How did Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poetry reflect doubts about science and religion in the Victorian Age?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poetry serves as a profound reflection of the Victorian struggle to reconcile traditional religious faith with the rapid advancements in empirical science and modern thought.12

His most significant exploration of this conflict is found in his elegiac masterpiece, In Memoriam, written following the death of his close friend Arthur Henry Hallam. The poem acts as a central Victorian statement on the decline of Christian faith, documenting the poet's attempt to harmonize his belief in immortality with emerging theories of evolution and geology. Through its 131 sections, the work captures the tension between the era's scientific progress and the human need for spiritual meaning.345

Tennyson’s later works also mirrored his growing despondency regarding the moral and religious shifts of his time. For instance, his poem "Despair" and his play The Promise of May expressed resentment toward the secularizing tendencies of the age. Furthermore, in "Locksley Hall Sixty Years After," he retracted his earlier optimism regarding human progress, offering instead a critique of modern decadence and liberalism.4