~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Léopold Sédar Senghor
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Leopold_Sedhar_Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor ( October 9, 1906 – December 20, 2001) was a Senegalese poet and statesman, serving as his country's first president from 1960 to 1980.
Born in the small town of Joal, Léopold's father was a wealthy businessman of noble descent, his mother was Muslim of Peuk origin belonging to the Tabor tribe.
When Léopold was eight he was sent to a boarding school, and at 12 he entered a seminary in Dakar, finishing secondary school in 1928.
Winning a state scholarship, Senghor moved to Paris, graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-grand in 1931. During this time he read African-American poets of the Harlem renaissance and French poets like Rimbaud. In 1932 he became a French citizen, served in the infantry and in 1935 obtained a degree in grammar.
Senghor then worked in Paris as a teacher, and at the outbreak of World War II he joined the French army. Captured by the Germans, he spent 18 months as a prisoner of war. There he learned German and wrote poetry which was later published.
Senghor's first collection of poems Chants D'Ombre was published in 1945, and in 1947 he helped create, Présence Africaine a cultural journal. He then became a member of the French National Assembly.
In 1946 Senghor married and the couple had two sons.
In 1956 Senghor became mayor of the city of Thies in Senegal, then advisory minister from 1959 to 1961. He was also a member of the committee that drafted Senegal's fifth constitution.
Denghor divorced and later married in 1957, together they had one son.
Senghor became President of the newly formed Federal Assembly, until it failed, he then became the first President of the Republic of Senegal in 1960. In 1967 he survived an attempted assassination, remaining Senegal's President until 1980.
In 1964 he published the first in a series entitled, Liberté, a collection of essays. The fifth and last being published in 1993.
Senghor was elected to the French Academy in 1983, the first African so honored. He spent his last years in Normandy, where he died on December 20, 2001.
Widely acclaimed as a poet, he helped dreate the concept of, Négritude which attempted to focus on distinctive African themes and values, hoping to draw his country's literature from the traditional French culture. Controversial, some saw Négritude as anti-white, though supporters claimed it simply shifted focus on multi-culturalism which helped strengthen African identity in Senegal. His poetry has been translated into several languages including English. His own writing style is said to be mystical and have received world wide critical acclaim. He has said that his own work would have been superficial had he remained simply a teacher and not become more involved in Senegal's growth. His influences were broad, borrowing from American and French poets and his lithesome style attempted a departure from traditional styles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Bert Leston Taylor
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Bert_Leston_Taylor
Bert Leston Taylor, born November 13, 1866 was a columnist, humorist and poet. Born in Goshen, Massachusetts. His father, who worked in the whaling industry had served as an officer in the Navy during the Civil War.
Read full description by Yemassee...
The Taylor's moved to New York where Bert attended public school and then New York University. He originally studied law but gave that up to pursue journalism. He unsuccessfully tried his hand at publishing his own magazine, then moved to Vermont where he wrote for a number of sources. Later he started his own newspaper, again unsuccessful, it lasted only a few months.
Next Taylor wrote editorials for the Manchester Union, met his wife, Emma Bonner and moved to Minnesota, where he was the editor for the News-Tribune. In 1899 Taylor moved to Chicago and entered a weekly competition for contributions to a column, "A Little Bit About Everything." The competition was run by W. H. Turner, the managing editor and Finley Peter Dunne, the well-known reporter. Taylor won the competition three weeks in a row and was offered the job of writing that column.
Due to the column's popularity, he was given his own column, "“A Line o’ Type or Two,” which was a success. Taylor resigned in 1903 and moved to Connecticut. There, he worked for the morning telegraph, then became a contributing editor to the magazine, "Puck." In 1909 he was lured back to Chicago to again resume his column for the Tribune. He remained there until his death.
Taylor wrote satirical, polished verse that covered a great many subjects. A well-regarded humorist, he usually signed his columns with his initials, "BLT" which was well recognized by readers. Taylor also loved poetry, again writing mainly light verse that hid beneath it a serious intent. His satire was more a sting than a bite, successful in part due to his language and technical skills.
Besides columns and poetry, Taylor also wrote three Librettos including, Captain Kidd, Coin Collector which was produced in 1894.
Bert Leston died from pneumonia in Chicago, March 19, 1921 survived by his wife and two children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Lucian Blaga
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Lucian_Blaga
Lucian Blaga (May 9, 1895 - May 6, 1961) The ninth son of a parish priest, Blaga grew to become one of Romania's foremost poets and philosophers. Born in Transylvania, his father died in 1908 leaving the family destitute and forcing Blaga to leave secondary school. Until the age of four, though he could talk, he purportedly never uttered a word; a period of his childhood that he later described as, "...under the sign of the incredible absence of word."
Blaga's first poems were published in 1910, followed four years later by his first philosophical article, "Notes on intuition in Bergson." Around this time he traveled to Italy, where he scoured libraries for books on philosophy.
At the outset of the first World War, Blaga began theological studies at Sibiu, graduating in 1917. In 1919 his first volume of poetry, Poemele Luminii (Poems of Light) was published. The following year, to avoid serving in the Austro-Hungarian army, he began taking theology courses at the Siblu Orthodox Seminary, the moving to Vienna to study philosophy at the University of Vienna where his thesis titled, "Culture and Cognition" earned him his PhD in 1920. At this time Blaga married and became press attaché to the Romanian legation in Warsaw and later transfered to Vienna. In 1938 he transfers to Bucharest and then Lisbon. That same year he returned to Romania, is made Professor of Philosophy of Culture at the University of Cluj. Beginning in 1943 Blaga became editor of the annual, Saeculum.
