRON LEICESTER WARREN, 3RD LORD (1835-1895).--Poet, eldest _s._ of the 2nd Lord, _ed._ at Eton and Oxf., was for a time attached to the British Emba.s.sy at Constantinople. He wrote poems of a very high order, some of them _pub._ under the _pseudonyms_ of "George F.

Preston" and "William Lancaster." They include _Ballads and Metrical Sketches_, _The Threshold of Atrides_, _Glimpses of Antiquity_, etc.

These were followed by two dramas, _Philoctetes_ (1866) and _Orestes_ (1868). Later works in his own name were _Rehearsals_ (1870), _Searching the Net_ (1873), _The Soldier's Fortune_, a tragedy. _Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical_ (1893) included selections from former works. After his death appeared _Orpheus in Thrace_ (1901). He was a man of sensitive temperament, and was latterly much of a recluse. He was an accomplished botanist, and _pub._ a work on the _Flora of Ches.h.i.+re_.

TALFOURD, SIR THOMAS NOON (1795-1854).--Poet and biographer, _s._ of a brewer at Reading, where he was _b._, and which he represented in Parliament, 1835-41, was _ed._ at Mill Hill School. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1821, and became a Judge in 1849. He _d._ suddenly of apoplexy while charging the Grand Jury at Stafford. He wrote much for reviews, and in 1835 produced _Ion_, a tragedy, followed by _The Athenian Captive_ (1838), and _The Ma.s.sacre of Glencoe_, all of which were acted with success. T. was the friend and literary executor of Charles Lamb (_q.v._), and _pub._ in two sections his _Memoirs and Letters_. In 1837 he introduced the Copyright Bill, which was pa.s.sed with modifications in 1842.

TANNAHILL, ROBERT (1774-1810).--Poet, _b._ in Paisley where he was a weaver. In 1807 he _pub._ a small vol. of poems and songs, which met with success, and carried his. .h.i.therto local fame over his native country.

Always delicate and sensitive, a disappointment in regard to the publication of an enlarged ed. of his poems so wrought upon a lowness of spirits, to which he was subject, that he drowned himself in a ca.n.a.l. His longer pieces are now forgotten, but some of his songs have achieved a popularity only second to that of some of Burns's best. Among these are _The Braes of Balquhidder_, _Gloomy Winter's now awa'_ and _The Bonnie Wood o' Craigielea_.

TATE, NAHUM (1652-1715).--Poet, _s._ of a clergyman in Dublin, was _ed._ at Trinity Coll. there. He _pub._ _Poems on Several Occasions_ (1677), _Panacea, or a Poem on Tea_, and, in collaboration with Dryden, the second part of _Absalom and Achitophel_. He also adapted Shakespeare's _Richard II._ and _Lear_, making what he considered improvements. Thus in _Lear_ Cordelia is made to survive her _f._, and marry Edgar. This desecration, which was defended by Dr. Johnson, kept the stage till well on in the 19th century. He also wrote various miscellaneous poems, now happily forgotten. He is best remembered as the Tate of Tate and Brady's metrical version of the Psalms, _pub._ in 1696. T., who succeeded Shadwell as Poet Laureate in 1690, figures in _The Dunciad_. NICHOLAS BRADY (1659-1726).--Tate's fellow-versifier of the Psalms, _b._ at Bandon, and _ed._ at Westminster and Oxf., was inc.u.mbent of Stratford-on-Avon. He wrote a tragedy, _The Rape_, a blank verse translation of the _aeneid_, an _Ode_, and sermons, now all forgotten.

TATHAM, JOHN (_fl._ 1632-1664).--Dramatist. Little is known of him. He produced pageants for the Lord Mayor's show and some dramas, _Love Crowns the End_, _The Distracted State_, _The Scots Figgaries, or a Knot of Knaves_, _The Rump_, etc. He was a Cavalier, who hated the Puritans and the Scotch, and invented a dialect which he believed to be their vernacular tongue.

