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Gregory of Narek, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory of Narek, Saint, c.950–1003, Armenian monk, mystic poet, and theologian, Doctor of the Church. He entered monastic life at an early age, becoming a priest at age 25. Gregory wrote letters, o...

Gómez de Avellaneda, Gertrudis

(Encyclopedia)Gómez de Avellaneda, Gertrudis hĕrtro͞oˈᵺēs gōˈmĕth dā ävĕlyänāˈᵺä [key], 1814–73, Spanish poet, b. Cuba. She went to Spain in 1836. Her passionate and poignant verses reflecting ...

Folengo, Teofilo

(Encyclopedia)Folengo, Teofilo tāôˈfēlō fōlĕngˈgō [key], 1496–1544, Italian burlesque poet, who used the pseudonym Merlinus Cocaius or Merlino Cocajo. A Benedictine monk, he left (c.1515) his monastery t...

Labé, Louise

(Encyclopedia)Labé, Louise lwēz läbāˈ [key], c.1520–1566, French poet. She was an active member of the so-called Lyons school of poets headed by Maurice Scève. Labé's elegies and sonnets, in Oeuvres (1555)...

Tempe, Vale of

(Encyclopedia)Tempe, Vale of, Gr. Témbi, valley, c.5 mi (8 km) long, E central Greece, NE Thessaly, between Mt. Olympus and Mt. Óssa. Traversed by the Piniós River, the valley is famous for its rugged grandeur. ...

Theocritus

(Encyclopedia)Theocritus thēŏkˈrĭtəs [key], fl. c.270 b.c., Hellenistic Greek poet, b. Syracuse. The history of the pastoral begins with him, and in him the form seems to have reached its height. His poetic st...

Herbart, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Herbart, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh hĕrˈbärt [key], 1776–1841, German philosopher and educator. Influenced by Leibniz, Kant, and Fichte, Herbart made many important contributions to ...

Ashbery, John

(Encyclopedia)Ashbery, John, 1927–2017, American poet, b. Rochester, N.Y., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1949), Columbia (M.A., 1951). Among the most acclaimed and influential American poets of his era, he was (1960s–70...

Provençal literature

(Encyclopedia)Provençal literature, vernacular literature of S France. Provençal, or Occitan, as the language is now often called, appears to have been the first vernacular tongue used in French commerce and lite...

Neoplatonism

(Encyclopedia)Neoplatonism nēˌōplāˈtənĭzəm [key], ancient mystical philosophy based on the doctrines of Plato. Neoplatonism was an early influence on Christian thinkers. The Christian apologists Clement...