Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne, (1837-1909). British poet. The son of an admiral, he left Oxford University without a degree and became friendly with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelite artists. Although Atlanta in Calydon (1865) brought him overnight fame, his next work, Poems and Ballads (1866), was more controversial and was attacked by critics. Swinburne became an alcoholic and was saved from possible death in 1879 by a friend who took care of him for the rest of his life and encouraged him to continue writing. Swinburne’s later works include plays and criticism.