30 Prodigious Alfred Tennyson Quotes

Last updated on Aug 12th, 2023

30 Prodigious Alfred Tennyson Quotes

Alfred Tennyson (born August 6, 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England – died October 6, 1892, Lurgashall, Sussex, England), also known as Alfred Lord Tennyson, was one of the leading poets of the Victorian era.

As a gifted poet, Tennyson wrote many great works. Some of them include Ulysses (written 1833, published 1842), Break, Break, Break (written 1835, published 1842), Tears, Idle Tears (1847), In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854), Idylls of the King (1859 – 1885), Tithonus (written 1833, published 1860), and Crossing the Bar (1889).

Queen Victoria’s poet laureate, from 1850 until his death, Tennyson is still one of the most popular English poets.

'T is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. - Alfred Tennyson (In Memoriam A.H.H. Quotes)
1

‘T is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.In Memoriam A.H.H. (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1950), Canto XXVII, Page 44

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. - Alfred Tennyson (Ulysses Quotes)
2

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.Ulysses (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 91

Sin is too dull to see beyond himself. - Alfred Tennyson (Queen Mary Quotes)
3

Sin is too dull to see beyond himself.Queen Mary (Henry S. King & Co., ed. 1875), Page 251

Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die. - Alfred Tennyson (The Charge of the Light Brigade Quotes)
4

Their’s not to reason why, their’s but to do and die.The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854); in Maud, and Other Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1855), Page 151

I am a part of all that I have met. - Alfred Tennyson (Ulysses Quotes)
5

I am a part of all that I have met.Ulysses (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 89

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. - Alfred Tennyson (Locksley Hall Quotes)
6

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.Locksley Hall (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 106

A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies. - Alfred Tennyson (The Grandmother Quotes)
7

A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.The Grandmother (1864); in Enoch Arden and Other Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1864), Page 118

Better not be at all than not be noble. - Alfred Tennyson (The Princess; A Medley Quotes)
8

Better not be at all than not be noble.The Princess: A Medley (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1847), Page 34

Who are wise in love, love most, say least. - Alfred Tennyson (Idylls of the King Quotes)
9

Who are wise in love, love most, say least.Merlin and Vivien (1859); in Idylls of the King (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., ed. 1891), Page 154

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. - Alfred Tennyson (Ulysses Quotes)
10

‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Ulysses (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 90

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come whispering 'it will be happier.' - Alfred Tennyson (The Foresters or, Robin Hood and Maid Marian Quotes)
11

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come whispering ‘it will be happier.’The Foresters or, Robin Hood and Maid Marian (1892), (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1892), Page 33

Authority forgets a dying king. - Alfred Tennyson (Morte D'Arthur Quotes)
12

Authority forgets a dying king.Morte D'Arthur (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 9

Man dreams of Fame while woman wakes to love. - Alfred Tennyson (The Idylls of the King Quotes)
13

Man dreams of Fame while woman wakes to love.Merlin and Vivien (1859); in Idylls of the King (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., ed. 1891), Page 162

Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last. - Alfred Tennyson (Locksley Hall Sixtry Years After Quotes)
14

Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last.Locksley Hall Sixtry Years After (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1886), Page 16

A smile abroad is often a scowl at home. - Alfred Tennyson (Queen Mary Quotes)
15

A smile abroad is oft a scowl at home.Queen Mary (Henry S. King & Co., ed. 1875), Page 108

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Nature, red in tooth and claw. - Alfred Tennyson (In Memoriam A.H.H. Quotes)
16

Nature, red in tooth and claw.In Memoriam A.H.H. (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1950), Canto LV, Page 80

My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure. - Alfred Tennyson (Sir Galahad Quotes)
17

My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.Sir Galahad (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 174

By blood a king, in heart a clown. - Alfred Tennyson (In Memoriam A.H.H. Quotes)
18

By blood a king, at heart a clown.In Memoriam A.H.H. (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1950), Canto CIX, Page 171

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees. - Alfred Tennyson (Ulysses Quotes)
19

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees.Ulysses (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 88

Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams? - Alfred Tennyson (The Higher Pantheism Quotes)
20

Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?The Higher Pantheism (1867); in The Holy Grail and Other Poems (Strahan & Co., 1870), Page 201

Too much wit Makes the world rotten. - Alfred Tennyson (The Idylls of the King Quotes)
21

Too much wit makes the world rotten.The Last Tournament (1971); in Idylls of the King (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., ed. 1891), Page 295

The old order changeth, yielding place to new. - Alfred Tennyson (Morte D'Arthur Quotes)
22

The old order changeth, yielding place to new.Morte D'Arthur (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 15

Words, like Nature, half reveal and half conceal the Soul within. - Alfred Tennyson (In Memoriam A.H.H. Quotes)
23

Words, like Nature, half reveal and half conceal the Soul within.In Memoriam A.H.H. (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1950), Canto V, Page 5

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! As tho' to breathe were life. - Alfred Tennyson (Ulysses Quotes)
24

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life.Ulysses (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 89

For man is man and master of his fate. - Alfred Tennyson (The Idylls of the King Quotes)
25

For man is man and master of his fate.Geraint and Enid (1859); in Idylls of the King (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., ed. 1891), Page 94

Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, the people said, a weed. - Alfred Tennyson (The Flower Quotes)
26

Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, the people said, a weed.The Flower (1842); in Enoch Arden and Other Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1864), Page 152

The shell must break before the bird can fly. - Alfred Tennyson (The Ancient Sage Quotes)
27

The shell must break before the bird can fly.The Ancient Sage (1885); in Tiresias and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1885), Page 63

Men at most differ as Heaven and earth, but women, worst and best, as Heaven and Hell. - Alfred Tennyson (The Idylls of the King Quotes)
28

Men at most differ as Heaven and earth, but women, worst and best, as Heaven and Hell.Merlin and Vivien (1859); in Idylls of the King (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., ed. 1891), Page 174

We dare not even by silence sanction lies. - Alfred Tennyson (The Third of February Quotes)
29

We dare not even by silence sanction lies.The Third of February, 1852 (1852); in The Poetical Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (H. B. Nims & Co., ed. 1886), Page 151

The many fail: the one succeeds. - Alfred Tennyson (The Day-Dream Quotes)
30

The many fail: the one succeeds.The Day-Dream (1842); in Poems (Edward Moxon & Co., ed. 1842), Volume II, Page 154

No Source

1

No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies. Don’t knock yourself.No source

2

He makes no friends who never made a foe.No source

Misattributed

1

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.Claudia Adrienne Grandi (More info)

2

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. (More info)

FAQs

What is the famous Tennyson line?

"‘T is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

What three poems is Tennyson most remembered by?

"Ulysses, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and In Memoriam A.H.H."

What Tennyson poem is quoted in Skyfall?

"Ulysses"