Dismissed by the Communist regime from his university professor chair in 1948, Blaga worked as librarian for a branch of the History Institute of the Romanian Academy, where until 1960 he was only allowed to publish translations. In 1956 Blaga was nominated for the Nobel Prize. He was considered the favorite to win the award until the communist government in Bucharest sent emissaries to Sweden to protest Blaga's nomination.
In 1961 Lucian Blaga died of cancer and was buried at Lâncrâm, Romania. The following years saw his works begin to be published again, some edited by his daughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. MacDonald Clarke
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/McDonald_Clarke
MacDonald Clarke 1798-1842 Born in Bath, Maine, the illegitimate son of a wealthy ship builder. He was associated with the Bohemian set in New York in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Clarke is sometimes remembered for a couplet from his poem, "Death in Disguise," which is sometimes used as a quotation:
"Now twilight lets her curtain down,
And pins it with a star."
And for an epigram he wrote:
"Tis vain for present fame to wish--
Our persons first must be forgotten;
For poets are like stinking fish--
They never shine until they're rotten."
His, "Elixir of Moonshine by the Mad Poet" was published in 1822. That was followed by, "The Gossip” in 1925 and five other collections in the next 15 years, including his collected works in 1836.
When Clarke was twelve his mother died at sea, from there he's next heard of in Philadelphia where, in Lydia Child's "Letters From New-York" she states that, "he habitually slept in the graveyard on Franklin's monument."1 Mostly forgotten today, Clarke was a well-known figure in the New York Broadway area, where he arrived around 1819, eventually becoming known as the "Mad Poet of Broadway" for his eccentric behavior and attire. "Clarke was an imitator of Byron, and copied his airs and costumes,"2 and was seen along Broadway wearing a cloth cap and "sporting a dark blue coat and red neckerchief."3 Though he early attempted to earn a living at journalism, it appears that Clarke's only source of income for most of his adult life came from his poetry. Clarke's style was humorous, sentimental, and satirical, sometimes sometimes exhibiting grotesqueness and idiosyncrasies. His early poems were directed to a select audience, the people he knew and understood. As American publishing expanded, however, Clarke adapted his style, becoming less intimate and more commercial, catering to those of a wider audience.
It's difficult to separate the truth from the apocryphal in much of Clarke's life. There are any number of stories of his eccentric exploits, some which tend to test credulity, but they do indicate the notoriety which accompanied his life.
One such account retells a story of Clarke entering a restaurant where he is noticed by a group of patrons who praise his poetry, but poke fun at his character. Speaking loudly to be over-heard by Clarke, one member of the group suggested that he'd pay a quarter to meet The Mad Poet and each member of the group, agreed the same. Clarke then walked over and addressed himself to the group, pleasantries were exchanged and each then gave the poet a quarter. Clarke then returned a nine pence to each person, which was half the sum of the quarter, stating, "Children half price!"
He fell in love with a Miss Brundage, a struggling actress, but her mother disapproved of Clarke and so the two eloped. The marriage was an impractical one, Clarke's finances were poor and as one source indicates, "he treated her so badly that she was compelled to leave him."4 Despite that treatment, In later years, when he became destitute, she took pity on MacDonald and supplied him with food. As with much of Clarke's life, these accounts are told second hand and in Child's Letters she gives a different account, more or less exonerating Clarke of the ill treatment of his wife. Child's sympathetic account of the Mad poet however, reads more like romance than biography, and is yet another impediment in gathering the real details of Clarke's life.
It seems Clarke had a fanciful, excitable nature and that compounded by constant poverty may have taken its toll for he increasingly showed signs of mental illness, and was placed in an asylum. On March 5, 1842, Clarke was found in a demented condition and was placed in a jail cell. He was then transferred to an asylum for the insane where was found dead a few days later from drowning. Among the attendees of his funeral at the Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn was his friend and benefactor, the poet Fitz Greene Halleck. His death was eulogized by Walt Whitman in two editorials and in a poem, "The Death and Burial of McDonald Clarke." It seems stories of Clarke's capricious and offbeat nature continued years after his death, for The New York Times facetiously recounted a purportedly true story of a group of Mediums who held a séance at Clarke's grave site, claiming he would appear and recite a new poem; and like so much of what is written on Clarke's life, it reads more like fiction than fact.
Notes:
1: Letters from New-York by Lydia Maria Francis Child, 1844
2 & 4: The New York Times Archive, "THE MAD POET.; An Old Print of McDonald Clarke Found in a Hartford Attic" November 12, 1893
3: The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Edward Rowland Sill
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Edward_Rowland_Sill
Edward Rowland Sill (April 29, 1841 – February 27, 1887) American poet and essayist was born in Winsor, Connecticut. He was orphaned when young and brought up by an uncle Elisha Sill in Ohio.
At seventeen he entered Yale where a classmate related in his diary, "We haven't got much of a class, but Sill is somewhat of a genius, to be sure."(1) He graduated in 1861 and attended divinity school but left it to work for the New York Evening Mail. He also taught for three years in Ohio before moving to California due to poor health.
