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    The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV: Songs of Two Nations
    The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV: Songs of Two Nations
    The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV: Songs of Two Nations
    Ebook71 pages51 minutes

    The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV: Songs of Two Nations

    By Algernon Charles Swinburne

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    Algernon Charles Swinburne was born on April 5th, 1837, in London, into a wealthy Northumbrian family. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford, but did not complete a degree. In 1860 Swinburne published two verse dramas but achieved his first literary success in 1865 with Atalanta in Calydon, written in the form of classical Greek tragedy. The following year "Poems and Ballads" brought him instant notoriety. He was now identified with "indecent" themes and the precept of art for art's sake. Although he produced much after this success in general his popularity and critical reputation declined. The most important qualities of Swinburne's work are an intense lyricism, his intricately extended and evocative imagery, metrical virtuosity, rich use of assonance and alliteration, and bold, complex rhythms. Swinburne's physical appearance was small, frail, and plagued by several other oddities of physique and temperament. Throughout the 1860s and 1870s he drank excessively and was prone to accidents that often left him bruised, bloody, or unconscious. Until his forties he suffered intermittent physical collapses that necessitated removal to his parents' home while he recovered. Throughout his career Swinburne also published literary criticism of great worth. His deep knowledge of world literatures contributed to a critical style rich in quotation, allusion, and comparison. He is particularly noted for discerning studies of Elizabethan dramatists and of many English and French poets and novelists. As well he was a noted essayist and wrote two novels. In 1879, Swinburne's friend and literary agent, Theodore Watts-Dunton, intervened during a time when Swinburne was dangerously ill. Watts-Dunton isolated Swinburne at a suburban home in Putney and gradually weaned him from alcohol, former companions and many other habits as well. Much of his poetry in this period may be inferior but some individual poems are exceptional; "By the North Sea," "Evening on the Broads," "A Nympholept," "The Lake of Gaube," and "Neap-Tide." Swinburne lived another thirty years with Watts-Dunton. He denied Swinburne's friends access to him, controlled the poet's money, and restricted his activities. It is often quoted that 'he saved the man but killed the poet'. Algernon Charles Swinburne died on April 10th, 1909 at the age of seventy-two.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPortable Poetry
    Release dateMar 10, 2017
    ISBN9781787371774
    The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV: Songs of Two Nations

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      Book preview

      The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne - Volume IV - Algernon Charles Swinburne

      The Poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne

      VOLUME IV – SONGS OF TWO NATIONS

      Algernon Charles Swinburne was born on April 5th, 1837, in London, into a wealthy Northumbrian family.  He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford, but did not complete a degree.

      In 1860 Swinburne published two verse dramas but achieved his first literary success in 1865 with Atalanta in Calydon, written in the form of classical Greek tragedy. The following year Poems and Ballads brought him instant notoriety. He was now identified with indecent themes and the precept of art for art's sake.

      Although he produced much after this success in general his popularity and critical reputation declined. The most important qualities of Swinburne's work are an intense lyricism, his intricately extended and evocative imagery, metrical virtuosity, rich use of assonance and alliteration, and bold, complex rhythms.

      Swinburne's physical appearance was small, frail, and plagued by several other oddities of physique and temperament. Throughout the 1860s and 1870s he drank excessively and was prone to accidents that often left him bruised, bloody, or unconscious. Until his forties he suffered intermittent physical collapses that necessitated removal to his parents' home while he recovered.

      Throughout his career Swinburne also published literary criticism of great worth. His deep knowledge of world literatures contributed to a critical style rich in quotation, allusion, and comparison. He is particularly noted for discerning studies of Elizabethan dramatists and of many English and French poets and novelists. As well he was a noted essayist and wrote two novels.

      In 1879, Swinburne's friend and literary agent, Theodore Watts-Dunton, intervened during a time when Swinburne was dangerously ill. Watts-Dunton isolated Swinburne at a suburban home in Putney and gradually weaned him from alcohol, former companions and many other habits as well.

      Much of his poetry in this period may be inferior but some individual poems are exceptional; By the North Sea, Evening on the Broads, A Nympholept, The Lake of Gaube, and Neap-Tide.

      Swinburne lived another thirty years with Watts-Dunton. He denied Swinburne's friends access to him, controlled the poet's money, and restricted his activities. It is often quoted that 'he saved the man but killed the poet'.

      Swinburne died on April 10th, 1909 at the age of seventy-two.

      Index of Contents

      A SONG OF ITALY

      ODE ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

      DIRAE

      I - A DEAD KING

      II - A YEAR AFTER

      III - PETER'S PENCE FROM PERUGIA

      IV - PAPAL ALLOCUTION

      V - THE BURDEN OF AUSTRIA. 1866

      VI - LOCUSTA

      VII - CELAENO

      VIII - A CHOICE

      IX - THE AUGURS

      X - A COUNSEL

      XI - THE MODERATES

      XII - INTERCESSION

      XIII - THE SAVIOUR OF SOCIETY

      XIV - MENTANA: SECOND ANNIVERSARY

      XV - MENTANA: THIRD ANNIVERSARY

      XVI - THE DESCENT INTO HELL

      XVII - APOLOGIA

      ALGERBON CHARLES SWINBURNE – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

      ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY

      DIRAE

      I saw the double-featured statue stand

      Of Memnon or of Janus, half with night

      Veiled, and fast bound with iron; half with light

      Crowned, holding all men's future in his hand.

      And all the old westward face of time grown grey

      Was writ with cursing and inscribed for death;

      But on the face that met the mornings breath

      Fear died of hope as darkness dies of day.

      A SONG OF ITALY

      Inscribed With All Devotion and Reverence To: JOSEPH MAZZINI

      1867

      Upon a windy night of stars that fell

      At the wind's spoken spell,

      Swept with sharp strokes of agonizing light

      From the clear gulf of night,

      Between the fixed and fallen glories one

      Against my vision shone,

      More fair and fearful and divine than they

      That measure night and day,

      And worthier worship; and within mine eyes

      The formless folded skies

      Took shape and were unfolded like as flowers.

      And I beheld the hours

      As maidens, and the days as labouring men,

      And the soft nights again

      As wearied women to their own souls wed,

      And ages as the dead.

      And over these living, and them that died,

      From one to the other side

      A lordlier light than comes of earth or air

      Made the world's future fair.

      A woman like to love in face, but not

      A thing of

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