TAUTPHOEUS, BARONESS (MONTGOMERY) (1807-1893).--_Dau._ of an Irish gentleman, _m._ the Baron T., Chamberlain at the Court of Bavaria. She wrote several novels dealing with German life of which the first, _The Initials_ (1850), is perhaps the best. Others were _Cyrilla_ (1883), _Quits_ (1857), and _At Odds_ (1863).

TAYLOR, BAYARD (1825-1878).--Poet, _b._ in Pennsylvania of Quaker descent, began to write by the time he was 12. Apprenticed to a printer, he found the work uncongenial and, purchasing his indentures, went to Europe on a walking tour, and thereafter he was a constant and enterprising traveller. After his return from Europe he ed. a paper, got on the staff of the _New York Tribune_, and _pub._ several books of travel and poetry, among which are _Views Afoot_ (1846), an account of his travels in Europe, and _El Dorado_ (1850), which described the Californian gold-fields. After some experience and some disappointments in the diplomatic sphere, he settled down to novel-writing, his first venture in which, _Hannah Thurston_ (1863), was very successful, and was followed by _John G.o.dfrey's Fortunes_ (1864), partly autobiographical, and _The Story of Kenneth_ (1866). His poetic works include _Poems of the Orient_ (1854), _Poet's Journal_ (1862), _Masque of the G.o.ds_ (1872), _Lars_ (1873), _The Prophet_ (1874), a tragedy, _Prince Deucalion_, and _Home Pastorals_ (1875). In 1878 he was appointed to the German Emba.s.sy, and _d._ in Berlin in the following year. His translation of Goethe's _Faust_ is perhaps his best work. He was a man of untiring energy and great ability and versatility, but tried too many avenues to fame to advance very far in any of them.

TAYLOR, SIR HENRY (1800-1886).--Dramatist, _s._ of a gentleman farmer in the county of Durham. After being at sea for some months and in the Naval Stores Department, he became a clerk in the Colonial Office, and remained there for 48 years, during which he exercised considerable influence on the colonial policy of the Empire. In 1872 he was made K.C.M.G. He wrote four tragedies--_Isaac Comnenus_ (1827), _Philip van Artevelde_ (1834), _Edwin the Fair_ (1842), and _St. Clement's Eve_ (1862); also a romantic comedy, _The Virgin Widow_, which he renamed _A Sicilian Summer_, _The Eve of the Conquest and other Poems_ (1847). In prose he _pub._ _The Statesman_ (1836), _Notes from Life_ (1847), _Notes from Books_ (1849), and an _Autobiography_. Of all these _Philip van Artevelde_ was perhaps the most successful. T. was a man of great ability and distinction, but his dramas, with many of the qualities of good poetry, lack the final touch of genius.

TAYLOR, ISAAC (1787-1865).--Philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor, was the most eminent member of a family known as the Taylors of Ongar, which has shown a remarkable persistence of ability in various departments, but especially in art and literature. His grandfather and _f._, who bore the same name, were both eminent engravers, and the latter was the author of various books for children.

T. was brought up to the hereditary art of engraving, in which he displayed pre-eminent skill, his work gaining the admiration of D.G.

Rossetti. He decided, however, to devote himself to literature, and for 40 years continued to produce works of originality and value, including _Elements of Thought_ (1823), _Natural History of Enthusiasm_ (1829), _Spiritual Despotism_ (1831), _Ancient Christianity_ (1839), _Restoration of Belief_ (1855), _The Physical Theory of Another Life_, _History of Transmission of Ancient Books_, and _Home Education_, besides numerous contributions to reviews and other periodicals. Besides his literary and artistic accomplishments T. was an important inventor, two of his inventions having done much to develop the manufacture of calico. Two of his sisters had considerable literary reputation. ANN T., afterwards MRS.

GILBERT (1782-1866), and JANE (1783-1824) were, like their brother, taught the art of engraving. In 1804-5 they jointly wrote _Original Poems for Infant Minds_, followed by _Rhymes for the Nursery_ and _Hymns for Infant Minds_. Among those are the little poems, "My Mother" and "Twinkle, twinkle, little Star," known to all well-conditioned children.

