Letters:
Tennyson to Roden Noel, 13 Feb. 1887
Tennyson to Sir Edwin Arnold, 25 March 1891
Description and Transcriptions:
by Mackenzie Sarna
In the first letter, Tennyson congratulates poet and essayist Roden Noel on his recently published volume (probably his edition of The Poems of Edmund Spenser). Tennyson mentions “Metricalism,” most likely referring to the nineteenth-century movement that emphasized the form of poetry over its content. The second letter, from Tennyson to poet and journalist Sir Edwin Arnold, mentions two volumes of Arnold’s poetry, The Light of Asia andThe Light of the World. These collections present versified accounts of the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and Jesus Christ, respectively. This letter is particularly interesting in light of the centrality of Eastern religion to some of Tennyson’s later poems, including “Akbar’s Dream” (1892).
Sarna-Tennyson to Roden Noel-Transcription
Sarna-Tennyson to Sir Edwin Arnold-Transcription
 |
|
 |
 |