Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson was one of the true great Victorian poets - much of his work is known throughout the world: 'Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die' 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' His genius is expressed through the precision and delicacy of the language of his lyrical poems. Some of his words were engraved in the 2012 Olympic village and his early poetry was a major influence on and inspiration for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Tennyson initially declined a baronetcy - indeed, he wrote a substantial amount of unoffical political poetry. To this day, he remains one of Britain's most popular poets. 'No man ever got very high by pulling other people down... Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself' Tennyson