Hymn to Proserpine (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Algernon Charles Swinburne
- First Published: 1866
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Religion, Christianity, Death or dying, Gods or goddesses, Hell, Jesus Christ, Life, philosophy of, Greek or Roman times, Rome, Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint
The Poem
“Hymn to Proserpine” is a dramatic monologue of 110 lines, not divided into stanzas. The mythological Proserpine, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, became queen of the underworld; Algernon Charles Swinburne invokes her in the title and throughout the poem as the goddess of death.
The poem is supposed to be spoken by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate (331-363 c.e.), who opposed Christianity and supported the traditional Roman pantheon. The poem has as an epigraph the Latin phrase Vicisti, Galilaee (thou hast conquered, Galilean), supposed to be...
[The entire page is 1504 words long]
