Arthur Hallam
Encyclopedia
Arthur Henry Hallam was an English
poet
, best known as the subject of a major work, In Memoriam A.H.H.
, by his best friend and fellow poet, Alfred Tennyson
. Hallam has been described as the jeune homme fatal (French for "fatal young man") of his generation.
, son of the historian Henry Hallam
. He attended school at Eton
, where he met future Prime Minister
William Ewart Gladstone
. Hallam was an important influence on Gladstone, introducing him to Whiggish ideas and people. After leaving Eton in 1827 Hallam travelled on the continent with his family, and in Italy
he became inspired with its culture and fell in love with an English beauty, Anna Wintour, who inspired eleven of his poems.
In October 1828, Hallam went up to Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he met Tennyson. As Christopher Ricks observes, 'The friendship of Hallam and Tennyson was swift and deep.'
(which Tennyson won). Both joined the Cambridge Apostles
, a secret debating society which met every Saturday night during term to discuss, over coffee and anchovy sandwiches, serious questions of religion, literature and society. (Hallam read a paper on 'Whether the poems of Shelley have an immoral tendency'; Tennyson was to speak on 'Ghosts', but was so nervous that he tore up most of what he had written and threw it on the fire. When the other members arrived in his rooms he resigned his place in the society). Meetings of the Apostles were not always so intimidating: Desmond MacCarthy
gave an account of Hallam and Tennyson at one meeting lying on the ground in order to laugh less painfully, when James Spedding
imitated the sun going behind a cloud and coming out again.
During the Christmas vacation, Hallam visited Tennyson's home in Somersby, Lincolnshire
; on 20 December he met and fell in love with Tennyson's eighteen-year-old sister, Emily
, who was just seven months younger than Hallam.
Hallam spent the 1830 Easter vacation with Tennyson in Somersby and declared his love for Emily. Hallam and Tennyson planned to publish a book of poems together: Hallam told Mrs Tennyson that he saw this "as a sort of seal of our friendship". Hallam’s father, however, objected, and Arthur's Poems was privately published and printed in 1830. In the summer vacation, Tennyson and Hallam travelled to the Pyrenees
(on a secret mission to take money and instructions written in invisible ink to General Torrijos who was planning a revolution against the tyranny of King Ferdinand VII of Spain). In December, Hallam again visited Somersby and became engaged to Emily. His father forbade him to visit Somersby until he came of age at twenty-one.
In February 1831, Tennyson’s father died, with the result that Tennyson could no longer afford to continue at Cambridge. In August, Hallam wrote an enthusiastic article 'On Some of the Characteristics of Modern Poetry, and on the Lyrical Poems of Alfred Tennyson' for the Englishman’s Magazine. He introduced Tennyson to the publisher Edward Moxon
.
In February 1832, Hallam visited Emily: 'I love her madly,' he wrote. She was charmed by his 'bright, angelic spirit and his gentle, chivalrous manner.' In July Tennyson and Hallam travelled to the Rhine. In October Hallam entered the office of a conveyancer
, Mr Walters, of Lincoln's Inn Fields
. In December, thanks largely to Hallam’s support and practical help, Tennyson’s second volume of poetry was published. Hallam again spent Christmas at Somersby.
, with Arthur complaining of fever and chill. It was apparently a recurrence of the "ague" he had suffered earlier that year, and, although it would delay their departure to Prague
, there seemed to be little cause for alarm. Quinine
and a few days rest were prescribed. By Sunday 15th, Arthur felt sufficiently better to take a short walk with his father in the evening. When he returned to the hotel he ordered some sack
and lay down on the sofa, talking cheerfully all the time. Leaving his son reading in front of the fire, his father went out for a further stroll. He returned to find Arthur still on the sofa, apparently asleep. Only after a short time did Henry Hallam notice the odd position of his head. He called to his son. There was no response. All efforts to rouse him were in vain. Arthur Hallam was dead at the age of twenty-two.
The medical report on the death certificate listed 'Schlagfluss' – that is, a stroke
. A blood-vessel near the brain had suddenly burst. The autopsy declared 'a weakness of the cerebral vessels, and a want of sufficient energy in the heart.' The coffin was quickly sealed and sent to the nearest seaport, to be returned to England for burial.
