The Miller's Daughter

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892 Alfred, Lord Tennyson

It is the miller’s daughter,

And she is grown so dear, so dear,

That I would be the jewel

That trembles at her ear:

For hid in ringlets day and night,

I’d touch her neck so warm and white.

And I would be the girdle

About her dainty, dainty waist,

And her heart would beat against me,

In sorrow and in rest:

And I should know if it beat right,

I’d clasp it round so close and tight.

And I would be the necklace,

And all day long to fall and rise

Upon her balmy bosom,

With her laughter or her sighs:

And I would lie so light, so light,

I scarce should be unclasped at night.

Biography

More than any other Victorian writer, Tennyson has seemed the embodiment of his age, both to his contemporaries and to modern readers. In his own day he was said to be—with Queen Victoria and Gladstone—one of the three most famous living persons, a reputation no other poet writing in English has ever had. As official poetic spokesman for the reign of Victoria, he felt called upon to celebrate a quickly changing industrial and . . .

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Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

More poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (76 poems)

Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Love, Romantic Love, Desire, Infatuation & Crushes

POET’S REGION England

SCHOOL / PERIOD Victorian

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The Miller's Daughter

The Miller's Daughter

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