Jane was also the author of _Display_, a tale (1815), and other works, including several hymns, of which the best known is "Lord, I would own Thy tender Care." The hereditary talents of the family were represented in the next generation by CANON ISAAC T. (1829-1901), the _s._ of Isaac last mentioned, who, in addition to _The Liturgy and the Dissenters_, _pub._ works in philology and archaeology, including _Words and Places_ and _Etruscan Researches_; and by JOSIAH GILBERT, _s._ of Ann T., an accomplished artist, and author of _The Dolomite Mountains_, _Cadore, or t.i.tian's Country_, and ed. of the _Autobiography_ of his mother.

TAYLOR, JEREMY (1613-1667).--Divine, was _b._ at Camb. His _f._, though of gentle descent, followed the trade of a barber, and Jeremy entered Caius Coll. as a sizar. After his graduation in 1634 he was asked to preach in London, where his eloquence attracted the attention of Laud, who sent him to Oxf., caused him to be elected a Fellow of All Souls Coll., and made him his chaplain. He also became a chaplain to the King, and soon attaining a great reputation as a preacher, was presented to the living of Uppingham. In 1639 he _m._ his first wife, and in 1643 he was made Rector of Overstone. On the outbreak of the Civil War T. sided with the King, and was present, probably as a chaplain, at the battle fought in 1645 near Cardigan Castle, when he was taken prisoner. He was soon released, but the Royalist cause being practically lost, he decided to remain in Wales, and with two friends started a school at Newtonhall, Caermarthens.h.i.+re, which had some success. T. also found a friend in Lord Carbery, whose chaplain he became. During the period of 13 years from 1647-60, which were pa.s.sed in seeming obscurity, he laid the foundations and raised the structure of his splendid literary fame. The _Liberty of Prophesying_ (that is, of preaching), one of the greatest pleas for toleration in the language, was _pub._ in 1647, _The Life of Christ_ in 1649, _Holy Living_ in 1650, and _Holy Dying_ in 1651. These were followed by various series of sermons, and by _The Golden Grove_ (1655), a manual of devotion which received its t.i.tle from the name of the seat of his friend Lord Carbery. For some remarks against the existing authorities T. suffered a short imprisonment, and some controversial tracts on _Original Sin_, _Unum Necessarium_ (the one thing needful), and _The Doctrine and Practice of Repentance_ involved him in a controversy of some warmth in which he was attacked by both High Churchmen and Calvinists. While in Wales T. had entered into a second marriage with a lady of some property which, however, was seriously encroached upon by the exactions of the Parliamentarians. In 1657 he ministered privately to an Episcopalian congregation in London, and in 1658 accompanied Lord Conway to Ireland, and served a cure at Lisburn. Two years later he _pub._ _Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in all her General Measures_, a learned and subtle piece of casuistry which he dedicated to Charles II. The Restoration brought recognition of T.'s unswerving devotion to the Royalist cause; he was made Bishop of Down and Connor, and to this was added the administration of the see of Dromore. In his new position, though, as might have been expected, he showed zeal, diligence, and benevolence, he was not happy. He did not, probably could not, entirely practise his own views of absolute toleration, and found himself in conflict with the Presbyterians, some of whose ministers he had extruded from benefices which they had held, and he longed to escape to a more private and peaceful position. He _d._ at Lisburn of a fever caught while ministering to a paris.h.i.+oner. T. is one of the great cla.s.sical writers of England. Learned, original, and impa.s.sioned, he had an enthusiasm for religion and charity, and his writings glow with an almost unequalled wealth of ill.u.s.tration and imagery, subtle argument, and fullness of thought. With a character of stainless purity and benevolence, and gracious and gentle manners, he was universally beloved by all who came under the spell of his presence.

TAYLOR, JOHN (1580-1653).--Known as the "Water Poet," _b._ at Gloucester of humble parentage, was apprenticed to a London waterman, and pressed for the navy. Thereafter he returned to London and resumed his occupation on the Thames, afterwards keeping inns first at Oxf., then in London. He had a talent for writing rollicking verses, enjoyed the acquaintance of Ben Jonson, and other famous men, superintended the water pageant at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 1613, and composed the "triumphs" at the Lord Mayor's shows. He made a journey on foot from London as far as to Braemar, of which he wrote an account, _The Pennyless Pilgrimage ...

of John Taylor_, _the King's Majesty's Water Poet_ (1618). He visited the Queen of Bohemia at Prague in 1620, and made other journeys, each of which was commemorated in a book. His writings are of little literary value, but have considerable historical and antiquarian interest.

