Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Lord Tennyson

1 7.9
English poet in Queen Victoria's time who wrote famous poems like The Charge of the Light Brigade
  • proper noun
: Alfred Lord Tennyson
  • Did you know Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'?

Examples

  • Queen Victoria appointed Alfred Lord Tennyson as Poet Laureate in 1850.

  • The poem 'The Lady of Shalott' was written by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

  • Many students study Alfred Lord Tennyson when learning about Victorian literature.

  • Many consider Alfred Lord Tennyson one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era.

  • Many students study Alfred Lord Tennyson when learning about Victorian literature.

  • Queen Victoria appointed Alfred Lord Tennyson as Poet Laureate in 1850.

  • The poem 'The Lady of Shalott' was written by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Synonyms

Tennyson
vsAlfred Lord Tennyson
  • Literature
9 8.4

A famous English poet of the Victorian era known for In Memoriam and The Charge of the Light Brigade

emphasizes the official national appointment as Poet Laureate rather than critical fame
Alfred Tennyson
vsAlfred Lord Tennyson
2 7.6

An English poet of the 1800s who was the official poet for Queen Victoria

states the exact national title as Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland

Surface Forms

Alfred Lord Tennyson main

Morphology

Alfred + Lord + Tennyson

This is a proper name rather than a compositional phrase: knowing 'Alfred', 'Lord' and 'Tennyson' lets a learner infer it refers to a person (and that 'Lord' is a title) but does not allow them to derive the specific biographical meaning (Victorian English poet and Poet Laureate). The identity and cultural/historical information are lexicalized and cannot be predicted from the constituents alone, so the expression is not transparently interpretable by a B1 learner.

Etymology

Alfred Lord Tennyson is the full name of the famous English poet Alfred Tennyson, who was later given the title 'Lord' and served as 'Poet Laureate' for Queen Victoria. He wrote well-known Victorian poems like 'In Memoriam' and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', so the name now points to that important 19th-century poet.