In 1871 Sill became a principal at a high school in Oakland, California and in 1874 was appointed Professor Of English language at California University where he remained until 1882 when he resigned and returned to Ohio to again pursue literary work. There he remained, writing, mainly anonomously until his death in a Cleveland hospital after having undergone an operation.
Sill wrote poetry and prose thoughtout his life but only one collection of his poetry, "The Hermitage and Other Poems" (1867) was published in his lifetime. After his death at the age of 45, his abundant collection of writings were discovered and seven collections of his works were then published postumously. Sill was said to be, "a modest and charming man, a graceful essayist, a sure critic."2
(1) Edward Rowland Sill His Life And Work By William Belmont Parker, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1915 (Page 12)
(2) Love To Know Classic Encyclopedia, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_Rowland_Sill
Works:
The Hermitage and Other Poems (1868)
The Venus of Milo and Other Poems (1883)
Poems (1887)
The Hermitage and Later Poems (1889)
Hermione and Other Poems (1900)
The Prose of Edward Rowland Sill (1900)
Poems (1902)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Arlo Bates
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Arlo_Bates
Arlo Bates, a poet, novelist and English professor was born on December 16, 1850 in East Machias, Maine. Bates graduated from Bowdoin College, receiving a Bachelor's degree in 1876, receiving his Master's in 1879.
Bates began writing as a student, and after graduation he briefly painted china, tutored and worked as a clerk in a metal foundry. He then moved to Boston where he became the editor of the Boston Sunday Courier in 1880. After 1893 he became professor of English at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, teaching there until his death in 1918.
In 1882, Bates married author Harriet Lenora Vose who wrote under the name. Eleanor Putnam. They collaborated on a novel, Prince Vance, that was completed in 1886. Later that year Vose died and every work book that Bates published, thereafter, is dedicated to her. Together, they had one son, named Oric, and even after his wife's death, Bates remained close to her father, George Vose, a professor at Bowdoin College.
In 1884 Bates published, The Pagans, a novel that centered upon struggling artists in late 19th century Boston. A theme he revisited in other novels. Over the next twenty-five years, Bates wrote several fourteen novels, seven collections of poetry, short stories and several works of criticism. Arlo Bates, one of Maine's leading men of letters, died, August 24, 1918 at the age of 67.
Notable Works:
Collected Poems:
Berries of the Brier (1886)
Sonnets in Shadow, (1887)
a Poet and his Self (1891)
Told in the Gate (1892)
The Torchbearers (1894)
Under the Beech Tree (1899)
Novels:
Patty's Perversities, 1881
The Pagans, 1884
The Philistines, 1888
The Puritans, 1899
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. Mary Jones
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Mary_Jones
Mary Jones, ? - 1788. Little is known of Mary Jones birth or of her life as a child. Born sometime in the early eighteenth century, She never wed, and spent most of her life in Oxford, living with her brother Reverend Oliver Jones, Chanter of Christ-church cathedral.* It was said that, "She was a very ingenious poetess; and...was a most sensible, agreeable, and amiable woman." 1
Though of modest social standing, Jones developed long friendships with those in aristocratic circles. Encouraged by friends, she published her only collection of poems, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse in 1750. Mary Jones died in 1788.
1. Specimens of British Poetesses By Rev. Alexander Dyce, T. Rodd Publisher, 1827, page 206
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Holman Francis Day:
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Holman_Francis_Day
Holman Francis Day, novelist, poet, journalist and filmmaker was born, November 6, 1865 in Vassalboro, Maine and died February 19, 1935, in Mill Valley, California. In 1887 Day graduated from Colby College in Waterville, Maine and began working for several newspapers in Maine and Massachusetts, eventually being made managing editor of the Lewiston Daily Sun. In 1901 Day was appointed military secretary by Governor John F. Hill and remained at that post until 1904.
Holman Day's first book, Up in Maine (1901), was a financially successful collections of verse based upon his home state, and was said to have gone from, “edition to edition in a sale unparalleled by any volume of verse in many years.”1 Later, Day turned to writing successful novels, and in 1920 founded the short-lived, Holman Day Productions based in Augusta, Maine which produced mainly movie shorts based on his writings.
Day's writing style was folksy and humorous, and "...express with a plain, common-sense felicity the characteristics and life of the rural folks in Maine..." 2 His novels and poetry of the Maine woods marked him as one of the leading interpreters of Maine and one of its most well-known authors of the early twentieth century.
Day moved to California around 1920 and died in San Francisco in 1935 at the age of 69.
Holman Day wrote over 300 short stories, many poems, and more than 25 books including: Up in Maine: Stories of Yankee Life Told in Verse (1900), Squire Phin (1905), King Spruce (1908),The Ramrodders: A Novel (1910) and The Landloper: The Romance of a Man on Foot (1915.)
Notes:
1. The Maine Book by Henry E. Dunnack, 1920
2. Poets New and Old by Joel Benton in New York Times , August 2, 1902
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. Allan Cunningham
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Allan_Cunningham
Allan Cunningham (December 7, 1784 - October 30, 1842) was born and raised in Dumfiesshire, Scotland. At a young age Cunningham was apprenticed to a stonemason but spent his free time reading, and writing imitations of old Scottish ballads. In 1807 he contributed to Roche's Literary Recreations and in 1809 or thereabouts he sent some Scottish Ballads he claimed to have collected to be used in Cromek's "Remains of Nithdale and Galloway Song. Actually they were his own creations." He came to know the author James Hogg and through him met Sir Walter Scott who suspected that the ballads in Cromek's were in fact Cunningham's.
