did not take place until 1850. The next few years
were passed 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 God into his life,”
his succession to the Laureateship on the death of
Wordsworth, and the publication of his greatest poem,
In Memoriam. In 1852 appeared his noble
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 passed 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.