O'Gorman, F (2017) Swinburne in Difficulty. SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 57 (4). pp. 823-840. ISSN 0039-3657
Abstract
This article proposes a fresh way of understanding Algernon Charles Swinburne’s mind at work on complicated political topics that he would prefer not to be complicated. I consider, as an example of a congested and unclear poem on a public subject, the fiery sonnet on the assassination of Marie François Sadi Carnot, fourth president of the Third Republic of France, on 25 June 1894; I suggest that the sonnet is indicative of a general truth: that Swinburne’s poetry is troubled when he is. I conclude by evaluating what more generally can be said, in the light of my argument, about ambiguity in poetry that is the opposite of an Empsonian type because such ambiguity is not an indicator of value but of bother.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017 Rice University, Published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This is an author produced version of a paper published in SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of English (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Dec 2015 16:40 |
Last Modified: | 20 Mar 2018 15:59 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1353/sel.2017.0036 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:92782 |