THE NOVELS OF A. C. SWINBURNE (377 pp.)Edited by Edmund WilsonFarrar, Straus & Cudahy ($6.50).
By the ravenous teeth that have smitten
Through the kisses that blossom and
bud,
By the lips intertwisted and bitten
Till the foam has a savor of blood
By the pulse as it rises and falters,
By the hands as they slacken and strain,
I adjure thee, respond from thine altars,
Our Lady of Pain.
Verses like this, which today would hardly cause a raised eyebrow were they to appear in the Sweet Briar College literary magazine, burst like a sinful star shell in the stodgy gloom of Victorian England. Mothers clutched...
