A talk today, Tuesday, 14th July, by American Professor Terry Myers,  marks the start of two events being held this week to mark the Algernon Charles Swinburne Centenary.

Professor Myers will be speaking on the subject of Algernon Swinburne’s funeral at Bonchurch in 1909 – a subject of high controversy at that time due to the nature of the funeral service, and which attracted much publicity in the national press as a funeral of a famous celebrity would today.

American Professor Terry Myers, a world authority on Swinburne,  will also be speaking at Algernon Swinburne’s Centenary @ Northcourt.   Todays, talk for the Freshwater Tennyson Society at Farringford Hotel, is free entry and begins at 3.30pm.

This year marks significant anniversaries for two great Victorian poets with Isle of Wight associations.

Whilst August 6th is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the former Poet Laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson, April 10th was the 100th anniversary of the death of the celebrated poet Algernon Charles Swinburne who grew up at Bonchurch, and who is buried in the churchyard there with other members of his family. Indeed, following the death of Tennyson in 1892, Queen Victoria remarked to Gladstone ‘I am told that Mr Swinburne is the best poet in my dominions’

Sadly, Swinburne vociferous political views ruled him out of the post. Nevertheless, he is arguably the most important Victorian poet after Tennyson and Browning.

As the Chancellor Professor of English at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. American Professor Terry Myers will be in England in connection with the centenary which is being marked by a major conference in London where Professor Myers will be the plenary speaker.

Professor Myers has published widely on Victorian poets including Tennyson, but his research career has been focussed on Swinburne. Several years ago he published three volumes of Swinburne’s correspondence, the result of about twenty years of work. One of his articles in the Review of English Studies has been instrumental in revising the understanding of how Swinburne’s religious scepticism developed during his time at Oxford University.

Todays talk for the  Freshwater Tennyson Society at Farringford Hotel , is free and open to all, and will be followed by a tea party for which there will be a charge. If you wish to attend please phone Verrall Dunlop on 01983-754196, as it will be useful to have an idea of the numbers expected.

Related News: Algernon Swinburne’s Centenary @ Northcourt

Editors Note: Apologies for the typo in headline but a quick google search can relay forwarding information on Algernon Charles Swinburne.