Queen's Quarterly. 



Vol. XVn July, August, September. No. J 



THE POETRY OF SWINBURNE. 



THE death of Algernon Charles Swinburne in April called forth 

 lengthy and eulogistic notices from papers of every shade of 

 opinion. He was referred to in the tone one uses of a classic as ' the 

 last great Victorian,' ' the last great poet of the nineteenth century/ 

 ' the sole surviving giant of the race of Titans.' In view of this gen- 

 eral recognition of his high rank as poet, a brief account of his life 

 and work is not untimely. 



Swinburne was born in 1837 of wealthy and aristocratic family, 

 his mother a daughter of the Earl of Ashburnham, his father an 

 admiral in the British navy and son of a rich north country baronet. 

 After the usual education of the British aristocrat at Eton and Ox- 

 ford, he made a long tour of the continent. While he did not take 

 a degree from the university, he was considered a good scholar, 

 especially in the classical languages. As early as 1849 poems signed 

 A. C. S. had begun to appear in Eraser's Magazine, and so competent 

 a judge as Mr. Edmund Gosse declares they are undoubtedly Swin- 

 burne's. His first serious effort, however, was not made till 1860, 

 when he published his two plays, ' Rosamund ' and ' The Queen 

 Mother.' They were practically unnoticed by the literary world. 

 In 1865 came ' Atalanta in Calydon ' and ' Chastelard,' the first part 

 of the colossal trilogy on Mary Stuart. No young poet ever met 

 with more flattering recognition. The early reviews of Tennyson's 

 work are cold and critical in comparison with the praise and wonder 

 that filled the English literary journals at the strange, new music of 

 the choruses in ' Atalanta.' And indeed it is not surprising that such 

 a lyric as the chief Huntsman's prayer should have delighted the 

 ears of England. 



