Algernon Charles Swinburne Books

Algernon Charles Swinburne is in my opion the finest english Elizabethian Age Poet. He wrote so much of such a consistently high standard. If you like classical poetry, you owe it to yourself to find this book. Sadly most books with his poetry in it are in Library bindings, and; therefore, unaffordable for most individuals. Find his poetry, and he will create a new world for you. I can't say enough good things about this writer. His understanding of human feelings, and our innate kinship with myticism and shadows are clearly present in his early works. In addition, his meter formats are among the most intense and intricate I have ever read. If you claim to enjoy poetry. Do yourself a favor and find Swinburne. Here is a sample from his work "The Garden of Proserpine"

"I am tired of tears and laughter,/ And men that laugh and weep;/ Of what may come hereafter/ For men that sow to reap: I am weary of days and hours,/ Blown buds of barren flowers,/ Desires and dreams and powers/ And everything but sleep."

Denounced by a Victiorian critic as a "libidinous laureate of a pack of satyrs", Swinburne's oeuvre includes forays into the realms of political, moral and spiritual revolt, themes which ran counter to the bourgeois solidity of the Victorian era. Three of his best works which illustrate this are "Anactoria", which includes the memorable line: "Exceeding pleasure in superflux of pain", an illustration of the sadistic dimension of the lesbian protagonists' relationship, "Dolores" and "Hertha" which places Swinburne in the camp of mystical transcendentalism. This collection is a must for those who want to be acquainted with one of the greatest poets in the English language, a virtuoso of metrical composition, as well as a lyric champion of vice.

This collection of A. C. Swinburne's poetry is exceptional, especially since it is very difficult to find a collection of Swinburne's poetry outside of anthologies and libraries. This is perfect for individuals who are new to Swinburne's poetry because notes to the poetry and a chronology of Swinburne's life are included to help answer some questions. Swinburne possesses an unusual dexterity in meter and rhythm, which makes him an extraordinary poet. This collection is well-organized and fairly complete; the only disappointment is that the editor failed to include "Ave Atque Vale" - one of his most notable poems.

Swinburne is one of the most lyrical poets of England. He has often been accused of writing poetry that is nothing but a lot of empty musical sounds; this is patently false, as Swinburne was quite capable of capturing vivid images and intriguing psychologies, a talent which is best evinced in poems such as "Anactoria." However, even if it were true, the "empty musical sounds" have enough innate value to redeem his entire poetic canon!

This book is an introduction to both Hindustani and Carnatic classical music with a comparative approach that is quite explanatory for Western readers. Wade's explicit goal is to make the fundamental concepts of Indian music clear to a Western audience without confusing them with the terminology and classification that is standard in most similar books written by Indian authors. The book's topics include the following: the listener and relationship to the performer (with a brief overview of Indian geography and culture), notation systems and ragas (with side-by-side comparisons of Western, Hindustani, and Carnatic notation), melody instruments, meter, rhythm instruments and drumming (with very technical descriptions including the drumming syllables of both Indian traditions), performance genres of Hindustani and Carnatic traditions, and musicians and performing contexts. The book also includes an annotated bibliography, a discography and filmography, a glossary, and an index. The book is written for newcomers to Indian classical music, who may have some familiarity with the music itself, but who don't necessarily know the standard terminology. The material is well sequenced to use for an introductory study of Indian classical music. In taking a comparative approach, the book is unique and quite useful- -it's very hard to find such books written by people who are conversant in both Indian classical traditions.

The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English casually dismisses Swinburne's work by saying that, although his verse is often dazzingly complex with intricate rhyme and metrical schemes, the work itself is "spiritually shallow." In fact, Swinburne's message may never have had more spiritual relevance than it does now. A rogue among the Victorians, Swinburne still has the ability to shock. Rather than glorying in Nature like his fellow Romantics, Swinburne is more realistic, seeing nature as a harsh, if beautiful, mistress. He also foresees a diminishment of organized religions in favor of earthier, almost Pagan ideals that make him a spiritual brother to Blake. Swinburne rescued Blake from nearly a century of obscurity. Maybe it's time readers do the same for Swinburne.

While this is not as good as Swinburne's earlist work, "Songs Before Sunrise" is brilliant. I have found it VERY inspirational during certain tough times in my life. This book actually made me visit England to see where he stood while writing these poems.

Best poems: On the Downs, Eurydice, Mater Dolorosa, and To Walt Whitman in America.

Again, the poems of his later years were not his best, but true Romantic fans NEED to get a hold of this.

If you are like the mass of humanity you probably don't know Algernon Swinburne or his poems. It is a shame that so few do. If you'll forgive my presumptuousness, please let me tell you why you should take the time to meet the man and his poems.
First, you should meet him because he is messy.