In the first week of October, came a letter from Arthur Hallam’s uncle, Henry Elton:
There was a long pause as Tennyson read the letter. He then left the dining-room and asked to speak to Emily, to whom he told the contents of the letter. He caught her as she fainted. Gladstone
received the news on 6 October: 'When shall I see his like?' he wrote. 'I walked upon the hills to muse upon this very mournful event, which cuts me to the heart. Alas for his family and his intended bride!'
To his friends, Arthur’s death came as 'a loud and terrible stroke from the reality of things upon the faery building of our youth' They remembered him in vivid elegy: he had been 'the most charming and the most promising' of his contemporaries; 'his mind was more original & powerful than the minds of us his contemporaries'; 'he had a genius for metaphysical analysis', 'a peculiar clearness of perception', and an 'always active mind'; an 'angelic spirit', 'he seemed to tread the earth as a spirit from some better world; 'his mighty spirit (beautiful and powerful as it had already grown), yet bore all the marks of youth, and growth, and ripening promise.'
Tennyson said: “He would have been known, if he had lived, as a great man but not as a great poet; he was as near perfection as mortal man could be.”.
Gladstone hoped 'that some part of what Hallam has written may be [...] put into a more durable form [...] his letters I think are worthy of permanent preservation.' Hallam’s father collected together many of his son’s writings - excluding his letters and poems he thought unsuitable - and published them privately: Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam (1834). On being asked by Henry Hallam to contribute to an introduction, Tennyson replied: 'I attempted to draw a memoir of his life and character, but I failed to do him justice. I failed even to please myself. I could scarcely have pleased you.'
Hallam is buried at St. Andrew's Church in Clevedon
, Somerset
.
), and stated that the dramatic monologue Ulysses
was "more written with the feeling of his [Hallam's] loss upon me than many poems in [the publication] In Memoriam". Tennyson named his elder son
after his late friend. Emilia Tennyson also named her elder son, Arthur Henry Hallam, in his honour.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, best known as the subject of a major work, In Memoriam A.H.H.
In Memoriam A.H.H.
In Memoriam A.H.H. is a poem by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, completed in 1849. It is a requiem for the poet's Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833...
, by his best friend and fellow poet, Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
. Hallam has been described as the jeune homme fatal (French for "fatal young man") of his generation.
Early life and education
Hallam was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, son of the historian Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam was an English historian.-Life:The only son of John Hallam, canon of Windsor and dean of Bristol, Henry Hallam was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1799...
. He attended school at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, where he met future Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
. Hallam was an important influence on Gladstone, introducing him to Whiggish ideas and people. After leaving Eton in 1827 Hallam travelled on the continent with his family, and in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
he became inspired with its culture and fell in love with an English beauty, Anna Wintour, who inspired eleven of his poems.
In October 1828, Hallam went up to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he met Tennyson. As Christopher Ricks observes, 'The friendship of Hallam and Tennyson was swift and deep.'
Friendship with Tennyson
Hallam and Tennyson became friends in April 1829. They both entered the Chancellor's Prize Poem CompetitionChancellor's Gold Medal
The Chancellor's Gold Medal is a prestigious annual award at Cambridge University for poetry, paralleling Oxford University's Newdigate prize. It was first presented by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh during his time as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge...
(which Tennyson won). Both joined the Cambridge Apostles
Cambridge Apostles
The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an intellectual secret society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the first Bishop of Gibraltar....
, a secret debating society which met every Saturday night during term to discuss, over coffee and anchovy sandwiches, serious questions of religion, literature and society. (Hallam read a paper on 'Whether the poems of Shelley have an immoral tendency'; Tennyson was to speak on 'Ghosts', but was so nervous that he tore up most of what he had written and threw it on the fire. When the other members arrived in his rooms he resigned his place in the society). Meetings of the Apostles were not always so intimidating: Desmond MacCarthy
Desmond MacCarthy
Sir Desmond MacCarthy was a British literary critic and journalist.-Early life and education:MacCarthy was born in Plymouth, Devon, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he got to know Lytton Strachey, Bertrand Russell and G. E...
gave an account of Hallam and Tennyson at one meeting lying on the ground in order to laugh less painfully, when James Spedding
James Spedding
James Spedding was an English author, chiefly known as the editor of the works of Francis Bacon.-Life:He was born in Cumberland, the younger son of a country squire, and was educated at Bury St Edmunds and Trinity College, Cambridge; where he took a second class in the classical tripos, and was...
imitated the sun going behind a cloud and coming out again.
