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Thomas Thackeray Swinburne (April 21, 1865 – December 17, 1926) was an American poet from 
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. According to local legend Swinburne's ashes were interred under the rock, but when it was moved in 1968 no remains were found. News reports, however, indicate that the poet's ashes were scattered on the Genesee River in July, following his death.
Rochester's Hope: Thomas Thackeray Swinburne
(archived) 1865 births 1926 suicides 20th-century American poets Writers from Rochester, New York University of Rochester people Suicides by drowning in the United States Suicides in New York (state) {{US-poet-1860s-stub
Thomas Thackeray Swinburne (April 21, 1865 – December 17, 1926) was an American poet from Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
. He has been called "Rochester's poet laureate" 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
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
– ''The Genesee''.
Swinburne attended the University of Rochester as a member of the class of 1892, but never graduated. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi
Theta Delta Chi () is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, Thete, Theta Delt, and Thump ...
fraternity.
One critic compared Swinburne and ''Rochester in Song and Verse'' to Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of ''Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...
and his Spoon River Anthology
''Spoon River Anthology'' (1915), by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short free verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the Spoon River, which ran near Masters' ...
.
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
The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States.
The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...
. A body was found in June 1927 at Forest Lawn, on the shore of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...
in Webster, New York
Webster is a town in the northeastern corner of Monroe County, New York, United States. The town is named after orator and statesman Daniel Webster. The population was 42,641 at the 2010 census. The town's motto is "Where Life Is Worth Living." ...
was identified as Swinburne's by his clothing, however, later some doubt was cast on the identification.
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. According to local legend Swinburne's ashes were interred under the rock, but when it was moved in 1968 no remains were found. News reports, however, indicate that the poet's ashes were scattered on the Genesee River in July, following his death.
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)References
External links
Rochester's Hope: Thomas Thackeray Swinburne
(archived) 1865 births 1926 suicides 20th-century American poets Writers from Rochester, New York University of Rochester people Suicides by drowning in the United States Suicides in New York (state) {{US-poet-1860s-stub