The May Queen : cantata in three parts, 1846 First Edition; Tennyson, Alfred Very Rare by Tennyson, Alfred - 1846

Very rare first edition copy of The May Queen by Alfred Tennyson and William R. Dempster. 1846, 13 by 9-7/8 inches, no boards and no covers. Retains back blank sheet and first sheet is loose and partially disbound. Some water staining to about 3./4ths of the piece, upper 1/3rd otherwise mostly bright and clean with occasional fox spotting to the interior. All three Title pages present. An tragic poem about life and then death. World Cat finds only 15 copies. A rare work.

Numbered Page count: Cantata 1, 9 pages Cantata 2, 9 pages Cantata 3, 15 pages The May Queen : cantata in three parts /

William R Dempster; Alfred Tennyson, Baron 1845 English Musical Score Musical Score : Printed music : Cantatas 1 score (3 v.) ; 34 cm. Boston (115 Washington St., Boston) : Oliver Ditson,

Libraries worldwide that own item: 13

Title: The May Queen : cantata in three parts /

Author(s): Dempster, William R. 1809-1871. (William Richardson), Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson,; Baron,; 1809-1892. Publication: Boston (115 Washington St., Boston) : Oliver Ditson, Year: 1845 Description: 1 score (3 v.) ; 34 cm.

Music Type: Cantatas

SUBJECT(S) Descriptor: Solo cantatas, Secular.

Named Person: Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892 -- Musical settings. Note(s): For voice and piano. Class Descriptors: LC: M1533.D4 Responsibility: poetry by Alfred Tennyson ; music composed and most cordially dedicated to his friend Lewis Gaylord Clark Esq. of New York by William R. Dempster. Document Type: Score Entry: 19871209 Update: 20080828 Accession No: OCLC: 17698571 Database: WorldCat

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) 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. Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, such as "In the Valley of Cauteretz", "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar". Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as Ulysses, although In Memoriam A.H.H. was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and fellow student at Trinity College, Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson's sister, but died from a brain haemorrhage before they could marry. Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, "Ulysses," and "Tithonus." During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success. A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplaces of the English language, including "Nature, red in tooth and claw", "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all", "Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die", "My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure", "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers", and "The old order changeth, yielding place to new". He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. He exhibits a wide variety of styles with such an exact understanding of metre; like many Victorian poets, he experimented in adapting the quantitative metres of Greek and Latin poetry to English. He reflects the Victorian period of his maturity in his feeling for order and his tendency towards moralising and self-indulgent melancholy. He also reflects a concern common among Victorian writers in being troubled by the conflict between religious faith and expanding scientific knowledge. Like many writers who write a great deal over a long time, he can be pompous or banal, but his personality rings throughout all his works – work that reflects a grand and special variability in its quality. Tennyson possessed the strongest poetic power; he put great length into many works, most famous of which are Maud and Idylls of the King, the latter one of literature's treatments of the legend of King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table.