In 1813 he published, "Songs, Chiefly in the rural dialect of Scotland.” Thereafter, Cunningham, was persuaded by Cromek to move to London where be became a parliamentary reporter for "The London Magazine" and met the sculptor Sir Francis Chantry, later becoming his assistant and secretary. A position he held from 1814 until Chantry's death in 1841. During this time, Cunningham continued to pursue literary interests when time permitted, writing three novels, a series of stories (which he contributed to Blackwood's Magazine,) biographies, as well as many songs. Also during this time he became a part of a circle of writers that included Charles Lamb, Thomas DeQuincey, William Hazlitt and Thomas Hood.
He married the servant of the house in which he was lodging and had six children, several of whom also became writers.
Cunningham's romantic writings sometimes seem to be spoiled by rhetoric and his poetic dramas are little read today but he is best remembered for his poems and ballads.
Works by Allan Cunningham:
Traditional tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry (1822)
Songs of Scotland Ancient and Modern (1825)
Lives of The Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1829-33)
The Works of Robert Burns (1834)
Life of Wilkie (1843)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. Annie Adams Fields
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Annie_Adams_Fields
Annie Fields became a popular literary figure in Boston's social circles where she held lectures and readings in her home. An activity she continued long after the death of her husband in 1881. She was friends with many of the leading literary figures of her day, including John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry James and Mark Twain. Fields also founded several Boston charities for the poor and also contributed to both the Abolitionist and Suffragette movements.
She was a close friend of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whom she helped with literary research and she supported many young writers such as, Rebecca Harding Davis, Willa Cather, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Emma Lazarus and especially Sara Orne Jewett, who became a very close friend and companion. After the death of Fields’ husband, Annie and Jewett lived and traveled together until Jewett's death in 1909.
Annie Fields wrote a great deal of poetry, some of which may be considered dated and stilted by today's standards, though her best retain its charm. Fields is probably better known as a writer of biographies and for her influence and support for writers of her day.
Some of Field's works include:
• Under the Olive (1880), a book of verses
• James T Fields: Biographical Notes and Personal Sketches (1882)
• Authors and Friends (1896)
• The Life and Letters of Harriet Beecher Stowe (1897)
• The Return of Persephone and Orpheus (1900).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Charlotte_Perkins_S_Gilman
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, she was a niece of the novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe and great granddaughter of Lyman Beecher, a famous clergyman and temperance leader. Her father abandoned the family in 1866 and Charlotte and her mother lived in poverty.
In 1882 at the age of twenty-one, Charlotte met Charles Walter Stetson, a Providence, Rhode Island artist, whom she married in 1884. She became pregnant soon after and gave birth to a daughter, after which she sunk into a deep depression which lasted for several years. Seeking help she entered a sanitarium run by Doctor (and novelist) S. Weir Mitchell, who suggested she live a leisurely life and that she should never write again. This advice was later recounted in her story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" which was published in 1892.
In 1888 Gilman separated from her husband and they were divorced in 1894. She moved to California with her daughter where she was active in social reform. She served as the editor of "Impress," a weekly literary magazine and published stories imitative of some of the respected writers of her day. She also began lecturing and in 1893 published a volume of poetry, "In This Our World." In 1898 she published "Women and Economics" that was translated in seven languages and earned her an international reputation.
In 1900, Gilman married again, this time to George Houghton Gilman, a union which lasted until his death in 1934. George was supportive of Charlotte's career goals and the marriage seems to have been a happy one.
Becoming intrigued with Edward Bellamy's socialist romance novel "Looking Backward" Charlotte became a proponent of Nationalism, a movement which anticipated the fall of Capitalism. In 1909 she began a magazine, "The forerunner," for which she was the sole writer.
Charlotte continued to publish stories, novels and non-fiction throughout the first two decades of the Twentieth century including Herland (1915,) a Utopian tale of an all female society.
In 1932 Gilman was diagnosed with inoperable breast cancer. She died by an overdose of chloroform on August 17, 1935. In her suicide note she wrote, "I have preferred chloroform to cancer." Charlotte Perkins Gilman's work continues to gain interest and appreciation, for their feminist ideals and personal strength and are an inspiration feminists often seeking the same social changes as had Gilman more than 70 years before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12. Samuel Danforth
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/S_Danforth
Samuel Danforth was a Puritan minister, poet and astronomer, born in Suffolk, England, the sixth of seven children, he emigrated to Massachusetts with his father in 1634.
Not to be confused with his grandson, another Samuel Danforth whose poetry can be found here http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Samuel_Danforth
Read full description by Yemassee...
Arriving as a child Samuel completed his education in America. He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1643. From 1646 to 1649 he published four almanacs the earliest surviving of that kind in America. He interspersed his own poetry between tide, celestial and chronological tables. His poetry was among the earliest examples of American secular verse.
