Tennyson’s central poem is presented with an extensive introduction that provides background information on the poet and poem as well as an overview of In Memoriam ’s formal and thematic peculiarities, including Tennyson’s use of the stanza and the poem’s rhyme scheme. The authoritative text is again that of the Eversley Edition of Tennyson’s Works, published in 1901–8, which is accompanied by detailed explanatory annotations. “Criticism” contains thirteen essays-―seven of which are new to the Second Edition―among them examples of formal (Sarah Gates), contextual (W. David Shaw), reader-response (Timothy Peltason), queer (Jeff Nunokawa), and genre (Alan Sinfield) criticism. A chapter from Christopher Ricks’s influential biography, Tennyson , is included. A Chronology, Selected Bibliography, and Index of First Lines are also included. Erik Gray is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a specialist in Victorian poetry. His books include  The Poetry of Indifference , Milton and the Victorians , and  The Art of Love Poetry .