The Artistry and Tradition of Tennyson's Battle Poetry

Book excerpt: Many readers are aware of Alfred Tennyson's treatment of legendary battles in such poems as Boadicea, The Revenge, Battle of Brunanburh, and Achilles over the Trench. Yet among Tennyson's most neglected works are his first battle poems, pieces that reflect the poet's immersion in the literature of the heroic age. J. Timothy Lovelace argues that Tennyson's war poems reflect image patterns of the Illiad and Aeneid , and reinvigorate the heroic ethos that informs these and other ancient texts. Highlighting the heroic aspects of Maud and the Idylls of the King , this book shows that Tennyson's early grounding in the Homeric tradition greatly influenced his later, celebrated work on martial subjects.