Alfred Lord Tennyson Quotes & Sayings

An English homegrey twilight poured On dewy pasture, dewy trees, Softer than sleepall things in order stored, A haunt of ancient Peace. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

What rights are those that dare not resist for them? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

My doom is, I love thee still.
Let no man dream but that I love thee still. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

What was once to me mere matter of the fancy now has grown the vast necessity of heart and life. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

It's better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would've happened if I had tried — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Who loves not Knowledge? Who shall rail
Against her beauty? May she mix
With men and prosper! Who shall fix
Her pillars? Let her work prevail. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Too much wit makes the world rotten. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

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. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

And was the day of my delight As pure and perfect as I say? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

For this alone on Death I wreak The wrath that garners in my heart: He put our lives so far apart We cannot hear each other speak. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

It may be that no life is found, Which only to one engine bound Falls off, but cycles always round. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Like glimpses of forgotten dreams. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The many fail: the one succeeds. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Theirs is not to make reply: Theirs is not to reason why: Theirs is but to do and die. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Four grey walls, and four grey towers, Overlook a space of flowers, And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

He that wrongs a friend Wrongs himself more, and ever bears about A silent court of justice in his breast, Himself the judge and jury, and himself The prisoner at the bar ever condemned. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

A life of nothing's nothing worth, From that first nothing ere his birth, To that last nothing under earth. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

As the husband is, the wife is. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Courtesy wins woman all as well. As valor may, but he that closes both is perfect. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The night comes on that knows not morn,
When I shall cease to be all alone,
To live forgotten, and love forlorn. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Once in a golden hour, I cast to earth a seed, And up there grew a flower, That others called a weed. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

There has fallen a splendid tear
From the passion-flower at the gate.
She is coming, my dove, my dear;
She is coming, my life, my fate;
The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;"
And the white rose weeps, "She is late;"
The larkspur listens, "I hear; I hear;"
And the lily whispers, "I wait." — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

O Love! they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river: Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow forever and forever. Blow, bugle, blow! set the wild echoes flying! And answer, echoes, answer! dying, dying, dying. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new, That which they have done but earnest of the things which they shall do. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ah! well away! Seasons flower and fade. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley, Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly, Down to towered Camelot. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Yet is there one true line, the pearl of pearls:
Man dreams of Fame while woman wakes to love. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I falter where I firmly trod, And falling with my weight of cares Upon the great world's altar-stairs That slope thro' darkness up to God, I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope, And gather dust and chaff, and call To what I feel is Lord of all, And faintly trust the larger hope. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,
And the winter winds are wearily sighing:
Toll ye the church bell sad and slow,
And tread softly and speak low,
For the old year lies a-dying.
Old year you must not die;
You came to us so readily,
You lived with us so steadily,
Old year you shall not die. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I came in haste with cursing breath, And heart of hardest steel; But when I saw thee cold in death, I felt as man should feel. For when I look upon that face, That cold, unheeding, frigid brown, Where neither rage nor fear has place, By Heaven! I cannot hate thee now! — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dead sounds at night come from the inmost hills. Like footsteps upon wool. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

That man's the true Conservative who lops the moldered branch away. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

There twice a day the Severn fills; The salt sea-water passes by, And hushes half the babbling Wye, And makes a silence in the hills. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Woman is the lesser man. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in music out of sight. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I built my soul a lordly pleasure-house, Wherein at ease for aye to dwell. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

All experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and for ever when I move. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

We are all a part of every person we have ever met. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The voice of the dead was a living voice to me. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sweet is true love, though given in vain. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

This truth within thy mind rehearse, That in a boundless universe Is boundless better, boundless worse. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

But the churchmen fain would kill their church, As the churches have kill'd their Christ. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Mastering the lawless science of our law,- that codeless myriad of precedent, that wilderness of single instances. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower-but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, all in all,
I should know what God and man is. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am half-sick of shadows,' said The Lady of Shalott. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

All night have the roses heard
The flute, violin, bassoon;
All night has the casement jessamine stirr'd
To the dancers dancing in tune;
Till a silence fell with the waking bird,
And a hush with the setting moon. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Beauty and anguish walking hand in hand the downward slope to death. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

