Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Born in Somersby in 1809; one of twelve children, nine of whom (remarkably talented, though also prone to severe neuroses) survived to adulthood; began to write poetry before the age of 10; 1827, wrote more than half of Poems by Two Brothers, which contained not only his works but the works of his brothers Frederick and Charles as well; 1827, went to Cambridge and joined the Apostles, a group of young intellectuals which also included Arthur Henry Hallam; published Poems, chiefly Lyrical in 1830; left Cambridge without a degree in 1831; in 1832, published Poems, which met with some negative criticism to which he was abnormally sensitive; 1833, Hallam's sudden death sent him into severe depression; 1832-1842, Ten Years' Silence; 1842, published two-volume Poems, which established his reputation; 1850, married Emily Sellwood after a 14-year engagement, became Poet Laureate, and published In Memoriam; 1883, became the first poet presented with a peerage; died in 1892 and was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Robert Browning
Born on May 7, 1812; received most of his education at home; learned Latin, Greek, French, and Italian by the age of 14; was influenced early on by the works of Shelley; 1828, attended the University of London for a brief period; 1837-1847, devoted himself to playwriting (unsuccessfully) and used Shakespeare as a model; 1841, began Bells and Pomegranates; developed skill with the technique of the dramatic monologue; 1846, married Elizabeth Barrett and moved to Italy, where they lived until Elizabeth's death in 1861; 1869, published The Ring and the Book, which was immensely popular; 1880's, Browning Societies were formed in England and America; 1889, died on the day Asolando, his final book of verse, was published; buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Walt Whitman--sometimes called the Poet of Democracy, or the greatest native poet America has ever produced
Born in a small village on Long Island, NY, on May 31, 1819, second son of semiliterate parents; formal schooling ended when he was 11 years old; worked as an errand boy for a doctor and a lawyer; was a voracious reader, fond of Sir Walter Scott's works; became a printer's helper and worked for several newspapers; was for a time an itinerant teacher and a journeyman reporter/editor; 1855, published Leaves of Grass, which would appear in nine editions during his lifetime; worked as a volunteer army nurse during the Civil War; 1865, was fired from a civil service position when his superior discovered he had authored Leaves of Grass, which the superior thought was an immoral book; reinstated in government job, which he kept until 1873; 1873, suffered paralytic stroke; died March 26, 1892.
Emily Dickinson
Born in Amherst, MA, in 1830; schooled at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; around 1853, became increasingly withdrawn from public, leading a solitary life especially after the death of her father in 1874; 1775 poems survive, though only ten were published (without her permission) during her lifetime; rarely wrote a poem of more than 20 lines (her longest is 50 lines); 1862, sent Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a writer for Atlantic Monthly, some poems to examine, thus beginning a friendship maintained mostly through correspondence (Higginson actually saw her only twice); died in 1886; first volume of poetry was published in 1890; 1950, Harvard University bought all available manuscripts and publishing rights and published the definitive collection of her poetry in 1955 under the editorship of Thomas H. Johnson.