TAYLOR, PHILIP MEADOWS (1808-1876).--Novelist, _b._ at Liverpool, _s._ of a merchant there. When still a boy went out to a mercantile situation in Calcutta, but in 1826 got a commission in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. From this he rose to a high civil position in the service of the Nizam, and entirely reorganised his government. He wrote several striking novels dealing with Indian life, including _Confessions of a Thug_ (1639), _Tara_, and _A n.o.ble Queen_. He left an autobiography, _The Story of my Life_, ed. by his _dau._

TAYLOR, THOMAS (1758-1835).--Translator, _b._ in London and _ed._ at St.

Paul's School, devoted himself to the study of the cla.s.sics and of mathematics. After being a bank clerk he was appointed a.s.sistant Secretary to the Society for the encouragement of Arts, etc., in which capacity he made many influential friends, who furnished the means for publis.h.i.+ng his various translations, which include works of Plato, Aristotle, Proclus, Porphyry, Apuleius, etc. His aim indeed was the translation of all the untranslated writings of the ancient Greek philosophers.

TAYLOR, TOM (1817-1880).--Dramatist, _b._ at Sunderland, _ed._ at Glasgow and Camb., and was Prof. of English Literature in London Univ. from 1845-47. In 1846 he was called to the Bar, and from 1854-71 he was Sec.

to the Local Government Board. He was the author of about 100 dramatic pieces, original and adapted, including _Still Waters run Deep_, _The Overland Route_, and _Joan of Arc_. He was likewise a large contributor to _Punch_, of which he was ed. 1874-80, and he ed. the autobiographies of Haydon and Leslie, the painters, and wrote _Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds_.

TAYLOR, WILLIAM (1765-1836).--Translator, etc., _s._ of a merchant, travelled on the Continent, learned German, and became an enthusiastic student of German literature, which he was one of the first to introduce to his fellow-countrymen. His articles on the subject were _coll._ and _pub._ as _Historic Survey of German Poetry_ (1828-30). He translated Burger's _Lenore_, Lessing's _Nathan_, and Goethe's _Iphigenia_. He also wrote _Tales of Yore_ (1810) and _English Synonyms Described_ (1813).

TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM (1628-1699).--Statesman and essayist, _s._ of Sir John T., Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Camb. He travelled on the Continent, was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament, employed on various diplomatic missions, and negotiated the marriage of the Prince of Orange and the Princess Mary. On his return he was much consulted by Charles II., but disapproving of the courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen, which he afterwards left and purchased Moor Park, where Swift was for a time his sec. He took no part in the Revolution, but acquiesced in the new _regime_, and was offered, but refused, the Secretarys.h.i.+p of State. His works consist for the most part of short essays _coll._ under the t.i.tle of _Miscellanea_, but longer pieces are _Observations upon the United Provinces_, and _Essay on the Original and Nature of Government_. Apart from their immediate interest they mark a transition to the simpler, more concise, and more carefully arranged sentences of modern composition.

TENNANT, WILLIAM (1784-1848).--Poet and scholar, a cripple from his birth, was _b._ at Anstruther (commonly called Anster) in Fife. As a youth he was clerk to his brother, a corn-merchant, but devoted his leisure to the study of languages, and the literature of various countries. In 1813 he became parish schoolmaster of La.s.swade, near Edinburgh, thereafter cla.s.sical master at Dollar Academy, and in 1835 Prof. of Oriental Languages at St. Andrews. In 1812 he _pub._ _Anster Fair_, a mock-heroic poem, in _ottava rima_, full of fancy and humour, which at once brought him reputation. In later life he produced two tragedies, _Cardinal Beaton_ and _John Baliol_, and two poems, _The Thane of Fife_ and _Papistry Stormed_. He also issued a _Syriac and Chaldee Grammar_.

