Algernon Charles Swinburne
A rebellious Victorian poet who intoxicated and scandalized readers with verses of sensual excess and musical fury.
1837–1909 (age 72)·English poet, playwright and novelist·Birthday: April 5
Biography
Algernon Charles Swinburne burst onto the staid Victorian literary scene like a pagan storm. Born into aristocracy, educated at Eton and Oxford, he deliberately cultivated the image of a fiery, dissolute rebel. His poetry, rich with classical allusion and a hypnotic, metrical virtuosity, celebrated themes that shocked his contemporaries: republicanism, atheism, and a florid, sometimes violent sensuality. Publications like 'Poems and Ballads' were denounced as obscene, cementing his notoriety. A close associate of the Pre-Raphaelites, particularly Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Swinburne lived a life of intense bohemian excess until a breakdown in his forties led his friend Theodore Watts-Dunton to take him in, providing a stable, sober refuge in Putney for the last thirty years of his life, where he continued to write voluminously, if with a tamer flame.
#1 When Algernon Was Born
The biggest hits of 1837
Algernon's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1837Born
1842Started school
1850Became a teenager
1853Could drive
1855Could vote
1858Turned 21
1867Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1877Turned 40
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1887Turned 50
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Turned 60
President: William McKinley
1907Turned 70
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1909Died at 72
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
Key Achievements
- Published 'Atalanta in Calydon' (1865), a verse drama in classical Greek form hailed as a masterpiece.
- His collection 'Poems and Ballads' (1866) created a major scandal for its sensual and transgressive themes.
- Was a major critical advocate for William Blake and the Elizabethan dramatists, helping revive interest in their work.
- Wrote extensively on French literature, particularly championing the works of Victor Hugo and Charles Baudelaire.
Did You Know?
He had an almost supernatural ability to recite poetry from memory for hours on end.
He was a passionate swimmer and would brave the sea in all weathers, even into old age.
He was exceptionally small and slight, with a shock of bright red hair and a distinctive, high-pitched voice.
He lived for his final 30 years under the care of his friend Theodore Watts-Dunton in a house called The Pines in Putney.
“I will go back to the great sweet mother, Mother and lover of men, the sea.”