During the Christmas vacation, Hallam visited Tennyson's home in Somersby, Lincolnshire
Somersby, Lincolnshire
Somersby is a village in the parish of Greetham with Somersby in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northwest of Spilsby and eastnortheast of Horncastle. The parish covers about .- History :...
; on 20 December he met and fell in love with Tennyson's eighteen-year-old sister, Emily
Emilia Tennyson
Emilia Tennyson , known simply as Emily within her family, was a younger sister of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and the fiancée of Arthur Henry Hallam, for whom Tennyson's great poem, In Memoriam A.H.H., was written. Tennyson met Hallam through her brother, and they were engaged in 1832. They were never...
, who was just seven months younger than Hallam.
Hallam spent the 1830 Easter vacation with Tennyson in Somersby and declared his love for Emily. Hallam and Tennyson planned to publish a book of poems together: Hallam told Mrs Tennyson that he saw this "as a sort of seal of our friendship". Hallam’s father, however, objected, and Arthur's Poems was privately published and printed in 1830. In the summer vacation, Tennyson and Hallam travelled to the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
(on a secret mission to take money and instructions written in invisible ink to General Torrijos who was planning a revolution against the tyranny of King Ferdinand VII of Spain). In December, Hallam again visited Somersby and became engaged to Emily. His father forbade him to visit Somersby until he came of age at twenty-one.
In February 1831, Tennyson’s father died, with the result that Tennyson could no longer afford to continue at Cambridge. In August, Hallam wrote an enthusiastic article 'On Some of the Characteristics of Modern Poetry, and on the Lyrical Poems of Alfred Tennyson' for the Englishman’s Magazine. He introduced Tennyson to the publisher Edward Moxon
Edward Moxon
Edward Moxon was a British poet and publisher, significant in Victorian literature.Moxon was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, where his father Michael worked in the wool trade. In 1817 he left for London, joining Longman in 1821...
.
In February 1832, Hallam visited Emily: 'I love her madly,' he wrote. She was charmed by his 'bright, angelic spirit and his gentle, chivalrous manner.' In July Tennyson and Hallam travelled to the Rhine. In October Hallam entered the office of a conveyancer
Conveyancer
In Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or a fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.In the United Kingdom,...
, Mr Walters, of Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, UK. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in developing London", as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner observes...
. In December, thanks largely to Hallam’s support and practical help, Tennyson’s second volume of poetry was published. Hallam again spent Christmas at Somersby.
Death
In July 1833, Hallam visited Emily. On 3 August, he left with his father for Europe. On 13 September, they went to ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, with Arthur complaining of fever and chill. It was apparently a recurrence of the "ague" he had suffered earlier that year, and, although it would delay their departure to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, there seemed to be little cause for alarm. Quinine
Quinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
and a few days rest were prescribed. By Sunday 15th, Arthur felt sufficiently better to take a short walk with his father in the evening. When he returned to the hotel he ordered some sack
Sack (wine)
Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to white fortified wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands. There were sack of different origins such as:* Canary sack from the Canary Islands,* Malaga sack from Málaga,...
and lay down on the sofa, talking cheerfully all the time. Leaving his son reading in front of the fire, his father went out for a further stroll. He returned to find Arthur still on the sofa, apparently asleep. Only after a short time did Henry Hallam notice the odd position of his head. He called to his son. There was no response. All efforts to rouse him were in vain. Arthur Hallam was dead at the age of twenty-two.
The medical report on the death certificate listed 'Schlagfluss' – that is, a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. A blood-vessel near the brain had suddenly burst. The autopsy declared 'a weakness of the cerebral vessels, and a want of sufficient energy in the heart.' The coffin was quickly sealed and sent to the nearest seaport, to be returned to England for burial.