TENNYSON, ALFRED, 1ST LORD (1809-1892).--Poet, was the fourth _s._ of George T., Rector of Somersby, Lincolns.h.i.+re, where he was _b._ His _f._ was himself a poet of some skill, and his two elder brothers, Frederick T. (_q.v._) and Charles T. Turner (_q.v._), were poets of a high order.

His early education was received from his _f._, after which he went to the Grammar School of Louth, whence in 1828 he proceeded to Trinity Coll., Camb. In the previous year had appeared a small vol., _Poems by Two Brothers_, chiefly the work of his brother Charles and himself, with a few contributions from Frederick, but it attracted little attention. At the Univ. he was one of a group of highly gifted men, including Trench (_q.v._), Monckton Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton (_q.v._), Alford (_q.v._), Lus.h.i.+ngton, his future brother-in-law, and above all, Arthur Hallam, whose friends.h.i.+p and early death were to be the inspiration of his greatest poem. In 1829 he won the Chancellor's medal by a poem on _Timbuctoo_, and in the following year he brought out his first independent work, _Poems chiefly Lyrical_. It was not in general very favourably received by the critics, though Wilson in _Blackwood's Magazine_ admitted much promise and even performance. In America it had greater popularity. Part of 1832 was spent in travel with Hallam, and the same year saw the publication of _Poems_, which had not much greater success than its predecessor. In the next year Hallam _d._, and T. began _In Memoriam_ and wrote _The Two Voices_. He also became engaged to Emily Sellwood, his future wife, but owing to various circ.u.mstances their marriage did not take place until 1850. The next few years were pa.s.sed with his family at various places, and, so far as the public were concerned, he remained silent until 1842, when he _pub._ _Poems_ in two volumes, and at last achieved full recognition as a great poet. From this time the life of T. is a record of tranquil triumph in his art and of the conquest of fame; and the publication of his successive works became almost the only events which mark his history. _The Princess_ appearing in 1847 added materially to his reputation: in the lyrics with which it is interspersed, such as "The Splendour Falls" and "Tears, idle Tears" he rises to the full mastery of this branch of his art. The year 1850 was perhaps the most eventful in his life, for in it took place his marriage which, as he said, "brought the peace of G.o.d into his life," his succession to the Laureates.h.i.+p on the death of Wordsworth, and the publication of his greatest poem, _In Memoriam_. In 1852 appeared his n.o.ble _Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington_; and two years later _The Charge of the Light Brigade_. The publication of _Maud_ in 1855 gave his rapidly growing popularity a perceptible set-back, though it has since risen in favour. But this was far more than made up for by the enthusiasm with which the first set of _The Idylls of the King_ was received on its appearance four years later. _Enoch Arden_, with the _Northern Farmer_, came out in 1864; _The Holy Grail_ and _Gareth and Lynette_, both belonging to the _Idyll_ series, in 1869 and 1872 respectively. Three years later in 1875 T. broke new ground by beginning a series of dramas with _Queen Mary_, followed by _Harold_ (1876), _The Falcon_ (1879), _The Cup_ (1881), _The Promise of May_ (1882), _Becket_ (1884), and _Robin Hood_ (1891). His later poems were _The Lovers' Tale_ (1879) (an early work retouched), _Tiresias_ (1885), _Locksley Hall--60 Years after_ (1886), _Demeter and other Poems_ (1889), including "Crossing the Bar," and _The Death of Oenone_ (1892). T., who cared little for general society, though he had many intimate and devoted friends, lived at Farringford, Isle of Wight, from 1853-69, when he built a house at Aldworth, near Haslemere, which was his home until his death.

In 1884 he was raised to the peerage. Until he had pa.s.sed the threescore years and ten he had, with occasional illnesses, enjoyed good health on the whole. But in 1886 the younger of his two sons _d._, a blow which told heavily upon him; thereafter frequent attacks of illness followed, and he _d._ on October 6, 1892, in his 84th year, and received a public funeral in Westminster Abbey.

