SOURCE: Hyder, Clyde K. Introduction to Swinburne as Critic, pp. 1-22. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972.

In the following essay, Hyder contends that Swinburne's critical perspective was informed by his work as a poet.

I

A critic of any century is likely to be remembered for his judgment, which should be based on knowledge, and taste. Critical aims, whether professed openly or merely implicit, may differ in emphasis. It has been pointed out that nineteenth-century critics tended to conceive of literature as expressive of an author's ideas and emotions, as a mirror of nature (both human and wild) or reality, as a work of art conforming to accepted standards, and as an organic whole.¹ Among the Romantic critics, those of the generation preceding his, Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) particularly admired Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb, both of whom he surpassed in range, in catholicity of taste, and in...