In April 1674, his treatise "The Cry of Sodom Enquired Into" is regarded as the first “execution sermon” and is based upon the sentence of hanging passed on Benjamin Goad, a young man from Danforth's congregation convicted of bestiality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13. Samuel Greenberg
(Never added to Old Poetry, I wrote this unaware that one was already there)
Samuel Greenberg (December 13, 1893 – August 16, 1917) was an Austrian-American Jewish poet who wrote lyric poetry inspired by Emerson. Greenberg grew up poor in New York's Lower East Side and had to leave school at the age of 14 to help support his family, He spent much of his last years in several charity hospitals, where he did much of his writing.
Mostly forgotten today, when Greenberg is remembered it is usually for the controvery with Hart Crane. Crane's "Emblems of Conduct," which was at first thought to be an original work, lster turned out to be a reworking of lines from six of Greenberg's poems. Crane never acknowledged his appropriating Greenberg's lines and it was not discovered until after each had passed away.
At just 23 years of age, Greenberg died of tuberculosis in the Manhattan State Hospital, ending a career that had yet to reach its formatve years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14. John Reed
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/John_Reed
John Reed was born in Portland, Oregon on October 22, 1887. He was educated at the Portland Academy and graduated from Harvard in 1910, serving on the editorial board of the Harvard Monthly and Lampoon.
After graduation Reed traveled to Spain and England, and began a career in journalism, writing for Leftist journals and magazines. In 1913 his collection of poems, "Sangor was published.
In 1914 Reed was set by Metropolitan magazine to Mexico where he spent for months with Pancho Villa's abnd his troops, and described the revolutionary fighting in, "Insurgent Mexico, 1914. Reed also reported on fighting in Germany, Serbia, and Russia among others. An operation requiring the removal of one kidney forced Reed to return to the United States.
Reed became the reader of The Communist Labor Party in Chicago, and later was wanted by the US government for criminal anarchy.
It was while on the staff of "The Masses" that he met his future wife Louise Bryant, a journalist and Marxist, they were married in 1917 and Bryant again traveled to Russia to report on the revolution, this time with Louise.
While in Finland Reed was found with diamonds, a large sum of money and letters from Trotsky and Lenin, he arrested and found guilty of smuggling.
On his release, Reed went again to Russia where he gave speeches in support of the revolution, was elected to the Executive Committee of the communist organization, Comintern. At the height of his careerm John Reed was stricken with Tyohus and he died in Moscow on October 19, 1920 and was buried behind the Kremlin wall, the only American honored as such.
Reed's "Ten Days That Shook the World" published in 1919, forcused on the critical days leading up to the Bolshevik revolution and is his most enduring work.
The 1981 movie, "Reds" starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton is the story of John Reed and Louis Bryant's relationship, Reed's involvement in the 1917 revolution and his idealistic vision of such a revolution in America.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15. Henry Webster Parker
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Henry_Webster_Parker
Henry Webster Parker, 1822-1903. Parker, the son of Reverend Samuel Parker was born September 7, 1833 in Danby, Connecticut. He received his Bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1843. He graduated Auburn Theological Seminary in 1846, received his Masters from Amherst in 1847, and was Ordained in 1848. He was married to author Helen Eliza Fitch (1837-1824) on April 20, 1852 and wrote at least one introduction to her works. Beginning in 1864 he was Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science, Professor of Moral Science and of Natural History, all at Iowa College. After Helen's death he married Susan Marie Winckley in1874. Parker received an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Iowa College in 1886.
Parker was also an editor in New York and the author of a collection of poems, The Agnostic Gospel, and another collection entitled, Poems was published in 1850. His Abolitionist pamphlet, "The despised race" was taken fro his discourse preached at the Salem Baptist Church, New Bedford, in 1862. Henry Parker died November 21, 1903 in Flushing, New York.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16. Vinicius de Moraes
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Vinicius_de_Moraes
Vinícius de Moraes (October 19, 1913 - July 9, 1980,) Born Marcus Vinícius da Cruz de Mello Moraes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His father, a scholar and poet, named Vinícius after a character in Henryk Sienkiewicz's historical novel Quo Vadis. Born into a family that loved books and music, Vinícius pursued both fields and was an instrumental figure in modern Brazilian music. As a poet, he wrote lyrics for songs, which have become classics.
He wrote his first poem at the age of seven, for a girl he knew in school and composed his first songs while a student at the Santo Ignácio School. Even at that young age, he showed a fascination with moving images, leading to yet another of his career paths.
He attended college, graduating with a degree in law, but instead pursued music and poetry, publishing his first book of poems, O Caminho para a Distância (The Road To Distance) in 1933, the first of several collections that he published in that decade. In this collection, Vinícius expresses the anguish and constant opposition between matter and spirit, he uses mysticism to try to solve the clash between the two, with love taking on a negative connotation.
His next book, Forma e Exegese (Form and Literary Interpretation) seems to find an explanation for uniting the material and spiritual worlds and is thus more positive. His writing becomes more interested in realistic, daily matters. Among his themes that concerned him, death and social worries stand out, as in the poem Operário em Construção (Construction Worker) and the play As Feras (The Beasts).
In 1936 he took a position as representative of Brazilian Education Department and there met and became friends with the writers Manuel Bandeira and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, both of whom went on to international fame.
In 1938, he went to Oxford University to study English, returning to Brazil in 1941. While in England, he married his first wife, Beatrîz. In Brazil he worked as a film critic, becoming a friend of U.S. film director Orson Welles when he visited Brazil. A tour of Brazil with the American radical novelist Waldo Frank opened Vinícius' eyes to the poverty around him, helping to shape his thoughts and his poetry.
