1842: An important source of entertainment is books and magazines. More middle-class people are familiar with the mythic stories as they have been preserved in literature for generations.

Today: There is still some familiarity with King Arthur's Court, but most people know it as it is depicted in movies or in theme park recreations.

1842: The English countryside is more open and unpolluted. Cities, particularly London, are crowded and polluted, but people who have been to the country can easily imagine the landscape that Tennyson describes.

Today: For the most part, the English countryside is divided into walled-off fields and farm tracks. Since coal burning is illegal in cities, urban air pollution is reduced.

1842: Alfred Tennyson was a young, struggling poet who had to quit writing for a time because he could not pay his bills.

Today: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is considered an important writer and...