Swinburne, Catullus and expurgating Villon

A little bit of Algie goes a long way

Is any poet more out of fashion than Swinburne? Surely not many. And I admit that a little of Algernon goes a long way, but he did write remarkable verse which, though very easy to pastiche, also retains its power both to bewitch and to disturb. I was genuinely shocked as a teenager when I realised to whom “Thou hast conquered, thou pale Galilean” refer…