Swinburne's "The Tale of Balen": an Edition with Critical Commentary
Warren Hill Kelly's Swinburne's The Tale of Balen : an Edition with Critical Commentary comprises a variorum-like edition of the poem that records all variances of the poem evident in its manuscript through its first and second editions, Chatto & Windus 1896 and 1904, or those editions produced during the poet's lifetime and therefore potentially bearing evidence of his editorial input. The edition forms as its basis the poet's final intention expressed in the manuscript, and notes all alterations within the manuscript and the first two published editions, and by coupling the edition's text with the notations pertaining to the manuscript, readers have access to, in effect, a transcription of the poem's manuscript. The edition contains also an introduction that accounts for the poem's antecedents, that is, the poet's life and influences as well as the history of the Balen myth, and that traces the poem's critical reception since its publication into the present. The introduction contains also a brief user's guide and some observations regarding Swinburne's manuscript practices.
Critical edition, Nineteenth Century Poetry, Swinburne, The Tale of Balen, Variorum edition, Victorian Poetry, English Language and Literature
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations