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 celebrated poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, who grew up at East Dene, Bonchurch and who is buried in the churchyard there with other members of his family.
Professor Myers will be giving a talk for the Farringford Tennyson Society at Farringford, Freshwater on Tuesday, July 14 at 3.30pm.
Professor Myers will be speaking at Farringford on the subject of Swinburne’s funeral at Bonchurch in 1909 which was the subject of high controversy due to the nature of the funeral service, and which attracted wide publicity in the national press of the time as a funeral of a famous celebrity would today.
The talk is free and open to all, and will be followed by a tea party for which a charge will be made.
If you wish to attend, please phone Verrall Dunlop on 01983-754196 , as it will be useful to have some idea of the numbers expected.
Background on Professor Myers
American Professor Terry Myers, a world authority on Swinburne, will be speaking at two events, this one today and another on Thursday (more details to follow).
Professor Myers is the Chancellor Professor of English at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He will be in England in connection with the centenary which is being marked by a major conference in London at which Professor Myers will be the plenary speaker.
Professor Myers has published widely on Victorian poets including Tennyson, but his research career has been focused 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 the understanding of how Swinburne’s religious scepticism developed during his time at Oxford University.
Image: Balliol College
