We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
William Percy French was an Irish poet, song writer and watercolour artist. He is best known for his jaunty songs, the most famous probably being Abdul Abulbul Amir. He performed many of them himself on the stage, thus making him one of the most popular entertainers of the late 19th century. He was born on the 1st May 1854 at Cloonyquin House which is ...
William Ellery Leonard was an American poet and translator of epic works such as Beowulf and classical pieces by Lucretius and Aesop. He also served time as assistant professor of English at Wisconsin university and was well-known as a literary scholar. He was born William Ellery Channing Leonard on the 25th January 1876 in Plainfield, New Jersey. His parents were great admirers of the ...
William Gilmore Simms was a 19th century American novelist, historian and poet who had strong pro-slavery views which, understandably, were at odds with many others around at that time. He belonged to the so-called “sacred circle” of southern-based intellectuals including Nathaniel Beverley Tucker and Edmund Ruffin who had strong moral views on the subject of master and slave. Simms even wrote a novel deliberately ...
William Haines Lytle was a 19th century American poet, politician and soldier who saw distinguished service in both the Civil War and the Mexican-American War, reaching the rank of Brigadier-General. He lost his life to a Confederate army sniper bullet at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. He was born on the 2nd November 1826 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His family circumstances were comfortable and he was educated at ...
William Henry Ogilvie was a Scottish/Australian “bush ballad” poet and journalist, his name usually shortened to Will. He spent a good deal of time working in the outback as a drover where he became an expert horseman and horse breaker. He was born on the 21st August 1869 close to the Scottish border town of Kelso in Roxburghshire. He came from a large family of eight children ...
William Gay was a 19th century Australian poet and occasional teacher who had emigrated from Scotland. He was born on the 2nd May 1865 in Renfrewshire. His father, who was also called William and worked as an engraver who created patterns that would be used in the production of wallpaper, was very religious and hoped that his son would become a church minister. William jnr though ...
Winthrop Mackworth Praed was a 19th century English poet and politician whose life was tragically cut short by tuberculosis. He was born on the 28th July 1802 in London and he owed his unusual surname to a great grandfather’s marriage into a Cornish family. His father held the centuries old title of serjeant-at-law, meaning that he was a highly respected barrister. Young Winthrop began ...
Woodrow Wilson was an American academic and occasional poet who had numerous books and essays published during his lifetime. He is, though, more famous for being President of the USA - the 28th, to be exact. He served for two consecutive terms of office running between 1913 and 1921. He was born Thomas Woodrow Wilson on the 28th December 1856 in Staunton, Virginia. His family ...
The ancient Greek poet and philosopher known as Xenophanes of Colophon, who was also a great theologian and social commentator, spent much of his life travelling throughout the Greek lands, possibly reaching the island of Sicily at some point. His poetry was written in iambic and elegiac style and it is believed that he was the first of his kind to write in ...
Yehudah HaLevi was a medieval Spanish poet and philosopher who is known by a number of names including the Hebrew Judah Ha-Levi and the Arabic version, Abu al-Ḥasan al-Lawi. It is believed that he was born around the years 1085 or 1086 in Toledo in the southern Castile region. These were turbulent times in that part of Spain with the Christian King Alfonso ...
