From The Triumph of Time A C Swinburne

From The Triumph of Time A. C. Swinburne An analysis by Ashwathy Subramanyan

Background/context • Algernon Charles Swinburne was born in Grosvenor Place, London, 1837. • He was part of the British aristocracy (a form of government in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule). • Educated at Oxford University. • He lived a dissolute life of excess for many years until he began to withdraw from society. • Died in 1909.

Swineburne and Religion • In religion, the Swinburnes were true to their class: they were High Church Anglicans, and the poet had a Bible reader's detailed knowledge of the scriptures. • Although he delighted in opposing organized religion and savagely attacked the Roman Catholic Church for its political role in a divided Italy, he makes detailed use of biblical allusion, though often for blasphemous ends. • Although Swinburne turned to nihilism while at Oxford, he never became indifferent to religion.

Decline and Death • In 1879, with Swinburne nearly dead from alcoholism and dissolution, his legal advisor took him in, and was successful in getting him to adopt a healthier style of life. • Swinburne lived the rest of his days at his advisor’s house outside London. He saw less and less of his old friends, who thought him "imprisoned" at The Pines. • Died in 1909 from influenza.

The Triumph of time - background • The excerpt we have is the first 6 stanzas of a 49 stanza poem. • Published in 1866 • Swinburne's characteristic form derives from the fact that his poetic ideas develop from a centre and move out from it, but are inevitably drawn back to it; and then the process repeats itself over and over, each depositing additional layers of meaning and emotion upon the central idea.

from The Triumph of Time • • • Before our lives divide for ever, While time is with us and hands are free, (Time, swift to fasten and swift to sever Hand from hand, as we stand by the sea) I will say no word that a man might say Whose whole life's love goes down in a day; For this could never have been; and never, Though the gods and the years relent, shall be. Is it worth a tear, is it worth an hour, To think of things that are well outworn? Of fruitless husk and fugitive flower, The dream foregone and the deed forborne? Though joy be done with and grief be vain, Time shall not sever us wholly in twain; Earth is not spoilt for a single shower; But the rain has ruined the ungrown corn. It will grow not again, this fruit of my heart, Smitten with sunbeams, ruined with rain. The singing seasons divide and depart, Winter and summer depart in twain. It will grow not again, it is ruined at root, The bloodlike blossom, the dull red fruit; Though the heart yet sickens, the lips yet smart, With sullen savour of poisonous pain. To become less strict/ harsh dry external covering of fruits/seeds, esp. corn. “two” Sour taste

from The Triumph of Time (cont. ) • • • I have given no man of my fruit to eat; I trod the grapes, I have drunken the wine. Had you eaten and drunken and found it sweet, This wild new growth of the corn and vine, This wine and bread without lees or leaven, sediment in wine, yeast. We had grown as gods, as the gods in heaven, Souls fair to look upon, goodly to greet, One splendid spirit, your soul and mine. In the change of years, in the coil of things, turmoil In the clamour and rumour of life to be, We, drinking love at the furthest springs, Covered with love as a covering tree, We had grown as gods, as the gods above, Filled from the heart to the lips with love, Held fast in his hands, clothed warm with his wings, O love, my love, had you loved but me! We had stood as the sure stars stand, and moved As the moon moves, loving the world; and seen Grief collapse as a thing disproved, Death consume as a thing unclean. Twain halves of a perfect heart, made fast Soul to soul while the years fell past; Had you loved me once, as you have not loved; Had the chance been with us that has not been.

First Impressions • “The Triumph of Time”: a vindictive triumph, having taken away a loved one? Or a triumph of healing grief and wounds? • Narrator: an internal monologue of someone who has lost a loved one. • Audience: a loved one addressed in the confines of the narrator’s head, and the narrator himself brooding. • Themes: time; eternal soul/love; nature; Relegion; • Ideas (Initial thoughts from first few readings): Unrequited love; a lament for might have (and should have) been; the separation of two souls perfect for each other; Time making life go on;

Structure • The structure of the poem generally follows the ottava rima: a rhyming stanza form usually with the following scheme: abababcc, a couplet at the end. • But, Swinburne has broken convention and placed the couplet in lines 5&6, following the pattern: ababccab. • Iambic pentameter evident. • My analysis: the elegant, stately form of the poem is worthy of the narrator’s extravagant love, to honour her memory. It also may show that the narrator is attempting to organise his thoughts, but failing in this as shown by the misplacement of the couplet. • Couplets are considered as a closure: so the “unfinished” strain of thoughts could reflect a constant cycle going on in the poets head.

Structure • Rhyme in the poem, coupled with the rather slow rhythm (contributed to by longer lines and more vowels at the start) and iambic pentameter gives the poem a mournful tone, like an elegy. This tone is set up at the beginning of the poem. • The start of the poem suggests being on the brink of a great change: “Before our lives divide forever. ” And the poet setting out on a task of saying things unsaid so far (“Before…while time is with us and hands are free”) and opens in an image of a shipwreck “Time…swift to sever hand from hand as we stand by the sea” which is a metaphor for the desolation the speaker feels at the loss of his love. • Pace increases from stanza 3 due to shorter sentences and increased breaks (from commas, etc. ) suggests an increase in the torment of his mind. • Isolation of “One splendid spirit, your soul and mine. ” in the fourth stanza shows how he and his love felt detached from the rest of the world, and it was only the two of them “drinking love at the furthest springs” without any interference from the “clamour and rumour of life”. Internal rhyme evokes a feeling of too much going on in life.

