Tennyson - Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

British poet. Along with Robert Browning, he is one of the most important figures in Victorian English poetry. Born on August 6, 1809, in a parsonage in Somersby, Lincolnshire. He was the fourth child of 12 children, eight boys and four girls. His father, the Reverend Dr. George Clayton Tennyson, was a man of culture and learning who also wrote poetry, but Tennyson was very dissatisfied with his father's decision to make his brother his heir instead of him, and Tennyson took the priesthood against his will, and he gradually became depressed both in mind and in life. His kind and pious mother, Elizabeth Fitch, suffered from her husband's actions. This family environment, combined with the psychopathy that had been passed down in the Tennyson family, cast a large shadow over his mind in his youth. It is said that all of his brothers wrote poetry, and in 1827 he and his brother Charles published "Poems by Two Brothers," but in fact it also included works by his brother Frederick. He studied at Cambridge University from 1828, where he met Arthur Henry Hallam (1811-1833), who became his best friend and traveled with him to the European continent. Hallam became engaged to Tennyson's sister Emily in 1831, but he died suddenly in Vienna in 1833, and it is well known that this was the impetus for him to write his masterpiece, In Memoriam.

Despite early expectations, his collections of poems published in 1830 and 1832 were not well received, and after a decade of silence, his first collection of poems in 1842 finally established his reputation. Earlier, in 1838, he was engaged to Emily Selwood, but for financial and other reasons called it off. After The Princess (1847) and In Memoriam (1850), he was financially successful and finally married her in 1850. This marked the end of his difficult period, and in the same year he was appointed Poet Laureate, succeeding Wordsworth. Maud (1855) was somewhat unpopular, but Idylls of the King (1859), which dealt with the Arthurian legend, was a great success. From this point on, he received great fame and the highest honors as a poet, and in 1883 he was made a baron by Queen Victoria. Enoch Arden (1864) was also a highly acclaimed poet. He continued to publish collections of poetry until the end of his life, such as Folk Songs (1880), Tiresias (1885), Demeter (1889), and The Death of Oenone (1892). He also wrote plays such as Queen Mary (1875), Harold (1876), and Becket (1884), some of which were successfully performed. Having achieved such success, he died on 6 October 1892, aged 83, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

[Motoi Toda]

"Enoch Arden" translated by Naosuke Irie (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Tennyson's New Poems" translated by Itsuo Miura (1967, Nihon Bungeisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの詩人。ロバート・ブラウニングとともにビクトリア朝のイギリス詩を代表する人物。1809年8月6日、リンカーンシャー、サマズビーの牧師館で生まれる。男8人女4人計12人のうちの4番目の子であった。父の牧師ジョージ・クレイトン・テニソン博士は教養も学問もある人で詩も書いたが、父が自分を差し置いて弟を相続人とし、テニソンは意に反して聖職についたことで大きな不満を抱いており、心も生活もしだいにすさんでいった。優しく敬虔(けいけん)な母親エリザベス・フイッチは夫の所業に苦しんだ。このような家庭環境のうえに元来テニソン家に伝わる精神病質が加わって、若いころの彼の心に大きな影を投げかけた。彼の兄弟はすべて詩をつくったといわれ、1827年に兄チャールズと『二人兄弟の詩集』を出版したが、実際には兄フレデリックの作品も含まれている。1828年からケンブリッジ大学に学び、そこでA・H・ハラムArthur Henry Hallam（1811―1833）と知り合い、無二の親友となり、ともにヨーロッパ大陸を旅行した。ハラムは1831年テニソンの妹エミリーと婚約したが1833年にウィーンで急死し、これが大作『イン・メモリアム』執筆の契機となったことはよく知られている。

　早くからの周囲の期待にもかかわらず、1830年と1832年に発表した詩集はあまり評判にならず、その後10年間の沈黙を強いられたのち、1842年の詩集によって初めて世評が確立した。これより前の1838年にエミリー・セルウッドと婚約したが財政上その他の理由で中断し、『王女』（1847）のあと『イン・メモリアム』（1850）で成功を収め、財政的にも立ち直ったあと、ようやく1850年に結婚した。ここで彼の半生にわたる苦難の時代が終わり、同年ワーズワースの後を受けて桂冠(けいかん)詩人に任命された。1855年の『モード』はやや不評であったが、アーサー王伝説を扱った『国王牧歌』（1859）は大成功で、これ以後、詩人としてすばらしい名声と最高の栄誉を受けることとなり、1883年にはビクトリア女王から男爵の位を授けられた。詩としては『イノック・アーデン』（1864）も高評を博した。その後『民謡詩集』（1880）、『ティレシアス』（1885）、『デーメーテール』（1889）、『オイノーネの死』（1892）というように、晩年に至るまで詩集の発表を続けた。このほか『女王メアリ』（1875）、『ハロルド』（1876）、『ベケット』（1884）などの劇を書き、そのいくつかは成功裏に上演された。このように功成り名遂げて1892年10月6日83歳で亡くなり、ウェストミンスター寺院に葬られた。

［戸田　基］

『入江直祐訳『イノック・アーデン』（岩波文庫）』▽『三浦逸雄訳『テニソン新詩集』（1967・日本文芸社）』

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