Moderators: Saul Kent and Helene D. Lambert
Time: Mondays, 10:00 am–noon
Place: Amherst College, Converse Hall, Porter Lounge, 100 Boltwood Avenue, Amherst
Parking: You will be issued an Amherst campus parking permit
The purpose of this seminar is to examine Tennyson’s life and work, including his critical rise and fall, in the context of his time and ours.
We will read and report on Tennyson’s life, times, work, and critical reputation, then and now. For example, what are the influences on him of Keats, Shelley, Coleridge and Wordsworth? How does his poetry influence Browning, Christina Rosetti, Swinburne, Wilde, the war poets and T.S. Eliot? Is he still an important voice today?
Format: Seminar
Role of participants: Participants will present selected poems or aspects of Tennyson’s life and his times. We will read the poetry aloud together and discuss it.
Number of participants (including the moderators): 16
Resources: Ricks, Christopher. Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Selected Poems. Penguin Classics, paperback. Available at Amazon and several copies in the local library system.
The moderators: Saul is a retired English teacher and principal who is interested in Victoriana. Helene is a long-time LIR member, and former librarian.