If you have ever read Keats (lamentably few of you have probably even done this--much less reading Swinburne) then you will know the glory of the perfectly visual, perfectly written poem.

Swinburne, for all of the beauty in his words, has none of this in his writing. If the poetry of Keats is a stunningly well tended garden then the poetry of Swinburne is a lush overgrown field of wildflowers.

Second, you should meet Swinburne because he is exhilarating.

Few poets have the courage or the skill to layer line after unforgettable line like Swinburne. The very first poem in this book: A Ballad of Life, will demonstrate what I mean.

Third, you should meet Swinburne because of the very fact that he is too little read.

He is considered to be one of the group called Pre-Raphaelite poets (his book Poems and Ballads is dedicated to his friend and Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones).

This group as a whole gets criminally overlooked. After reading works by Pre-Raphaelites like Swinburne, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti I must say that I believe they stack up very well against their predecessors (the Romantics) and (in my opinion) eclipse successors like Yeats.

So, if you are looking for something to expand your literary horizons, or would just like something truly powerful and lovely to read, give this book by Swinburne a try.

I give it my recommendation.

Thhis is the best book of Pre-Raph poetry, art and history that I have ever seen/read. I cannot believe that only 2 people have read and writtewn reviews about it. I am an artist, and the artwork, etc. in this text (art school textbook for me) is extremely emotive and inspirational!

It is expensive, but it is worth every red cent to an art and poetry lover!!! Give it a chance.

The early Swinburne (1860's-1880) is a very exciting poet and critic, and he has been one of my favorites for many years now. He is said to be a young man's poet, which, if certain themes in his "Poems and Ballads" be taken on a superficial level, he may well appear to be. Swinburne's "Poems and Ballads," like every book ever written,is an acknowledged classic, a masterpiece, and all of that sort of meaningless critical verbiage-- but "Poems and Ballads" really is a masterpiece in every sense of that fairly undefinable category.
If there any aspiring poets among you who are unaquainted with Swinburne, I suggest that you become acquainted with him at once-- you will almost certainly learn something from him on how powerful a well constructed, but seemingly artless poem can be. He is an absolute master of nearly every poetic form and poetic rhythm, and one of those uncommon writers of such facility that they seem to speak for you, or rather-- Swinburne manages to put into glittering poetic phrasing, thoughts and sentiments that every person feels, but only a few writers, such as Shakespeare or Dostoevsky, can both cogently and beautifully articulate. Naturally, such writers are the envy of everyone, but reading such poems of Swinburne's as "Hymn to Proserpine," "The Leper," or "A Ballad of Life," is as genuinely pleasurable as reading can possibly be.
For those of you who do not know Swinburne, I envy you your potential new discovery-- its not every day (given the popular availability of Baudelaire, Donne, et. al.) that one can turn up a writer of such calibur from nearly a century ago-- and who, until very recently, was practically forgotten. So many great poets and writers are only able to be read by English speakers in translation- we are nevertheless fortunate in our wealth of great English writers like Shakespeare, Marvell, even Emily Bronte. Swinburne is one of those writers by whom we English speakers should count ourselves fortunate to be able to read in the original language, and should avail ourselves in doing so.

Swinburne has been my favorite poet since I passed out of my Goethe phase at around seventeen. So what if he writes in stilted, outdated language using images that have passed out of our cultural mileau? He puts words together intricately. He writes beautifully. If you read other people's accounts of him (see 'The Education of Henry Adams' for one) he was considered one of the smartest people to ever live.

He's a fine poet albeit an acquired taste. It's great that you can buy a volume of his completed works rather than having to see two works in a Norton's anthology and then... nothing...

I doubt that he'll ever again be a crowd favorite. If you've gotten to this review, buy this book. He's awesome.

Back in 1865, A. C. Swinburne came out with a poetry collection titled "Songs and Ballads" which caused much controversy for its perceived lewdness and blasphemy. These very Victorian critics branded Swinburne "the poet laureate of satyrs." Reading this book today, it's hard to understand what the big deal was about, it seems like a harmless book with a few very vague undertones of sacrilege and sadomasochism. Swinburne's language and imagery are very archaic in style and not easy to understand or appreciate. He will never again be a popular poet, but his best work is unique for its musical rhythem. His poetry was praised for its mastery of complex metre and rhyme patterns and beautiful language, but criticized by at least one prominent critic for not actually saying much. My favorite of his poems are a handful of love lyrics that I think are very beautiful. The one that sticks in my mind best is "Love and Sleep." A wonderful, wonderful little gem.

