"The Triumph of Time" is a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, published in Poems and Ballads in 1866. It is in adapted ottava rima and is full of elaborate use of literary devices, particularly alliteration. The theme, which purports to be autobiographical, is that of rejected love. The speaker deplores the ruin of his life, and in tones at times reminiscent of Hamlet, craves oblivion, for which the sea serves as a constant metaphor.
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The Triumph of Time in the context of Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He was a major contributor to the Pre-Raphaelite movement in poetry, along with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris. His greatest works are the verse drama Atalanta in Calydon (1865), written in the form of an Ancient Greek tragedy, and his Pre-Raphaelite Poems and Ballads (1866).
In his poetry, Swinburne rebelled against the Christian morality of the Victorian era, drawing from classical, medieval, and Renaissance sources to explore atheism in "Hymn to Proserpine," suicide in "The Triumph of Time," lesbian desire in "Anactoria," and sadomasochism in "Dolores." While Swinburne's work attracted considerable scandal, it had prominent Victorian defenders, including John Ruskin.