In the first week of October, came a letter from Arthur Hallam’s uncle, Henry Elton:
Addressed to Alfred Tennyson Esqre: if Absent, to be opened by Mrs Tennyson
Somersby Rectory
Spilsby
Lincolnshire
Clifton. 1 October. 1833
My Dear Sir—
At the desire of a most afflicted family, I write to you because they are unequal from the grief into which they have fallen to it themselves.
Your friend, Sir, and my much—loved Nephew, Arthur Hallam, is no more—it has pleased God to remove him from this his first scene of Existence, to that better world for which he was Created.
He died at Vienna, on his return from Buda, by Apoplexy, and I believe his Remains come by Sea from Trieste.
Mr Hallam arrived this morning in 3 Princes Buildings.
May that Being in whose hands are all the Destinies of Man—and who has promised to comfort all that Mourn pour the Balm of Consolation on all the Families who are bowed down by this unexpected dispensation!
I have just seen Mr Hallam, who begs I will tell you that he will write himself as soon as his Heart will let him. Poor Arthur had a slight attack of Ague— which he had often had—Order’d his fire to be lighted— and talked with as much cheerfulness as usual—He suddenly became insensible, and his Spirit departed without Pain—The Physician endeavour’d to get any Blood from him—and on Examination it was the General Opinion that he could not have lived long—This was also Dr Holland’s opinion—The account I have endeavour’d to give you, is merely what I have been able to gather, but the family of course are in too great distress to enter into details—
I am, dear Sir—
your very Obt. Servt.
Henry Elton.
There was a long pause as Tennyson read the letter. He then left the dining-room and asked to speak to Emily, to whom he told the contents of the letter. He caught her as she fainted. Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
received the news on 6 October: 'When shall I see his like?' he wrote. 'I walked upon the hills to muse upon this very mournful event, which cuts me to the heart. Alas for his family and his intended bride!'
To his friends, Arthur’s death came as 'a loud and terrible stroke from the reality of things upon the faery building of our youth' They remembered him in vivid elegy: he had been 'the most charming and the most promising' of his contemporaries; 'his mind was more original & powerful than the minds of us his contemporaries'; 'he had a genius for metaphysical analysis', 'a peculiar clearness of perception', and an 'always active mind'; an 'angelic spirit', 'he seemed to tread the earth as a spirit from some better world; 'his mighty spirit (beautiful and powerful as it had already grown), yet bore all the marks of youth, and growth, and ripening promise.'
Tennyson said: “He would have been known, if he had lived, as a great man but not as a great poet; he was as near perfection as mortal man could be.”.
Gladstone hoped 'that some part of what Hallam has written may be [...] put into a more durable form [...] his letters I think are worthy of permanent preservation.' Hallam’s father collected together many of his son’s writings - excluding his letters and poems he thought unsuitable - and published them privately: Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam (1834). On being asked by Henry Hallam to contribute to an introduction, Tennyson replied: 'I attempted to draw a memoir of his life and character, but I failed to do him justice. I failed even to please myself. I could scarcely have pleased you.'
Hallam is buried at St. Andrew's Church in Clevedon
Clevedon
Clevedon is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
In Memoriam A.H.H.
That Hallam's death was a significant influence on Tennyson's poetry is clear. Tennyson dedicated one of his greatest poems to Hallam (In Memoriam A.H.H.In Memoriam A.H.H.
In Memoriam A.H.H. is a poem by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, completed in 1849. It is a requiem for the poet's Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833...
), and stated that the dramatic monologue Ulysses
Ulysses (poem)
"Ulysses" is a poem in blank verse by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson , written in 1833 and published in 1842 in Tennyson's well-received second volume of poetry. An oft-quoted poem, it is popularly used to illustrate the dramatic monologue form...
was "more written with the feeling of his [Hallam's] loss upon me than many poems in [the publication] In Memoriam". Tennyson named his elder son
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, GCMG, PC , the second Governor-General of Australia, was born at Chapel House, Twickenham, in Surrey, England. Named after his father's late friend Arthur Hallam, he was the elder son of Alfred Tennyson, the most popular and prominent poet of late Victorian...
after his late friend. Emilia Tennyson also named her elder son, Arthur Henry Hallam, in his honour.