Elizabeth Siddal - Lady Clare (watercolour)

''Lady Clare'' is a

narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be s ...

by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1842.

Textual history

''Lady Clare'' was first published in 1842. After 1851 no alterations were made.Collins 1900, p. 253. This poem was suggested by

Susan Ferrier Susan Edmonstone Ferrier (7 September 1782 – 5 November 1854) was a Scottish novelist. Her novels, giving vivid accounts of Scottish life and presenting sharp views on women's education, remained popular throughout the 19th century. Life Su ...

's 1824 historical novel ''The Inheritance''. A comparison with the plot of Ferrier's novel will show how Tennyson adapted the tale to his ballad: In details Tennyson follows the novel sometimes very closely. Thus the "single rose", the poor dress, and the bitter exclamation about her being "a beggar born", are drawn from the novel. The 1842 and all editions up to and including 1850 begin with the following stanza and omit stanza 2:—

References

Bibliography

* Collins, John Churton, ed. (1900). '' The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson''. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 253–256. * Tennyson, Hallam (1897). ''Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by his Son''. Vol. 2. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited. p. 377–378.

Textual history

References

Bibliography

Further reading