Richard Holmes
The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes charts Tennyson’s early years until he became poet laureate. The biography captures Tennyson’s loneliness and feelings of isolation during his early years and the crisis of faith he experienced in his later years. Tennyson is described as a tall, handsome, imposing figure, unkempt, with a scruffy beard, enveloped in smelly tobacco smoke, and sporting his signature black Spanish coat and sombrero.
Holmes portrays the early Tennyson as a conflicted individual struggling to reconcile his faith with new scientific discoveries. His early adult years coincided with rigorous debates about the emerging theories of evolution and the discoveries in geology and astronomy. Tennyson read heavily the works of geologists and astronomers and was an avid astronomer, incorporating cosmic imagery in many of his poems. He questioned humanity’s role and importance in a universe that pre-dated the existence of human beings by millions of years. Holmes explores how Tennyson’s crisis of faith is reflected in his poetry. He explicates Tennyson’s poems, showing how the theories of evolution and scientific discoveries of the day influenced his thinking and his writing. His marriage and the birth of his two sons brought stability to his life.
The biography is well-researched and engaging. Holmes covers a wealth of information about Tennyson’s early years. He describes his friendships with leading political figures, authors, artists, and scientists of the day. He analyzes the diction, rhyme, and meter of some of Tennyson’s poems. He cites excerpts from what others have written about him, as well as the critical reception his poetry received. Extensive notes, bibliography, index, and color plates are included.
Holmes masterful biography vividly breathes life into one of the giants of English literature. The young Tennyson emerges as a flesh and blood figure, reserved, solitary, prone to fits of melancholy, plagued with existential anxieties, and thoroughly brilliant. He had the capacity to channel these qualities into some of the most beautiful poetry in English literature.