Poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Charge of the Light Brigade," Crimean War, & Russia's sale of Alaska - "Seward's Folly"

American Minute ^ | August 6, 2020 | Bill Federer

[Perseverando]

Camelot and King Arthur's Court, Knights of the Round Table, Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and the search for the Holy Grail ...

(The Holy Grail was Jesus' cup at the Last Supper.)

Our imaginations soar with history and legend immortalized in "Idylls of the King," written 1859-85 by poet Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Alfred Lord Tennyson embellished the medieval legend of the Lady of the Lake who gave the sword Excalibur to the courageous young King Arthur.

Scenes of this were portrayed in Disney's 1963 animated musical fantasy movie, The Sword in the Stone.

Born AUGUST 6, 1809, Alfred Lord Tennyson was the son of an Anglican clergyman.

As a young poet, Tennyson came to the attention of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

Samuel Taylor Coleridge had written in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," 1798:

"He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small;  For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all."

In 1850, Tennyson married Emily Sellwood, to whom he had been engaged for a long time. He wrote:

"The peace of God came into my life before the altar when I wedded her."

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote:

"Bible reading is an education in itself."

Tennyson wrote in "Maud," 1855, part II, sec. iv, st. 3:

"Oh, Christ, that it were possible, For one short hour to see, The souls we loved, that they might tell us, What and where they be."

Tennyson's "In Memoriam," 1850, chapter XXVII, stanza 4, has the line:

"'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all."

Tennyson wrote "In Memoriam," 1850, chapter XXXI:

"When Lazarus left his charnel-cave, And home to Mary's house returned, Was this demanded-if he yearned

[Perseverando]

American History, American Minute Time for another great American (and world) history lesson from American Minute.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[BenLurkin]

Recommended: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2446057.The_Gallant_Six_Hundred_A_Tragedy_Of_Obsessions

[dainbramaged]

The Alaska State Museum in Juneau has Seward’s desk and the canceled check for the purchase of Alaska from the Russians.

[ClearCase_guy]

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame:
And down the wave and in the flame was borne
A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet,
Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried "The King!
Here is an heir for Uther!"

-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in Idylls of the King, The Coming of Arthur

[BEJ]

I remember having to memorize that poem... do they even do that anymore?

[the_Watchman]

Kipling’s “The gods of the copybook headings” is over 100 years old and it is as relevant as ever.

Copybooks were used by young students to learn how to write. There would be short saying at the top of each page which the student would copy multiple times in order to practice penmanship. They were also being introduced to the wisdom of the ages. Example sayings might be: “He who dances must pay the fiddler.” and “He who pays the fiddler calls the tune.”

The poem laments that throughout the ages, people ignore wisdom leading to their own demise.

[Shark24]

Love all. But as a military guy, I’ve told my students that we only need one “Charge of the Light Brigade” every two thousand years or so to inspire us. Patton is a better example for execution of war.