Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Voiture, Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Voiture, Vincent văNsäNˈ vwätürˈ [key], 1597–1648, French man of letters and poet. He wrote in the precious manner of the salon of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, in which he was a leading figure. ...

Andromeda, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Andromeda ăndrŏmˈĭdə [key], in Greek mythology, princess of Ethiopia, daughter of King Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and Cassiopeia. According to most legends Cassiopeia angered Poseidon by saying t...

Darwish, Mahmoud

(Encyclopedia)Darwish, Mahmoud, 1941–2008, widely considered the Palestinian national poet, b. Barwa, Palestine (now in Israel). He was born to middle-class Sunni Muslim farmers, who were displaced when soldiers ...

Ferreira, António

(Encyclopedia)Ferreira, António äntôˈnyo͝o fərēˈrə [key], c.1528–69, Portuguese dramatist and poet. Ferreira served as a privy councillor and a magistrate. Influenced by the Italian Renaissance, he wrote...

grace, in Christian theology

(Encyclopedia)grace, in Christian theology, the free favor of God toward humans, which is necessary for their salvation. A distinction is made between natural grace (e.g., the gift of life) and supernatural grace, ...

Graves, Robert Ranke

(Encyclopedia)Graves, Robert Ranke, 1895–1985, English poet, novelist, and critic; son of Alfred Percival Graves. He established his reputation with Good-bye to All That (1929), an outspoken book on his war exper...

Kunitz, Stanley Jasspon

(Encyclopedia)Kunitz, Stanley Jasspon kyo͞oˈnĭts [key], 1905–2006, American poet, teacher, and editor, b. Worcester, Mass. He graduated from Harvard (B.A., 1926; M.A., 1927), worked as a journalist and editor,...

naturalism, in literature

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in literature, an approach that proceeds from an analysis of reality in terms of natural forces, e.g., heredity, environment, physical drives. The chief literary theorist on naturalism was...

plum, in botany

(Encyclopedia)plum, common name for a tree of any of many species of the genus Prunus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a drupe. The plum is generally cultivated in the temperate zones, though...

Weise, Christian

(Encyclopedia)Weise, Christian krĭsˈtyän vīˈzə [key], 1642–1708, German didactic poet and dramatist. He wrote more than 60 plays, many of them written for production in schools. Perhaps the best-known are t...