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Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of, 1771–1820, Scottish philanthropist, founder of the Red River Settlement. Emigration to America seemed to him the best solution for the poverty of his countrymen...

Dove, Rita

(Encyclopedia)Dove, Rita, 1952–, American poet, b. Akron, Ohio, studied Iowa Writers' Workshop (M.F.A., 1977). Her first poetry collection, Ten Poems, was published in 1977. Her verse is at once concise, precise,...

Burton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Burton, Robert, 1577–1640, English clergyman and scholar, b. Leicestershire, educated at Oxford. He served as librarian at Christ Church, Oxford, all his life; in addition he was vicar of St. Thomas...

Donne, John

(Encyclopedia)Donne, John dŭn, dŏn [key], 1572–1631, English poet and divine. He is considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets. All of Donne's verse—his love sonnets and his religious and philosophic...

Fairfax of Cameron, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Fairfax of Cameron, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Baron, 1693–1781, proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, b. England. He inherited the Northern Neck, comprising the land between the Rappahannock and Po...

Prince, Thomas, 1687–1758, American clergyman, scholar, and historian

(Encyclopedia)Prince, Thomas, 1687–1758, American clergyman, scholar, and historian, b. Sandwich, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1709. From 1709 to 1717 he was abroad; he studied in London and preached at a Congregational...

Lawrence, D. H.

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert Lawrence), 1885–1930, English author, one of the primary shapers of 20th-century fiction. Lawrence believed that industrialized Western culture was dehumanizing beca...

Lawrence, James

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence, James, 1781–1813, American naval hero, b. Burlington, N.J. He entered the navy in 1798 and saw his first important service in the Tripolitan War. In the War of 1812, as commander of the Ho...

poinciana

(Encyclopedia)poinciana poinsēāˈnə, –ăˈnə [key], any shrub or tree of the tropical and subtropical genus Poinciana of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Poincianas are popular ornamentals for their sho...

Argus

(Encyclopedia)Argus ärˈgŏs, –gəs [key], in Greek mythology. 1 Many-eyed monster, also called Panoptes. He guarded Io after she had been changed into a heifer. After Hermes slew the monster, Hera took his eyes...