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The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne

In Six Volumes
Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909)

expand sectionI. 
VOLUME I POEMS AND BALLADS
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VOLUME II. SONGS BEFORE SUNRISE AND SONGS OF TWO NATIONS
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VOLUME III POEMS AND BALLADS AND SONGS OF THE SPRINGTIDES
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VOLUME IV TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE. THE TALE OF BALEN. ATALANTA IN CALYDON. ERECHTHEUS
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VOLUME V STUDIES IN SONG. A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS. SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS. THE HEPTALOGIA ETC.
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STUDIES IN SONG
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A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS
  
DEDICATION TO CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI
  
IN HARBOUR
  
THE WAY OF THE WIND
  
“HAD I WIST”
  
RECOLLECTIONS
  
TIME AND LIFE
  
A DIALOGUE
  
PLUS ULTRA
  
A DEAD FRIEND
  
PAST DAYS
  
AUTUMN AND WINTER
  
THE DEATH OF RICHARD WAGNER
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TWO PRELUDES
  
THE LUTE AND THE LYRE
  
PLUS INTRA
  
CHANGE
  
A BABY'S DEATH
  
ONE OF TWAIN
  
DEATH AND BIRTH
  
BIRTH AND DEATH
  
BENEDICTION
  
ÉTUDE RÉALISTE
  
BABYHOOD
  
FIRST FOOTSTEPS
  
A NINTH BIRTHDAY
  
NOT A CHILD
  
TO DORA DORIAN
  
THE ROUNDEL
  
AT SEA
  
WASTED LOVE
  
BEFORE SUNSET
  
A SINGING LESSON
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FLOWER-PIECES
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THREE FACES
  
EROS
  
SORROW
  
SLEEP
  
ON AN OLD ROUNDEL Translated by D. G. Rossetti from the French of Villon.
  
A LANDSCAPE BY COURBET
  
A FLOWER-PIECE BY FANTIN
  
A NIGHT-PIECE BY MILLET
  
“MARZO PAZZO”
  
DEAD LOVE
  
DISCORD
  
CONCORD
  
MOURNING
  
απεροτος ερος
  
TO CATULLUS
  
“INSULARUM OCELLE”
  
IN SARK
  
IN GUERNSEY
  
ENVOI
  
ATHENS:
  
THE STATUE OF VICTOR HUGO
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SONNETS
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SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS
  
A DARK MONTH
  
SUNRISE
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THE HEPTALOGIA
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VOLUME VI A MIDSUMMER HOLIDAY. ASTROPHEL. A CHANNEL PASSAGE. AND OTHER POEMS

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165

A SINGING LESSON

Far-fetched and dear-bought, as the proverb rehearses,
Is good, or was held so, for ladies: but nought
In a song can be good if the turn of the verse is
Far-fetched and dear-bought.
As the turn of a wave should it sound, and the thought
Ring smooth, and as light as the spray that disperses
Be the gleam of the words for the garb thereof wrought.
Let the soul in it shine through the sound as it pierces
Men's hearts with possession of music unsought;
For the bounties of song are no jealous god's mercies,
Far-fetched and dear-bought.
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