 Dear learners, I am Chanika Roy from Krishnakanta Handik State Open University. Welcome to the first part of the video lecture on the poem, Tears, Ideal Tears, written by Lord Alfred Tennyson. This poem is included in block one of the general English course of first semester. Before discussing the poem, it is important to know about the point Tennyson. So let us look at the objective of this video. To get an idea of the life led by Tennyson and to identify the major works written by him. Tennyson is considered to be a representative of the Victorian age. You may be interested to know that the Victorian age or era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from the year 1837 till 1901, the year she died. Tennyson was born on 6th of August 1809 in Lincolnshire. He spent his childhood amidst comparative poverty and had his early education under the guidance of his father. In 1828 he entered the Trinity College under Cambridge and spent three years there. It must be noted that while at Cambridge he met Arthur Hallam and there developed a close friendship between the two. Tennyson was very sad for the premature death of his friend Arthur and he later immortalized him through one of his poems titled in Memoriam. Tennyson strikes a note of sadness as is evident in his poems. This was perhaps because of two main reasons. Firstly, his personal experiences and secondly, the Industrial Revolution. On his personal front Tennyson had an alcoholic father and two of his brothers were also insane. Thus familiarizing him with bouts of depression, mental illness, poverty and other troubles. Secondly, the social and industrial changes taking place in the Victorian era disturbed him greatly. Tennyson was a voracious reader that is he read widely and was well aware of the latest developments in intellectual fields. He had the ability to debate and discuss contemporary beliefs like the conflict between religious beliefs and ideas like Darwinism and natural selection. He succeeded William Wordsworth as the poet laureate in the year 1850. Tennyson died or you can say Tennyson breathed his last in the year 1892. With regard to the works of Tennyson, you must note that in 1827 he published an early collection of poems titled Poems by Two Brothers which includes works by his brothers Frederick and Charles. Three years later in the year 1830 his collection titled Poems chiefly lyrical appeared introducing him as a poet capable of describing and reflecting on the external nature as well as exploring the landscape of the inner mind. The next collection was titled Poems and was published in December 1832. His volume however was severely criticised and this led Tennyson to stop publishing a list for the next ten years and this ten years in which he has produced not a single publication is known as the Ten Years Silence and it was marked by his loss of direction and emotional instability. During this period he also suffered a great shock at the untimely death of his dear friend Arthur Hallam significantly in 1842 breaking his silence. Alfred Lord Tennyson finally published the collection titled Poems in two volumes. Some of the poems that appeared in volume one are the Lady of Shallot and the Lotus Eater. Volume two contained newly composed poems such as Locke's Lay Hall, Ulysses etc. In 1847 Tennyson published the Princes Amedley in which the poem Tears Ideal Tears has been included. This particular volume it consisted of a prologue, a conclusion and seven parts. It included other notable songs like Sweet and Low, Sweet and Low, The Splendour Falls on Castle Walls etc. The most important and notable work of Tennyson's poetic career is however the immortal poem in Memoriam which was written as an elegy on the death of his friend Arthur Hallam and published in the year 1850. An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. It was written in 132 short connected lyrics. It is interesting to know that the poem was published anonymously and people did not recognize it as Tennyson's work. Though some verses were written soon after his frame's death in 1833, the poet added new verses to the poem at intervals. You may be interested to know that the title was suggested by Amedley Selwood, his future wife. Besides this philosophical poem and the masterly, the Princes, Tennyson wrote many poems on some contemporary happenings, poems like Ode of the Death of the Duke of Wellington, Charge of the Light Brickie which is perhaps the most popular English patriotic poems and then the poem titled Mod which is another memorable poem by Tennyson. It is a dramatic monologue, a characteristic Victorian poetic form which we are going to discuss in part 3 of the video lecture series. This poem has 3 parts and it deals with a wide range of themes such as love, madness, war, social justice and equality. Ideals of the King is a series of poems on the popular stories of King Arthur written in a loose epic form. By now you must have got an idea that Tennyson wrote on a great range of subjects. I hope this video lecture has given you a glimpse into the life and works of Lord Alfred Tennyson and you shall be able to appreciate him or his works in a better way. In the next video, that is part 2 on this topic, we shall deal with the poem, Tears Ideal Tears in a Detailed Manor. Thank you for watching this video.