Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909)

Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909)

English poet, associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, known for his rebellion against Victorian social conventions and religion, his active sympathies with the movements and leaders of political revolution of his time, and the pagan spirit and amazing musical effects of his poetry.

He was an intense admirer of P. B. Shelley and Victor Hugo, and was influenced in his own poetry by Greek legend and Roman classic literature, medieval romance, and Elizabethan drama. Among his poetic works are Atalanta in Calydon ( 1865), a drama in classical Greek form; The Queen Mother, Rosamund--Two Plays ( 1860); Poems and Ballads: First Series ( 1866), lyrics dealing chiefly with sensual love, which caused a sensation on its first publication; A Song of Italy ( 1867) and Songs before Sunrise ( 1876), on the cause of Italian union and independence; Poems and Ballads: Second Series ( 1878); Songs of the Springtides ( 1880) and Studies in Song ( 1880), concerned mostly with the sea; Tristram of Lyonesse ( 1882), a narrative poem on the legend of Tristan and Iseult; Poems and Ballads: Third Series ( 1889); Chastelard ( 1865), Bothwell: A Tragedy ( 1874), and Mary Stuart ( 1881), a trilogy of verse dramas on Mary Queen of Scots; Marino Failero ( 1885), a tragedy on the same theme used by Byron; Astrophel ( 1894); A Tale of Balin ( 1896); A Channel Passage ( 1904); The Duke of Gandia ( 1908). Essays and Studies ( 1875), Miscellanies ( 1886), and several sketches in the Encyclopaedia Britannica works of criticism.In his early career, Swinburne's behavior was eccentric, violent, and dissipated, intended to shock the respectable people of his age.

After an illness resulting from his excesses, he was taken into the home of Theodore WattsDunton, a literary critic, and stayed there the rest of his life. Some critics believe that WattsDunton stifled Swinburne's talent by "reforming" him, curbing his rebellion and forcing him to be docile and conventional. The poet's later work is not considered to be of as high a quality as his earlier. Cf. Max Beerbohm's classic essay "No. 2, The Pines," describing a visit to the couple.Among Swinburne's best-known single lyrics are Hymn to Artemis, Hymn to Prosperpine, The Garden of Proserpine, and Hertha. A study of Swinburne's life and poetry is contained in Poor Splendid Wings, by Frances Winwar , and a biography was written by Edmund Gosse.