Alfred, Lord Tennyson was one of the 19th century's leading English language poets and was poet laureate of England. In his popular poem, Locksley Hall, the protagonist asks his military comrades to wait while he visits his childhood home. He then reminisces about his childhood and an unrequited love.
Astronomy in Locksley Hall
Perhaps the best known astronomical reference in Tennyson's Locksley Hall is in the following lines:
"Many a night from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest,
Did I look on great Orion sloping slowly to the West.
Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid."
The protagonist is reminiscing about his childhood and youth. The reference to the constellation Orion represents a great mythological hunter or warrior. To watch Orion set in the west, at any hour a child might reasonably be still out, requires a spring evening. He was therefore out enjoying the newly warm weather. An analysis of literary reasons for Tennyson's choice of the constellation Orion is beyond the scope of this article.
The Pleiads refers to an open cluster of stars known as the seven sisters of the Pleiades, which is located in the constellation Taurus. This cluster despite its name, contains only six easily visible naked eye stars. Perhaps seven were easily visible in antiquity and one became fainter. A small telescope or pair of binoculars reveals that this cluster contains hundreds of stars glittering like a swarm of fire flies. One can watch the Pleiades rise at a reasonable evening hour during the autumn.
Northern Lights in Tennyson's Poem
As the protagonist recalls his unrequited love, Tennyson writes:
"On her pallid cheek and forehead came a colour and a light,
As I have seen the rosy red flushing in the northern night."
The rosy red in the northern night seems to refer to the northern lights, or aurora borealis, which can glow red or pink among other colors. England is at a sufficiently high latitude for the aurora to be fairly common, so Tennyson could well have been familiar with its glow.
19th Century Astronomical Knowledge
Other lines in Locksley Hall with astronomical references include:
"Yet I doubt not thro' the ages one increasing purpose runs,
and the thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the suns."
and
"Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies,"
These lines allude to 18th and 19th century discoveries in astronomy. By the 19th century many moons were being discovered around other planets. Astronomers had also come to realize that the Sun was a star and therefore other stars were likely also suns possibly possessing their own planetary systems.
Furthering this theme, the Tennyson's sequel, Locksley Hall Sixty Years After, has the lines:
"While the silent Heavens roll, and Suns along their fiery way,
All their planets whirling round them, flash a million miles a day."
Earth travels roughly 800,000 miles a day as it orbits the Sun, so Tennyson's million miles a day is a fairly reasonable estimate of how fast planets might travel.
Tennyson's poems show that he was fairly knowledgeable about astronomy.
Further Reading
Tennyson, Locksley Hall
Paul A. Heckert - I have a Ph.D. in astrophysics, over 30 years experience teaching physics and astronomy, and over 60 published research articles.
