was not by any means a success. In 1831 Tennyson left Cambridge, without
taking his degree, and shortly after his return home his father died.
The family, however, did not remove from Somersby, but remained there
until 1837. Late in 1832 appeared another volume entitled _Poems by
Alfred Tennyson_. This drew upon the unfortunate author a bitterly
sarcastic article in the _Quarterly_, written probably by its brilliant
editor, John Gibson Lockhart. The result of this article was that
Tennyson was silent for almost ten years, a period spent in ridding
himself of the weaknesses so brutally pointed out by the reviewer.

In 1833, Arthur Henry Hallam died, and for a time the light of life
seemed to have gone out for Alfred Tennyson. The effect of the death of
Hallam upon the poet was extraordinary. It seemed to have changed the
whole current of his life; indeed he is said, under the strain of the
awful suddeness and unexpectedness of the event, to have contemplated
suicide. But saner thoughts intervened, and he again took up the burden
of life, with the determination to do what he could in helping others.
From this time of storm and stress came _In Memoriam_.

From 1832 to 1842 Tennyson spent a roving life. Now at home, now in
London, now with his friends in various parts of England. He was
spending his time in finishing his poems, so that when he again came
before the world with a volume, he would be a master. The circle of his
friends was widening, and now included the greater number of the
master-minds of England. He was poor, so poor in fact that he was
reduced to the necessity of borrowing the books he wished to read from
his friends. But during all this time he never wavered in his allegiance
to poetry; he had determined to be a poet, and to devote his life to
poetry. At last in 1842 he published his _Poems_ in two volumes, and the
world was conquered. From this time onwards he was recognized as the