'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' is a quote written by whom?

The quote "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" is taken from the poem "In Memoriam A.H.H." completed by Tennyson in 1849.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, (6th August 1809 – 6th October 1892) was a British poet. He was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. Tennyson's other most famous works include "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854, "The Lady of Shalott" in 1832 and "Ulysses" in 1833.

"In Memoriam A.H.H." is a requiem for the poet's beloved Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly in Vienna in 1833. It contains some of Tennyson's most accomplished lyrical work, and is an unusually sustained exercise in lyric verse. It is widely considered to be one of the great poems of the 19th century.

The original title of the poem was "The Way of the Soul", and this might give an idea of how the poem is an account of all Tennyson's thoughts and emotions as he grieves over the death of a close friend. He views the cruelty of nature and mortality in light of materialist science and faith.

The last two lines are usually taken as offering a meditation on the dissolution of a romantic relationship. However, the lines originally referred to the death of the poet's beloved friend.