Two years later, he pursued a career as a diplomat, spending time in the United States, France and Uruguay. While in the U.S., Vinícus' collection of poems, Sonetos e Baladas was released. His style of poetry had by now become enriched with a sense of social consciousness. He also wrote some of his most famous works Livro do Sonetos (Book of Sonnets), Procura-se um Amigo (Looking for a Friend), and Para Viver um Grande Amor (To Live a Great Love). His lyricism was written in the sensual style, which had become his trademark
Upon the death of his father in 1950, Vinícius returned to Brazil, and then in 1952 to France as second secretary to Brazil's embassy. The next year his first samba, Quando Tu Passas por Mim, released.
In 1956 he met the unknown pianist, Antonio Carlos Jobim, who Vinícus commissioned to write the music for his first play, Orfeu da Conceição. In 1959 the play was made into the Academy Award winning motion picture, Black Orpheus.
The songs of Jobim and Vinícius were recorded by many Brazilian performers of that time, including Gilberto's first three albums, which were instrumental in the growth of Bossa Nova, both in popularity and in cultural influence. Among the songs from these albums, were the hits Garota de Ipanema (Girl From Ipanema), Insensatez, and Chega de Saudade.
Among his poetry, there are many poems written for children, some of them become children songs.
Vinícius de Moraes died in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 9, 1980 at the age of 66.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17. Joseph Horatio Chant
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Joseph_Horatio_Chant
Joseph Horatio Chant was born on August 19, 1837 at Stoke Underham, Somersetshire, England. His parents moved to Canada in 1840, and settled in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Chant attended schools in the area and upon graduation taught for two years in Cathcart, Burford township.
In 1864 he attended Victoria College and entered the ministry, being ordained in 1868. That same year he married Mary McKim and the next year their first of eight children were born.
Chant, as a minister for the United Church, never remained in one place long, though he, his wife and daughter Hattie eventually did settle down in Newburg Village when he was Superannuated in 1896. His wife died in 1914 and he moved again, this time to North Bay where he lived with his daughter from 1916 until 1925.
In 1915 Chant published a collection of poems, Gleams of Sunshine. This collection of unpretentious poetry is indebted to his spirituality in which he praises God, country and nature, extolling simple virtues, but in a practical and not didactic or heavy handed manner
Joseph Horatio Chant died in North Bay, Ontario on June 8, 1928, two months short of his 91st birthday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18. Dun Karm
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Dun_Karm
Dun Karm was a Maltese writer and poet, knicknamed "The bard of Malta," as well as, "The Chaucer of Malta." He was born October 18, 1871.
Born Carmelo Psaila, Dun Karm wrote romantic verse and sonnets with classical themes, extoling his motherland and religious teachings. An ordained priest, he worked as a lecturer and grammar-school teacher, In 1921 he was appointed assistant librarian at the National Library in Malta followed two years later as director of circulating libraries where he stayed until his retirement in 1936.
He is considered Malta's national poet, having composed the lyrics to, "Innu Malti" which became the Maltese national anthem. Karm influenced many generations of Maltese poets and his work has been translated into a number of languages.
Karm's subjects touch upon Malta's ancient heritage and feature rural scenes in a romantic style which both respect British colonial rule and call for Malta's independence. The influence of the Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni can be seen in his pacifism and Karm also found expression in spiritual solitude which reflects in his scenes of country life.
Besides poetry Karm also wrote critical works, and a three volume dictionary. His home in Valletta, where he lived from 1910 to 1936 was turned into a turist attraction after World War II. Dun Karm died October 13, 1961 in Sliema, where he's spent a much of his life. He was buried in his home town, Zebbug. and was buried in his his hometown, Zebbug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19. Saint George Tucker
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Saint+George+Tucker
I lived from 1752-1828. I was from the United States, and am in the Americas category.
A Virginia jurist and writer who was born at Port Royal, Bermuda. He served at the Battle of Yorktown where he served as Governor Thomas Nelson's liaison with the French army during the American Revolutionary War. He later taught at William and Mary and served as a U.S. District Court Judge. He married the widow of Virigina politician John Randolph who had three children.
Tucker annotated Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England and wrote poems as well as, A dissertation on slavery: with a proposal for the gradual abolition of it, in the state of Virginia,
His son, Henry Saint George Tucker was a Lawyer and lecturer. His grandson, Henry Saint George Tucker was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army and was also a writer, who in his day was known for his poem, The Southern Cross which can be found here on AllPoetry. Saint George Tucker died after a long illness in 1828.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20. Juan Larrea
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Juan+Larrea
Juan Larrea was a Spanish poet and essayist who was born in Bilbao on March 13, 1895. His poetry, written mainly in French was surreal in nature, and he was considered to be a member the Creationist school.
Creationism, a short lived avant-garde literary movement among Spanish writers in France, Spain and Latin America was founded by the Chilean poet Vincente Huidobro and Pierre Reverdy in 1916. Creationism attempted to make poetry an instrument of absolute creation in which it finds meaning within itself, where the external world would be secondary to the language of the poem itself, and where the beauty of the language takes precedence over the subject. This Creationism should not be confused with the religious belief of the same name.
Inspired by the poetry of Huidobro and Gerardo Diego, Larrea, in his poetry, that tried to explain the inadequacy of the realities around him. An archivist and librarian by profession, he learned French, moved to that country and with the help of his friend, the Peruvian poet, Cesar Vallejo created the periodical, Paris Poem.
