Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909), was a major English poet. He shocked Victorian England with his devotion to pleasure and his unorthodox religious and political beliefs. The sensuality of his verse scandalized many readers. Today, Swinburne’s life and poetry do not seem so unconventional and shocking as they once did. However, the unusual technical skill of his poetry still retains its power to surprise.
Swinburne was born on April 5, 1837, in London. He attended Oxford University but left in 1860 to lead a bohemian life in London. For several years, Swinburne wrote much passionate but carefully composed poetry. His style emphasized long melodic lines with varied meters and complex rhyme schemes. Even more than most poets, Swinburne achieved beautiful and strange effects through the sound of words. For example, the knight of “Laus Veneris” wishes to die “where tides of grass break into foam of flowers,/or where the wind’s feet shine along the sea.” Many of Swinburne’s poems were inspired by Elizabethan writers, French poets, and ancient Greek and Roman writers. Swinburne first gained fame with his verse play Atalanta in Calydon (1865) and his collection Poems and Ballads (1866).
Swinburne’s pleasure-seeking way of life led to his collapse in 1879. For the rest of his life, he lived in the home of a friend, Theodore Watts-Dunton. Swinburne continued to write poetry as well as drama and literary criticism. He died on April 10, 1909.
