CHAPTERIII——1837-1842。
In1837theTennysonslefttheoldrectory；till1840theylivedatHighBeechinEppingForest，andafterabriefstayatTunbridgeWellswenttoBoxley，nearMaidstone。
Itappearsthatatlastthepoethad\"beathismusicout，\"thoughhisfriends\"stilltriedtocheerhim。\"ButthemanwhowroteUlysseswhenhisgriefwasfreshcouldnotbesuspectedofdecliningintoahypochondriac。\"IfImeantomakemymarkatall，itmustbebyshortness，\"hesaidatthistime；\"forthemenbeforemehadbeensodiffuse，andmostofthebigthings，exceptKingArthur，hadbeendone。\"Theagehadnotlateteepique:Poehadannouncedtheparadoxthatthereisnosuchthingasalongpoem，andevenindealingwithArthur，TennysonfollowedtheexampleofTheocritusinwriting，notanepic，butepicidylls。Longpoemssuitanageoflisteners，forwhichtheywereoriginallycomposed，orofleisureandfewbooks。Atpresentepicsarereadforduty\'ssake，notfortheonlyvalidreason，\"forhumanpleasure，\"inFitzGerald\'sphrase。
Between1838and1840TennysonmadesomebrieftoursinEnglandwithFitzGerald，and，comingfromCoventry，wroteGodiva。HisengagementwithMissSellwoodseemedtobeadjournedsinedie，astheywereforbiddentocorrespond。
By1841TennysonwaslivingatMablethorpeontheLincolnshirecoast；