Arise and Fly

Abstract

To the question I often pose, “Who is your favorite poet?” more people answer “Tennyson” than any other. Tennyson’s interest in astronomy was direct and specific; he owned a 2-inch diameter refractor telescope, and frequently looked through far larger telescopes at observatories. He enjoyed the appearances of the many comets that brightened the sky during his lifetime, and as one critic has written, the major achievement of his magnum opus, In Memoriam, was to domesticate science. This chapter includes the story of how the Tennysonian shadow has come down through the generations to the present time, during which the author was privileged to meet Tennyson’s great-great grandson.