David Rehak

author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

Most of the poems in this volume just don't do anything for me. But Garden of Proserpine is my favorite poem... EVER!... and I find Hertha to be as good as any spiritual poem I've ever read, certainly the equal of Whitman's Leaves of Grass and the Anglicized dross that's come to me out of the Orient in translation as haiku, Han Shan, the Upanishads, etc. I think Baudelaire would have hit Swinburne upside the head for the yawn-worthy Ave atque Vale - but then I'm not Baudelaire, I just like Baudelaire a lot. Hymn to Proserpine has the most elegant and meaningful music of any poem I have ever read. That's right - the meaning of this poem comes from its music. Musically, what Swinburne did with the English language was the equivalent of a driver's taking a Model T Ford on the Indy racetrack and winning the 500. You just wouldn't have known the language was capable of these maneuvers!

John Swinburne, the poet's grandfather, was his idol. He had been a friend and sympathizer of Mirabeau and John Wilkes. Algernon Charles Swinburne was born in 1837. His father was an admiral, a family man. Admiral Swinburne subsidized his son's literary career.

At Eton the poet had shaped his obsessions and enthusiasms. The Victorian public school system was characteristically brutal, vicious. Swinburne was an oddity and a recluse. By age thirteen, reading on his own, he knew the plays of Marlowe, Webster, Ford, Massinger. In 1856 he entered Balliol College. Mid-Victorian Oxford had romantic charm. The Pre-Raphaelites discovered Oxford.

Benjamin Jowett claimed that Swinburne's essays were all language and no thought. Jowett taught the poet habits of work, (salvation by work). The fatal flaw of Swinburne's genius was that he lacked impetus, inspiration, notwithstanding his learning and facility.

Swinburne's POEMS AND BALLADS was brought out in 1866. He saw Byron's career as a mirror of his own. ATALANTA IN CALYDON was issued in 1865. It was dedicated to William Savage Landor.

As early as 1863 Swinburne suffered from fits. Swinburne was a figure head of an artistic movement, Art for Art's Sake. He received warnings about his conduct and the content of his writings from Browning and Ruskin. Jowett turned his Master's lodging into an intellectual salon. In the early 1870's he acted as Swinburne's external conscience. Swinburne's style of living exceeded his parents' ability to pay for it.

By 1879 Algernon's health was at its worst. Lady Swinburne and Theodore Watts-Dunton exchanged telegrams. Watts-Dunton was to act as domestic and moral nursemaid to Swinburne at The Pines located in Putney for the last thirty years of the poet's life.

This is a moderately-sized book recounting the life and times of Algernon Swinburne briskly and adequately.

I have recently come to study Swinburne's work in detail and found Thomas's biography helpful and interesting. It is a great book for those of us just coming to understand and appreciate the work of Algernon Charles Swinburne. The book reads easily, quickly and gives one a glimpse into Swinburne's world. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to begin studies on Swinburne and/or the Victorian World of writers and beyond.

Thomas's "Swinburne" is an acceptable biography, conveying the necessary names, dates and places of ACS's life. The volume, however, is curiously thin, given the monster tomes generated in recent years on Morris, Ruskin and other members of the mid-Victorian set. In covering his territory, one gets the impression that Thomas didn't quite know what to do with the prurient bits of Swinburne's life, alternately dwelling on them and skipping past them. Nonetheless, students of mid-Victorian culture should be grateful for a thoughtful book on so shamefully neglected a poet.

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) was a Victorian poet loosely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was controversial both in his character and in his work. He is most known in poetry for his mastery of euphony, rhyme, and meter.

Major elements in Swinburne's work include opposition against standard Christianity; neo-paganism (especially associated with Proserpine, Pan, and Diana); parody; and love, especially with relation to death. He is perhaps best known for his poems "The Garden of Proserpine," "Anactoria," and Atalanta in Calydon.

Everything in this book has been selected out of Swinburne's entire corpus by the editors. That means pieces these particular editors do not find necessary or important have not been included, which is always makes me nervous. I am not a Swinburne scholar, but from what I've studied to this point it seems as though these editors made worthy decisions. Furthermore, with 528 pages of text, you're still getting a good bulk of Swinburne's work.

The edition begins with a helpful but not stellar introduction. Jerome McGann uses it as much as an apologetic as an introduction to Swinburne's life and works. Also, I would have liked it if he had given explanation and background for more poems than he did. The bibliography for the introduction in the back is ideal for beginning further study of the poet.

The explanatory notes are very helpful, but certainly not comprehensive. If you want to read Swinburne and get a basic to moderate understanding of the poems with the help of notes, this book is the right level.