Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

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]

Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

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]

"Swinburne Rock" - memorial to Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

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)
gollark: 128GB on my laptop, foolishly.
gollark: I do actually have a local copy of the memeCLOUD™ stored, which is nice.
gollark: I do not have the original image.
gollark: * there
gollark: I might maybe photograph it, but I am not *here*.

References
  1. Shilling, Donovan. "An Ode to the Genesee". Retrieved Dec 17, 2013.
  2. "Symbols at Rochester". University of Rochester. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  3. Swinburne, Thomas T. (1900). By the Genesee: Rhymes and Verses.
  4. Slater, John R. "Tom Swinburne, Poet-Philosopher of the Genesee". Rochester Review. Retrieved Dec 17, 2013.
  5. University of Rochester (1911). General Catalogue of the University of Rochester, 1850-1911.
  6. "College Friends Will Dedicate Memorial to Thomas T. Swinburne" (PDF). Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. December 17, 1927. Retrieved Dec 26, 2013.
  7. "Poet of Genesee suicides". Reading (PA) Eagle. Dec 19, 1926. Retrieved Dec 17, 2013.
  8. "Laundry Marks on Collar Prove Body Found in Lake Swinburne's". Democrat and Chronicle. 5 June 1927. Retrieved Nov 16, 2019.
  9. "Teeth Prove Body found in Lake Ontario not Swinburne's". Democrat and Chronicle. 4 June 1927. Retrieved Nov 16, 2019.
  10. University of Rochester. "The Swinburne Rock". Landmarks. Retrieved Dec 17, 2013.
  11. "Thomas Thackeray Swinburne". Rochester's Hope. Retrieved Dec 17, 2013.
  12. Pieterse, Janice Bullard (2014). Our Work is But Begun: A History of the University of Rochester, 1850-2005. Boydell & Brewer. p. 208. Retrieved Nov 14, 2019.
  13. "Ashes of Swinburne will be scattered on the Genesee at Service". Democrat and Chronicle. 8 June 1927. Retrieved Nov 16, 2019.


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