Alliteration • Alliteration used liberally in stanza 3 also contributes to the increased pace. • “singing seasons” – sibilance suggests a certain softness of sentiment, and use of word “singing” has a pleasant effect. Seasons are personified as happy and pleasant. • “singing seasons divide and depart” – But the soft sibilance is counteracted by the hardness of “divide and depart”: reflecting the hard thoughts circling the head of the narrator (separation from his lover). • This line also has an effect of life passing by the narrator, and he feels detached from its happiness: Though the seasons sing, “the heart yet sickens, the lips yet smart, with sullen savour of poisonous pain. ” Other images of passing time not erasing his strong feelings: “though gods and the years relent, (never) shall be. ” “In the change of years, in the coil of things, in the clamour and rumour of life to be, We, drinking love at the furthest springs” – again shows how the two lovers are apart from the mundane mortal world.

Alliteration • A similar effect is created in the final line of stanza 3: “with sullen savour of poisonous pain” – sibilance lingers in the mouth, as though the poet was relishing the taste. Hard sound of “p” stamps the permanency of the pain. • More sibilance: “One splendid spirit, your soul and mine” the lingering sound expresses an attempt to cling on to his lost lover. • “bloodlike blossom” – • “stood as the sure stars stand” – alliteration again evokes the feeling of being rooted and permanent, the words reinforce this “sure stars stand”. As this is in the past, “we had stood”, this permanency expresses a regret that things are not the same. • “moved as the moon moves” – assonance.

Semantic Fields • Noticeable semantic fields of nature and religion (all adding to themes of time and love): 1. Religion: “we had grown as gods, as the gods in heaven” is repeated in the next stanza as “we had grown as gods, as the gods above. ” uncapitalization of “god” and the plural form shows that it is not a Christian idea, but a “heathen” idea, which in those days, were associated with wildness of nature (of people). Swinburne alludes that his love is wild, but pure: “as the gods in heaven”; and divine: “one splendid spirit, your soul and mine. ” Swinburne says his love is of the eternal kind. The word “soul” is used again in the final stanza. Swinburne intimates that his love is his soul mate by combining two different souls into one. Also: “two halves of a perfect heart” meaning, one is incomplete without the other. “perfect” emphasises the incompleteness of one without the other. But the speaker is pessimistic: this feeling of completeness would only have arisen if his lover had “eaten and drunken and found (his love) sweet”, only then would they have been raised to a spiritual level.

Semantic Fields 2. Nature: images of nature are used as metaphors for love, but it is usually associated with an empty, incomplete feeling (oxymorons): “fruitless husk, fugitive flower”, “which again shows the pessimistic view of the speaker. The flower is a metaphor for the feelings in his heart which are held “fugitive” because his love is unrequited. “the rain has ruined the ungrown corn” and “it will grow not again, this fruit of my heart, Smitten with sunbeams, ruined with rain” and it is repeated again “it will grow not again, it is ruined at root, ” the repetition of “will not grow” expresses the hopelessness the speaker feels of his ever being happy again. “The fruit” of his heart is the love he is capable of, which “will grow not again, it is ruined at root” The root is heart, which is compared to a “bloodlike blossom” and a “dull red fruit”. Use of “bloodlike” brings an image of pain and sacrifice, as blood symbolises these, and juxtaposition of this with “blossom”, which represents his love, expresses how painful his love is. And “dull” shows his extinguished heart – it is not bright anymore. “I have given no man my fruit to eat” – he has deliberately withheld his better nature and all that it offers against all mankind: “I trod the grapes, I have drunken the wine”, and he regrets that “had you eaten and drunken and found it sweet”, their love would have been comparable to that of gods! But he never showed his soul mate his virtues, so now can only brood on what WOULD have been.

Other Imagery • Winter and Summer: possibly symbolising the two lovers who “depart in twain. ” • Personification of love: “held fast in his hands, clothed warm in his wings” portrayed as a protector, providing comfort and safety to the two lovers. • We see that the poet is just picturing ideals in the last line that stanza: “O love, my love, had you loved but me!” - an exclamation of desire and grief. • Similies: “stood as the sure stars stand” but also “moved as the moon moves”. Stars are fixed, but the moon shifts position. Stars and Moon symbolises trust: “sure stars stand”, and benevolence: “loving the world”, and also the two are the most prevalent elements of the night, eternal and beautiful, and again, Swinburne portrays his love as otherworldly. And also, while the had “stood” and “moved”, the stars and moon “stand” and “moves” – they are eternal.

Other analysis • Rhetorical questions put to himself: “is it worth a tear, is it worth an hour, to think of things that are well outworn? ” shows that a long time has passed since the lovers’ separation but he still regrets its loss: “the dream foregone and the deed forborne? ” • He is pessimistic from the start “this could never have been; and never…shall be. ” But continues picturing ideals and regretting what might have been, “though joy be done with and grief be vain. ”

Final stanza • Pace suddenly increases, due to shorter sentences, as excitement of the thoughts increases. “and seen Grief collapse…Death consume…” they had achieved so much together. • The speaker again expresses that they are two halves of a whole: “twain halves of a perfect heart, made fast” and even says that they are “perfect” together. • The final two lines of this extract again retreats to pessimism: “Had you loved me once, as you have not loved; Had the chance been with us that has not been. ” and ends on a regretful note.

Final note • This is an extremely long poem and I may have missed out a lot more analysis, so please feel free to point them out, and if you disagree with my analysis, please feel free to give your own opinions ^. ^ - Ash : D