I couldn’t be happier I chose Lord Alfred Tennyson. I love his poetry. To me it is almost like the Socratic method of teaching. His poems make you ask questions, and the conclusions that you draw can be so insightful, not just in his poetry, but into your life. The feelings you get after are a mix of his own thoughts and your subconscious reaction to them. I don’t enjoy poetry wear everything has a “theme” and it is all poured out right in front of you. I also don’t like 10 word poems. I always feel like the author is giving me too little or spoon feeding me. Tennyson is neither. He is perfect. He gives me just enough ideology and detail to point me in the right direction, but enough freedom to decide my own path. I also love that it seems that neither Ulysses nor The Charge of the Light Brigade have a “theme.” This is not to be confused with purpose. Both writings are packed with purpose and meaning. From glory, to honor, to fate, to ignorance. Both poems are action packed with ideas. However, what you take away from them is all up to you. Which aspect of the poem you focus on, the part you really dissect, is up to you and what’s going on in your life.  That is what I have come to find and enjoy in these poems. I am able to learn something from them, however, only because of the personal truths I find out about myself from my experiences. Isn’t that what writing is all about? Screw that. Isn’t that what the world is all about?