During the Spanish Civil War, Larrea went into exile in Mexico, the United States and Argentina whee he undertook a collection of essays on Cesar Vallejo, Vincente Huidobro, Picasso as well as other artists and subjects.
Larrea's style created bold images of a surrealist nature which attempted to go beyond the environment and society that he believed stifled him. His poetry was collected in the volume, Oscuro Domino which was published in Mexico in 1935. His complete works were published under the title, Version Celeste in 1969.
Juan Larrea, who many considered the leading Spanish poet of his generation, died in Cordoba, Argentina on July 9, 1980.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21. Wildie Thayer
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Wildie+Thayer
Born In Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, Wildie Thayer graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. She was the daughter of Willis and Lucy Thayer. In 1895 she published a collection of poems entitled, "First Poems" which was a selection of juvenilia.
From 1898-1899 she worked as a teacher in Fryeburg, New Hampshire. She then worked as a newspaper correspondent from 1899-1912. She also was the advertising manager for the Nashua Telegraph, 1898-1910. She also lived in Lowell, Massachusetts where much of her writing was published. Wildie seemed a realist about her writings place in literary history, for she wrote as a preface to her 1903 collection Carbon,
There may not be a line in this book which will exist long enough to crystallise in the human heart as a diamond but as carbon is commonly mentioned as the meanest of elements I have presumed to name these verses Carbon.(1)
Hopefully this short biography and her poems here on AllPoetry can help her be discovered by a few new readers.
Wildie Thayer died in Barlett, New Hampshire on September 24, 1912.
Works By Wildie Thayer:
Flower Fancies from Fairy Land, 1911
Carbon, 1903
Violilla, 1898
Morning Glory, 1897
First Poems, 1895
Footnote
(1.) The Bookman: A Review of Books and Life ...
Published by Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903
Item notes: v.18 1903-1904 Sep-Feb. page 458
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22. Elizabeth Oakes Smith
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Elizabeth_Oakes_Prince_Smith
A noted poet, essayist and lecturer of her era, Elizabeth Oakes Prince was born on August 12, 1806 in Portland, Maine.
Read full description by Yemassee...
Elizabeth Oakes Smith's father dies at sea in 1808 and she is sent to live with her grandparents until her mother remarries and moves to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. At age 12 she teaches Sunday School and plans to become a teacher but but marries instead in 1823. Her husband, Seba Smith is the editor of the Portland weekly periodical, The Eastern Argus.
Elizabeth Oakes Smith begins married life by managing the home and helps with her husband's periodical. She gives birth to six sons and contributes poems, sketches and stories to the Eastern Argus, which she signs anonymously.
In the panic of 1837, Seba Smith loses heavily on a land speculation deal in Monson, Maine. He then tries to recoup his fortune by investing in a Sea Grass Cotton scheme which also fails. Elizabeth contributes to their recovery by publishing a novel, Riches Without Wings," which deals with the panic.
Elizabeth continues to write, publishing stories in Godey's Lady's Book and other literary journals. Her first significant poem, "The Sinless Child," is published in The Southern Literary Messenger,>/i> in 1842. Later that year she publishes her first book of poetry, The Sinless Child and Other Poems.
Throughout the 1840's, she continues writing for periodicals and publishing collections of her poetry, fiction and non-fiction. During the 1850's she becomes interested in woman's issues, attending the Woman's Rights Convention in 1850 and then contributes articles entitled, Woman and Her Needs, to Horace Greeley's Tribune. In 1851, she begins lecturing. At a woman's rights convention in 1852, she is nominated for President of that convention but her nomination is rejected when she is seen wearing a dress which exposed her neck and arms.
Throughout the 1850's Oakes Smith continues publishing and lecturing in favor of woman's rights. In 1853 and 1854 she publishes, Bertha and Lily; Or The Parsonage at Beach Glen, two novels which show her increasing interest in woman's issues. She also publishes another novel, The Newsboy,>/i> concerning poverty and child labor. She also helps with the editorial of her husband's periodicals, The Weekly Budget. and Emerson's United States Magazine."
Her lecturing and writing slows during the 1860's but she addresses the Union troops and sends clothing to the soldiers. In December 1861 her son Appleton is captured and indicted for gun running and helping to outfit slave ships, but he later escapes to England. In the years that followed, Oakes Smith spends many years fighting for a pardon for here son, who does eventually receive one.
Oakes Smith's son Edward dies from Yellow Fever in 1865 and her husband Seba Smith dies in 1868. Elizabeth's financial situation worsens and she is forced to sell much of her library. She sells her home in 1870, and while traveling by ship to North Carolina, she loses most of her possessions in a shipwreck.
In the 1870's she continues to publish and serves as a pastor in New York and continues to lecture on woman's rights.
Living on Long Island, she becomes increasingly isolated and spends time writing her autobiography, A Human Life" which is never completed and with only portions being published during her lifetime.
Elizabeth Oakes Smith dies after a brief illness in Beaufort, North Carolina on November 15, 1893, relatively forgotten in her own lifetime. Intriguing enough however, is the discovery of a trading card from 1910, a collection of famous authors that were included in packages of Mogul cigarettes. One card shows a drawn image of Elizabeth Oakes Smith, with her name beneath, and to the right, a quote from one of her poems, Memory, may it always be a storehouse, not a lumber room. Intriguing in that by 1910 the accomplishments of Elizabeth had all but been forgotten.
