Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell and "In Memoriam" Alfred Lord Tennyson was born on 6 August 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire. He was the fourth of twelve children. As a boy he led a very miserable and unhappy life. In 1828 Tennyson entered Trinity College, Cambridge. The most important part of his experience there was his friendship with Arthur Henry Hallam, son of a well-known historian. Hallam encouraged and inspired Tennyson to write. Hallam died in 1833. Tennyson published poems in 1842 which proved to be a great success and secured his position as the leading Victorian poet. The year 1850 was important to Tennyson for two reasons: his marriage to Emily Sellwood and the publication of "In Memoriam," his great elegy to Arthur Hallam. “In Memoriam’ was simply a check of some of the books Tennyson had read” (Wiley 160). These books included Lyell and Darwin. Many lines of his poetry show an interesting compromise between the religious attitude and a completely different belief, the belief in human perfectibility. "In Memoriam" can rightly be called a religious poem. However, he is not religious because of his faith, but because of the quality of his doubt. His Faith is a poor thing, but his doubt is a very intense experience. The first aspects of science that seem to interest Tennyson were astronomy. However, he seemed to be more interested in geology and Lyell's work on geology. Sir Charles Lyell, is perhaps the most significant figure ever born in Angus, Scotland. Charles Lyell was born on November 14, 1797. His father, Charles Lyell, enrolled in 1786 at St. Andrew University where he studied law. When Charles Lyell was less than a year old, his father... was at the center of the card... a supreme being. They believe the Bible wasn't true because they don't know for sure whether the things in the Bible happened or not. In Canto 120, Tennyson describes how humans are not machines. In the second verse he completely rejects science, evolution and geology. This shows a complete turnaround from what he believed before. In the third stanza he tells us that no matter what people say or do like the theories of Charles Darwin and Charles Lyell, he will follow what he believes. Charles Darwin was an important part of the Victorian era. His theories are still taught in schools and are part of our evolving lives. If Charles Darwin hadn't discovered fossils on his first expedition and put together all the missing pieces, then people would still think that one Supreme Being created us all, when in reality we are not.