ore he achieved his full renown. This was no such sensational event
as Byron's meteoric appearance in 1812; but one year, 1850, is a clear
landmark in his career. This was the date of the publication of _In
Memoriam_ and of his appointment, on the death of Wordsworth, to the
office of Poet Laureate. This year saw the end of his struggle with
ill-fortune and the end of his long courtship. In June he was married,
at Shiplake on the Thames, to Emily Sellwood. Henceforth his happiness
was assured and he knew no more the restlessness and melancholy which
had clouded his enjoyment of life. His course was clear, and for forty
years his position was hardly questioned in all lands where the English
tongue was spoken. Noble companies of worshippers might worthily swear
allegiance to Thackeray and Browning; but by the voice of the people
Dickens and Tennyson were enthroned supreme.

To deal with all the volumes of poetry that Tennyson published between
1850 and his death would be impossible within the limits of these pages.
In some cases he reverted to themes which he had treated before and he
preserved for many years the same skill in craftsmanship. But in _Maud_,
in _The Idylls of the King_, and in the historical dramas,
unquestionably, he broke new ground.

Partly on account of the scheme of the poem, partly for the views
expressed on questions of the day, _Maud_ provoked more hostile
criticism than anything which he wrote; yet it seems to have been the
poet's favourite work. The story of its composition is curious. It was
suggested by a short lyric which Tennyson had printed privately in 1837
beginning with the words 'Oh, that 'twere possible after long grief'.
His friend, Sir John Simeon, urged him to write a poem which would lead
up to and explain it; and the poet, adopting the idea, used _Maud_ as a
vehicle for much which he was feeling in the disillusionment of middle
life. The form of a monodrama was unfamiliar to the public and has
difficulties of its own. Tennyson has combined action, proceeding
somewhat spasmodically, with a skilful study of character, showing us
the exaggerated sensibility of a nature which under the successive
influence of misanthropy, hope, love, and tragic disappointment, may
easily pass beyond the border-land of insanity. In the scene where love
is triumphant, Tennyson touches the highest point of lyrical passion;
but there are jarring notes introduced in the satirical descriptions of
Maud's brot