"The Ballad of Oriana" is an early poem by Alfred Tennyson, published in 1830, but not in 1833.[1]

The Ballad of Oriana
by Alfred Tennyson
Publication date
  • 1830
Lines55 (66)
Full text
The Ballad of Oriana at Wikisource

Background

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According to critic John Churton Collins, "This fine ballad was evidently suggested by the old ballad of "Helen of Kirkconnel", both poems being based on a similar incident, and both being the passionate soliloquy of the bereaved lover, though Tennyson's treatment of the subject is his own."[1]

"Helen of Kirkconnel" was one of the poems which he was fond of reciting, and Fitzgerald says that he used also to recite this poem, in a way not to be forgotten, at Cambridge tables.[1][2]

Text

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Collins, ed. 1900, p. 36.
  2. ^ Tennyson 1898, i. p. 48.

Sources

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  • Collins, John Churton, ed. (1900). The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Methuen & Co. pp. xv–xvi, xxi, xxv, 36–39.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • Tennyson, Hallam (1898). Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son. Vol. 1. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 48, 92, 286, 503.