Tennyson

Little did Alfred Lord Tennyson know that this would happen.

His son Hallam would become the Governor of South Australia in 1899.

Alfred did not know this because he died earlier, in 1892.

Back to Hallam.

Hallam was named after Alfred Lord Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam, who died even earlier.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about the death of his friend. He called it In Memoriam.

But, back to Hallam.

Hallam, as Governor of South Australia, had a beach named after him.

The beach, probably to his chagrin, was called Tennyson, not Hallam.

This afternoon, as I was walking along the beach at Tennyson, I thought of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam, for two reasons.

One, because the name of the beach was Tennyson.

Two, because the sound of the sea was mournful, dragging and repetitive, as the tonal effect of In Memoriam is reputed to be.

I have not read it, or if I have, I have forgotten.

This is a prologue. Tomorrow I will write more about Tennyson.