The poetry of T. is characterised by a wide outlook, by intense sympathy with the deepest feelings and aspirations of humanity, a profound realisation of the problems of life and thought, a n.o.ble patriotism finding utterance in such poems as _The Revenge_, the _Charge of the Light Brigade_, and the _Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington_, an exquisite sense of beauty, marvellous power of vivid and minute description often achieved by a single felicitous phrase, and often heightened by the perfect matching of sense and sound, and a general loftiness and purity of tone. No poet has excelled him in precision and delicacy of language and completeness of expression. As a lyrist he has, perhaps, no superiors, and only two or three equals in English poetry, and even of humour he possessed no small share, as is shown in the _Northern Farmer_ and in other pieces. When the volume, variety, finish, and duration of his work are considered, as well as the influence which he exercised on his time, a unique place must be a.s.signed him among the poets of his country.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1809, _ed._ Camb., _Poems by Two Brothers_ 1827, _Poems chiefly Lyrical_ 1830, his chief works _Poems in two Volumes_ 1842, _Princess_ 1847, _In Memoriam_ 1850, _Maud_ 1855, _Idylls of the King_ 1869-72, Poet Laureate 1850, _d._ 1892.

_Life_ by his _s._ (2 vols., 1897). There are also numerous books, biographical and critical, by, among others, W.E. Wace (1881), A.C.

Benson, A. Lang, F. Harrison, Sir A. Lyell, C.F.G. Masterman (T. as a Religious Teacher), Stopford Brooke, Waugh, etc.

TENNYSON, FREDERICK (1807-1898).--Poet, was the eldest _s._ of the Rector of Somersby, Lincolns.h.i.+re, and brother of Alfred T. (_q.v._). _Ed._ at Eton and Camb., he pa.s.sed most of his life in Italy and Jersey. He contributed to the _Poems by Two Brothers_, and produced _Days and Hours_ (lyrics) (1854), _The Isles of Greece_ (1890), _Daphne_ (1891), and _Poems of the Day and Night_ (1895). All his works show pa.s.sages of genuine poetic power.

TENNYSON TURNER, CHARLES (1808-1879).--Poet, elder brother of Alfred T.

(_q.v._), _ed._ at Camb., entered the Church, and became Vicar of Grasby, Lincolns.h.i.+re. The name of Turner he a.s.sumed in conformity with the will of a relation. He contributed to _Poems by Two Brothers_, and was the author of 340 sonnets, which were greatly admired by such critics as Coleridge, Palgrave, and his brother Alfred.

THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811-1863).--Novelist, _s._ of Richmond T., who held various important appointments in the service of the East India Company, and who belonged to an old and respectable Yorks.h.i.+re family, was _b._ at Calcutta, and soon after the death of his _f._, which took place in 1816, sent home to England. After being at a school at Chiswick, he was sent to the Charterhouse School, where he remained from 1822-26, and where he does not appear to have been very happy. Meanwhile in 1818 his mother had _m._ Major H.W.C. Smythe, who is believed to be, in part at any rate, the original of Colonel Newcome. In 1829 he went to Trinity Coll., Camb., where he remained for a year only, and where he did not distinguish himself particularly as a student, but made many life-long friends, including Spedding (_q.v._), Tennyson, Fitzgerald (_q.v._), and Monckton Milnes (_see_ Houghton), and contributed verses and caricatures to two Univ. papers, "The Sn.o.b" and "The Gownsman." The following year, 1831, was spent chiefly in travelling on the Continent, especially Germany, when, at Weimar, he visited Goethe. Returning he entered the Middle Temple, but having no liking for legal studies, he soon abandoned them, and turning his attention to journalism, became proprietor, wholly or in part, of two papers successively, both of which failed. These enterprises, together with some unfortunate investments and also, it would seem, play, stripped him of the comfortable fortune, which he had inherited; and he now found himself dependent on his own exertions for a living. He thought at first of art as a profession, and studied for a time at Paris and Rome. In 1836, while acting as Paris correspondent for the second of his journals, he _m._ Isabella, _dau._ of Colonel Shawe, an Irish officer, and the next year he returned to England and became a contributor to _Fraser's Magazine_, in which appeared _The Yellowplush Papers_, _The Great Hoggarty Diamond_, _Catherine_, and _Barry Lyndon_, the history of an Irish sharper, which contains some of his best work.