The Works of Thomas Swinburne

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!

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 Rehakauthor of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

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 So what if he writes in stilted, outdated language using images that have passed out of our cultural mileau?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.