Thomas Thackeray Swinburne
American poet
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Thomas Thackeray Swinburne (April 21, 1865 – December 17, 1926) was an American poet from Rochester, New York . He has been called "Rochester's poet laureate" [1] He wrote a number of books of verse which he printed himself; one of these— By the Genesee: Rhymes and Verses —contains a version of the poem which, set to music by Herve D. Wilkins , has become the alma mater of the University of Rochester [2] – The Genesee . [3]
Swinburne attended the University of Rochester as a member of the class of 1892, but never graduated. [4] He was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity. [5]
One critic compared Swinburne and Rochester in Song and Verse to Edgar Lee Masters and his Spoon River Anthology . [6]
In December 1926, distraught over the death of his sister Rose, to whom he had dedicated By the Genesee and Rochester in Song and Verse , he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge into the Genesee River . [4] [7] A body was found in June 1927 at Forest Lawn, on the shore of Lake Ontario in Webster, New York was identified as Swinburne's by his clothing, [8] however, later some doubt was cast on the identification. [9]
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The University of Rochester and the Rochester community honored Swinburne with a memorial, Swinburne Rock , placed "beside the Genesee" near the University's Interfaith Chapel. The memorial, proposed in 1927 and dedicated in 1933, is a 26 ton glacial boulder holding a bronze plaque with verses from The Genesee sculpted by Alphonse A. Kolb . [6] [10] [11] According to local legend Swinburne's ashes were interred under the rock, but when it was moved in 1968 no remains were found. [12] News reports, however, indicate that the poet's ashes were scattered on the Genesee River in July, following his death. [13]
Books
- By the Genesee: Rhymes and Verses (1900)
- St. Peter's Chimes & Bells of St. Peter (1902)
- Rochester Rhymes (1907)
- The Steingod: A Tale of Halloween (1908)
- Sonnets of Sonnenberg (1911)
- Rochester in Song and Verse, with Other Rhymes (1924)
- The Cosmies: A Little Science for Little People
- Cascónchiagón (one sheet, illustrated by Thomas Davies)
References
- ↑ Shilling, Donovan. "An Ode to the Genesee" . Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
- ↑ "Symbols at Rochester" . University of Rochester . Retrieved May 23, 2016 .
- ↑ Swinburne, Thomas T. (1900). By the Genesee: Rhymes and Verses .
- 1 2 Slater, John R. "Tom Swinburne, Poet-Philosopher of the Genesee" . Rochester Review . Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
- ↑ University of Rochester (1911). General Catalogue of the University of Rochester, 1850-1911 .
- 1 2 "College Friends Will Dedicate Memorial to Thomas T. Swinburne" (PDF) . Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . December 17, 1927 . Retrieved December 26, 2013 .
- ↑ "Poet of Genesee suicides" . Reading (PA) Eagle . December 19, 1926 . Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
- ↑ "Laundry Marks on Collar Prove Body Found in Lake Swinburne's" . Democrat and Chronicle. June 5, 1927 . Retrieved November 16, 2019 .
- ↑ "Teeth Prove Body found in Lake Ontario not Swinburne's" . Democrat and Chronicle. June 4, 1927 . Retrieved November 16, 2019 .
- ↑ University of Rochester. "The Swinburne Rock" . Landmarks . Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
- ↑ "Thomas Thackeray Swinburne" . Rochester's Hope . Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
- ↑ Pieterse, Janice Bullard (2014). Our Work is But Begun: A History of the University of Rochester, 1850-2005 . Boydell & Brewer. p. 208. ISBN 9781580465038 . Retrieved November 14, 2019 .
- ↑ "Ashes of Swinburne will be scattered on the Genesee at Service" . Democrat and Chronicle. June 8, 1927 . Retrieved November 16, 2019 .
External links
- Rochester's Hope: Thomas Thackeray Swinburne (archived)
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