Swinburne: The Poet in His World (Elephant Books) [Paperback]

Donald Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566632293 | ISBN-13: 978-1566632294 | Publication Date: February 23, 1999 | Edition: 1st Elephant pbk. ed

A child of the Victorian age, Algernon Charles Swinburne was its severest critic. He grew to become a figurehead of rebellion and modernity in the literature of the later nineteenth century, his verse proclaiming a revolution not only in the political affairs of Europe but in poetry and morals. He outraged bourgeois sensibilities with his vigorous, colorful, and frankly sensual verse. In this perceptive biography, Donald Thomas vividly portrays Swinburne as the fiery, brandy-inspired orator of his youth—a visible and striking symbol of the new order—and also as the meek versifier of his later years. Thomas succeeds in drawing an absorbing and lively picture not only of Swinburne the poet but also of the man and the world in which he lived. “So good...it leaves out none of the famous anecdotes, is un-coy and explicit about sex, and gives the appearance of being written by someone who relishes the poetry but who is capable of appreciating the parodies of it...Mr. Thomas is a reliable historian and a good writer.”—Paul Levy, London Observer. “One can readily recommend this book to advanced undergraduates or general readers.”—Choice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One can readily recommend this book to advanced undergraduates or general readers. (Choice )

So good...Mr. Thomas is a reliable historian and a good writer. (London Observer )

About the Author

Donald Thomas was educated at Oxford and how holds a chair at the University of Wales. He has written award-winning poetry as well as fiction and biography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee; 1st Elephant pbk. ed edition (February 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566632293
• ISBN-13: 978-1566632294
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,211,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Neglected Poet, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Swinburne: The Poet in His World (Elephant Books) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life over Poetry, December 13, 2009

By 

Stephen Constantelos "sbconstant" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Swinburne: The Poet in his World (Paperback)

I've always fairly despised Swinburne's poetry. The overdose on alliteration and overripe settings never did much for me, and he has always been my least favorite of the major 19th-century poets. I knew he was also a well-regarded critic, and someone who'd led an anecdote-rich life, so when I recently I read a biography of the Rossetti siblings and S's name kept coming up in some of the more charming incidents, I thought I'd dive in.

This book is indeed rich in anecdotes. Swinburne, the son of an Admiral and of noble blood, emerges as such a singular figure, who associated with just about every Victorian of note. He led a fascinating life, carrying a wit with him that Wilde--who A. C. once dismissed as a "a harmless young nobody"--would have felt dampened his own parade a bit. He was an eternal child, a classicist, a revolutionary (Mazzini his padre d'oro, Napoleon III his bête noire) who later turned conservative.

The quotes and references to Swinburne's prose travesties on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, including an incident when the fevered queen cannot resist the "smouldering sensuality" of Wordsworth's "The Excursion" and so gives in to her passion for the old Laureate, are worth the price of the book alone.

This is more a straight biography than a literary one. The author discusses--and "defends"--his subject's erotic and political proclivities in detail, but not much of S's verse is quoted, and still less of his criticism and prose. I still don't like his poetry, and I am curious to read more of his prose and criticism--Swinburne had an inventive mind. But for a life of Swinburne focusing on his eccentricities, friendships, a cavalcade of humorous anecdotes, and the definite pains and agonies he suffered to alcohol and not quite being able to find his purpose in life, this book serves its purpose well. I came away with a new-found admiration for A. C. Swinburne.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate, March 3, 2010

By 

L. Lynette Mejia (Lafayette, LA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Swinburne: The Poet in his World (Paperback)

Lots of information here, and the author doesn't shy away from the more controversial aspects of the poet's life. Two criticisms, however: First, the author jumps around, A LOT, making it sometimes hard to keep up chronologically with what is going on, and when. Second, I couldn't help but wonder if Thomas actually likes A.C. Swinburne. The timbre of the book tends to lean somewhat towards condescension at times, perhaps even derision.