Editing Alfred, Lord Tennyson (section)

===Return to Lincolnshire, second publication, Epping Forest===
In the spring of 1831, Tennyson's father died, requiring him to leave [[Cambridge]] before taking his degree. He returned to the rectory, where he was permitted to live for another six years and shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family. [[Arthur Hallam]] came to stay with his family during the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emilia Tennyson.

[[File:John William Waterhouse - The Lady of Shalott - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[John William Waterhouse]]'s ''[[The Lady of Shalott (painting)|The Lady of Shalott]]'', 1888 ([[Tate Britain]], London)]]

{{Quote box |width=285px |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote =<poem>
'''''The May Queen'''''

YOU must wake and call me early, call me early, 
     mother dear;
To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad 
     new-year, –
Of all the glad new-year, mother, the maddest, 
     merriest day;
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to 
     be Queen o' the May.

As I came up the valley, whom think ye should 
     I see
But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the 
     hazel-tree?
He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave 
     him yesterday, –
But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to 
     be Queen o' the May.

They say he's dying all for love, – but that can 
     never be;
They say his heart is breaking, mother, – what 
     is that to me?
There's many a bolder lad 'll woo me any sum-
     mer day;
And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to 
     be Queen o' the May.

If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my 
     resting-place;
Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look 
     upon your face;
Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken 
     what you say,
And be often, often with you when you think I'm 
     far away. 

So now I think my time is near; I trust it is. 
     I know
The blessed music went that way my soul will 
     have to go.
And for myself, indeed, I care not if I go to-day;
But Effie, you must comfort her when I am past 
     away.

And say to Robin a kind word, and tell him not 
     to fret;
There's many worthier than I, would make him 
     happy yet.
If I had lived – I cannot tell – I might have 
     been his wife;
But all these things have ceased to be, with my 
     desire of life.

Forever and forever, all in a blessed home,
And there to wait a little while till you and 
     Effie come, –
To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your 
     breast, –
And the wicked cease from troubling, and the 
     weary are at rest.
</poem>|source = ''From "The May Queen" poem by Alfred Tennyson''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kXd4bRr71a4C&dq=Charles+Timothy+Brooks+ON+Alpine+heights&pg=PA239 ''A Library of Poetry and Song: Being Choice Selections from The Best Poets. With An Introduction by William Cullen Bryant''], New York, J.B. Ford and Company, 1871, pp. 239–242.</ref>}}

In 1833 Tennyson published his second book of poetry, which notably included the first version of "[[The Lady of Shalott]]". The volume met heavy criticism, which so discouraged Tennyson that he did not publish again for ten years, although he did continue to write. That same year, Hallam died suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering a [[cerebral haemorrhage]] while on a holiday in [[Vienna]]. Hallam's death had a profound effect on Tennyson and inspired several poems, including "In the Valley of Cauteretz" and "[[In Memoriam A.H.H.]]", a long poem detailing the "Way of the Soul".<ref name="H. Tennyson, 1897">H. Tennyson (1897). ''Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son'', New York: MacMillan.</ref>

Tennyson and his family were allowed to stay in the rectory for some time, but later moved to Beech Hill Park, [[High Beach]], deep within [[Epping Forest]], [[Essex]], about 1837. Tennyson's son recalled: "there was a pond in the park on which in winter my father might be seen skating, sailing about on the ice in his long blue cloak. He liked the nearness of London, whither he resorted to see his friends, but he could not stay in town even for a night, his mother being in such a nervous state that he did not like to leave her...".<ref name="H. Tennyson, 1897"/> Tennyson befriended a Dr Allen, who ran a nearby asylum whose patients then included the poet [[John Clare]].<ref>[http://highbeachchurch.org/WhosWhoatHolyInnocents.aspx "History of Holy Innocents Church"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320145841/http://highbeachchurch.org/WhosWhoatHolyInnocents.aspx|date=20 March 2012 }}, Highbeachchurch.org. Retrieved 27 April 2012</ref> An unwise investment in Dr Allen's ecclesiastical wood-carving enterprise soon led to the loss of much of the family fortune, and led to a bout of serious depression.<ref name="H. Tennyson, 1897"/> According to Tennyson's grandson [[Sir Charles Tennyson]], Tennyson met [[Thomas Carlyle]] in 1839, if not earlier.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sanders|first=Charles Richard|date=1961|title=Carlyle and Tennyson|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/460317|journal=PMLA|volume=76|issue=1|pages=82–97|doi=10.2307/460317|jstor=460317|s2cid=164191497 |issn=0030-8129|url-access=registration}}</ref> The pair began a lifelong friendship, and were famous smoking companions. Some of Tennyson's work even bears the influence of Carlyle and his ideas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Starnes|first=D. T.|title=The Influence of Carlyle Upon Tennyson|date=1921|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43466076|journal=Texas Review|volume=6|issue=4|pages=316–336|jstor=43466076|issn=2380-5382|url-access=registration}}</ref> Tennyson moved to London in 1840 and lived for a time at [[Chapel House, Twickenham]].