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Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic, known for his controversial and often erotic themes. He was a key figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and was heavily influenced by French literature, particularly the works of Charles Baudelaire. Swinburne's best-known works include the poetry collections "Poems and Ballads" and "Songs before Sunrise," which showcase his mastery of meter and rhyme, as well as his innovative use of language and exploration of taboo subjects.
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HOPE AND FEARBeneath the shadow of dawn's aerial cope,With eyes enkindled as the sun's own sphere,Hope from the front of youth in godlike cheerLooks Godward, past the shades where blind men gropeRound the dark door that prayers nor dreams can ope,And makes for joy the very darkness dearThat gives her wide wings play; nor dreams that fearAt noon may rise and pierce the heart of hope.Then, when...
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CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE The first great English poet was the father of English tragedy and the creator of English blank verse. Chaucer and Spenser were great writers and great men: they shared between them every gift which goes to the making of a poet except the one which alone can make a poet, in the proper sense of the word, great. Neither pathos nor humor nor fancy nor invention will suffice for that:...
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THE LAST ORACLE (A.D. 361)Years have risen and fallen in darkness or in twilight, Ages waxed and waned that knew not thee nor thine,While the world sought light by night and sought not thy light, Since the sad last pilgrim left thy dark mid shrine.Dark the shrine and dumb the fount of song thence welling, Save for words more sad than tears of blood, that said: Tell the king, on earth has...
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THE SEABOARD.Thesea is at ebb, and the sound of her utmost wordIs soft as the least wave’s lapse in a still small reach.From bay into bay, on quest of a goal deferred,From headland ever to headland and breach to breachWhere earth gives ear to the message that all days preachWith changes of gladness and sadness that cheer and chide,The lone way lures me along by a chance untriedThat haply, if hope...
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ERECHTHEUS.Mother of life and death and all men's days,Earth, whom I chief of all men born would bless,And call thee with more loving lips than theirsMother, for of this very body of thineAnd living blood I have my breath and live,Behold me, even thy son, me crowned of men,Me made thy child by that strong cunning GodWho fashions fire and iron, who begatMe for a sword and beacon-fire on thee,10Me...
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THE ARGUMENT. Althaea, daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, queen of Calydon, being with child of Meleager her first-born son, dreamed that she brought forth a brand burning; and upon his birth came the three Fates and prophesied of him three things, namely these; that he should have great strength of his hands, and good fortune in this life, and that he should live no longer when the brand then in the...
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THE HIGHER PANTHEISMIN A NUTSHELL One, who is not, we see: but one, whom we see not, is:Surely this is not that: but that is assuredly this.What, and wherefore, and whence? for under is over and under:If thunder could be without lightning, lightning could be without thunder.Doubt is faith in the main: but faith, on the whole, is doubt:We cannot believe by proof: but could we believe without?Why, and...
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IA month without sight of the sunRising or reigning or settingThrough days without use of the day,Who calls it the month of May?The sense of the name is undoneAnd the sound of it fit for forgetting.We shall not feel if the sun rise,We shall not care when it sets:If a nightingale make night's airAs noontide, why should we care?Till a light of delight that is done rise,Extinguishing grey...
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SCENE I.—The Upper Chamber in Holyrood. The four MARIES. MARY BEATON (sings):— 1. Le navire Est a l'eau; Entends rire Ce gros flot Que fait luire Et bruire Le vieux sire Aquilo. 2. Dans l'espace Du grand air Le vent passe Comme un fer; Siffle et sonne, Tombe et tonne, Prend et donne A la mer. 3. Vois, la brise Tourne au...
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JOSEPH MAZZINI 1867 Upon a windy night of stars that fell At the wind's spoken spell,Swept with sharp strokes of agonizing light From the clear gulf of night,Between the fixed and fallen glories one Against my vision shone,More fair and fearful and divine than they That measure night and day,And worthier worship; and within mine eyes The formless folded skiesTook shape and were...
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