In 1996 New York passed a legislative resolution honoring the life and works of Elizabeth Oakes Smith, a testament to a writer still not completely forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23. Henrietta O'Neill
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Henrietta+O+Niell
Henrietta O'Neill was born in 1758 (her exact birth date is unknown) the daughter of Charles Boyle, Lord Viscount Dungarvan and Susannah Hoare. On October 18, 1777 she married the well-to-do John O'Neill, a nationalist representative to the Irish Parliament. She was trained as an actress and in 1780 opened a private theater in her home. During this time she met and benefacted the young actress, Sarah Siddons, who went on to become the greatest tragedienne of the 18th century.
Besides the theater O'Neill was also a poet, and was the author of an epilogue to Shakespeare's Cymbeline. A friend of the romantic poet and novelist Charlotte Smith, O'Neill, at Smith's request, wrote, Ode To A Poppy which was included in Smith's novel, Desmond (1792).
Not much exists of O'Neill's poetry. Besides the aforementioned, Ode To A Poppy, Smith also included an interpolated poem which she entitled, Verses: Written by the same lady on seeing her two sons at play. in her collection, Elegiac Sonnets, Volume 2.
Her health failing, O'Neill traveled to Portugal several times, and she died there, near Lisbon, on September 3, 1793.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24. Sophie Jewett, 1861-1909
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Sophie_Jewett
Sophie Jewett was born in Moravia, New York on June 3, 1861. Sophie, with her parents and three siblings lived on the family homestead that was known as Grey Cottage where she learned to appreciate the orchards, gardens and wildlife that surrounded the home. Her father was a country doctor and she would sometimes travel with him over the long miles to make house calls.
When she was still young her father became ill and died and the family moved to Buffalo, which became her hometown for most of her life. As a child she showed an interest in the old books in her father's library, and when she was unable to read due to a weakness that affected her eyesight, her older sister would read to her of the foreign lands that piqued her interest. An interest that she was able to satisfy when, at 20 years of age, she journeyed to Italy and England, and from that, she found material to write a story of Saint Francis, as well as shorter sketches that she published in The Outlook and Scribner's magazine.
Already a published poet under the pseudonym, Ellen Burroughs, she published a volume, The Pilgrim and Other Poems under her own name in 1896. In 1889 Miss Jewett became an instructor of English Literature at Wellesley College, and in 1897 she was appointed associate professor.
In 1901 she published first: an introduction to a critical edition of Tennyson's The Holy Grail, second: a translation of the Middle English poem, The Pearl, and last, a collection of ballads translated from various languages. In 1905, a collection of poems, "Persephone and Other Poems" was published by the Wellesley College Department.
Miss Jewett was said to be shy and self-critical about her poetry, and disliked the process of offering her books up for publication and she was said to possess a sharp wit and was skilled at repartee.
Sophie Jewett, a writer of faith and vision, died, after a short illness, at her brothers house in Buffalo, New York in 1909,
````````````````````````````````
25.Ethel Clifford
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Ethel+Clifford
Ethel Clifford was the daughter of the novelist and journalist Lucy Lane and the English mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford. The exact date of Ethel's birth doesn't seem to be known but her father William died in 1879, so a range of about five years can be pinpointed. The Clifford's had one other child, a daughter, but nothing seems to be known of her life.
Lucy, after her husband's death had to support her two children with her writing and she became friendly with many of the influential writers of the day: Henry James, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Thomas Huxley, Leslie Stephen and Virginia Woolf. This probably left an influence on young Ethel for she inherited her mother's literary gifts and published at least two collections of poetry, "Songs of Dreams" and "Love's Journey" many of which first appeared in magazines like "Blackwood's", "Harper's" and "Outlook."
Ethel married Sir Fisher Wentwoeth Dilke, 4th Baronet (1877-1944) in June 1905. They had two children, John, born in 1906 and Christopher, born in 1913.
Ethel Clifford died in 1959.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Henry Grantland Rice (1880-1954)
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Henry_Grantland_Rice
Rice was an American sports writer who was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on November 1, 1880. A famed writer in his day, he was the man who dubbed the 1924 Notre Dame backfield, "The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame."
Rice's writing style was poetically heroic, where athletes became larger than life figures.
During his lifetime, Rice was known as the dean of American Sports writers and he had a profound effect on the craft of sports journalism.
Rice published a book of poetry, "Songs of the Stalwart" published in 1917 which contained some of his famous poetic recollections of sports heroes, as well as non-sports related poetry.
Grantland Rice died on July 14, 1954, remembered as the leading journalist of the Golden Age of Sports.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clara B. Heath 1831- ?
http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Clara B. Heath
Mrs. Clara B. Heath, was born July 28, 1831 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Clara B. Heath was the daughter of Ruben G. and Sophia (Brown) Sawyer. She was educated in Manchester schools. In 1853, she married Robert Heath, of Chester, New Hampshire. Mrs. Heath was a contributor to the magazine, Watchman many years.
Several of Mrs. Heath's hymns were included in Z.M. Parvin's "Songs of Delight," published in 1875, by AS Barnes & Co. In 1881, she published a volume of poems, entitled "Water Lilies and Other Poems," which sold well.
