The Sweeniad
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: 2nd ed.,
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair. Jacket: Worn/faded, some tears — dust jacket present but showing age-related fading and light wear to edges; price clipped. Page Condition: Some yellowing and moisture/staining visible on the pages. Markings: Some water stain marks or foxing visible on the lower-left page area. Binding condition: Appears intact but aged. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
The Sweeniad is a sharp and witty satirical poem that takes direct aim at T.S. Eliot and the modernist literary establishment of mid-20th century Britain. Written under the pen name Myra Buttle — the pseudonym of Victor Purcell — the work parodies Eliot's style and cultural authority with biting comic precision, mimicking the obscure allusiveness and portentous tone of poems like The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes. The poem presents a scathing yet brilliantly crafted critique of literary pretension, arguing that the emperor of modernism has no clothes. Purcell's razor-sharp verse and accompanying prose commentary illuminate the absurdities of critical reverence, making The Sweeniad both a celebrated literary joke and a serious intellectual provocation that delighted readers and infuriated Eliot's admirers in equal measure.
Author: Myra Buttle
Format: Hardback
Published: 1958, Skilton
Genre: Poetry
Edition: 2nd ed.,
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair. Jacket: Worn/faded, some tears — dust jacket present but showing age-related fading and light wear to edges; price clipped. Page Condition: Some yellowing and moisture/staining visible on the pages. Markings: Some water stain marks or foxing visible on the lower-left page area. Binding condition: Appears intact but aged. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
The Sweeniad is a sharp and witty satirical poem that takes direct aim at T.S. Eliot and the modernist literary establishment of mid-20th century Britain. Written under the pen name Myra Buttle — the pseudonym of Victor Purcell — the work parodies Eliot's style and cultural authority with biting comic precision, mimicking the obscure allusiveness and portentous tone of poems like The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes. The poem presents a scathing yet brilliantly crafted critique of literary pretension, arguing that the emperor of modernism has no clothes. Purcell's razor-sharp verse and accompanying prose commentary illuminate the absurdities of critical reverence, making The Sweeniad both a celebrated literary joke and a serious intellectual provocation that delighted readers and infuriated Eliot's admirers in equal measure.