A truth looks freshest in the fashions of the day. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Of old sat Freedom on the heights
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights;
She heard the torrents meet. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Red of the Dawn
Is it turning a fainter red? so be it, but when shall we lay
The ghost of the Brute that is walking and hammering us yet and be free? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Rain, rain, and sun! A rainbow in the sky! — Alfred Lord Tennyson

That loss is common would not make My own less bitter, rather more: Too common! Never morning wore To evening, but some heart did break. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

All precious things, discover'd late, To those that seek them issue forth, For love in sequel works with fate, And draws the veil from hidden worth. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I loved you, and my love had no return,
And therefore my true love has been my death. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dark house, by which once more I stand Here in the long unlovely street, Doors, where my heart was used to beat So quickly, waiting for a hand, A hand that can be clasp'd no more - Behold me, for I cannot sleep, And like a guilty thing I creep At earliest morning to the door. He is not here; but far away The noise of life begins again, And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain On the bald street breaks the blank day. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

He makes no friend who never made a foe. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The noonday quiet holds the hill. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

God made thee good as thou art beautiful. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Man is man, and master of his fate. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, oh sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

It is hard to wive and thrive both in a year. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

But every page having an ample marge, And every marge enclosing in the midst A square of text that looks a little blot. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

As the husband is the wife is; thou art mated with a clown, As the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depths of some devine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy autumn fields, And thinking of the days that are no more. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Of love that never found his earthly close, What sequel? Streaming eyes and breaking hearts; Or all the same as if he had not been? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

With a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter's heart. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Love's arms were wreathed about the neck of Hope,
And Hope kiss'd Love, and Love drew in her breath
In that close kiss and drank her whisper'd tales.
They said that Love would die when Hope was gone.
And Love mourn'd long, and sorrow'd after Hope;
At last she sought out Memory, and they trod
The same old paths where Love had walked with Hope,
And Memory fed the soul of Love with tears. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is just to do or die. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tis held that sorrow makes us wise. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Happy he With such a mother! faith in womankind Beats with his blood, and trust in all things high Comes easy to him; and tho' he trip and fall, He shall not blind his soul with clay. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out the false, ring in the true. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

That man's the best cosmopolite Who loves his native country best. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Either sex alone is half itself. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Because right is right, to follow right Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

But what am I? An infant crying in the night: An infant crying for the light: And with no language but a cry. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am on fire within.
There comes no murmur of reply.
What is it that will take away my sin,
And save me lest I die? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Whatever crazy sorrow saith, No life that breathes with human breath Has ever truly longed for death. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sweet is every sound, sweeter the voice, but every sound is sweet. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

As love, if love be perfect, casts out fear, so hate, if hate be perfect, casts out fear. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Follow the deer? Follow the Christ the King. Live pure, speak true,right wrong, Follow the King
Else, wherefore born? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

A still small voice spake unto me, 'Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be? — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Be near me when my light is low ... And all the wheels of being slow. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

There rolls the deep where grew the tree. O earth, what changes hast thou seen! There where the long street roars, hath been The stillness of the central sea. The hills are shadows, and they flow From form to form, and nothing stands; They melt like mist, the solid lands, Like clouds they shape themselves and go. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

That which we are, we are, and if we are ever to be any better, now is the time to begin. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

All Life needs for life is possible to will. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Nature is one with rapine, a harm no preacher can heal; The Mayfly is torn by the swallow, the sparrow speared by the shrike, And the whole little wood where I sit is a world of plunder and prey. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

He is all fault who has no fault at all. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Live and lie reclined On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind. For they lie beside their nectar, and the bolts are hurled Far below them in the valleys, and the clouds are lightly curled Round their golden houses, girdled with the gleaming world. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

For it was in the golden prime Of good Haroun Alraschid. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Guard your roving thoughts with a jealous care, for speech is but the dealer of thoughts, and every fool can plainly read in your words what is the hour of your thoughts. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

Name and fame! to fly sublime Through the courts, the camps, the schools Is to be the ball of Time, Bandied in the hands of fools. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies. — Alfred Lord Tennyson