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Anacreon

(Encyclopedia)Anacreon ənăkˈrēən, –ŏn [key], c.570–c.485 b.c., Greek lyric poet, b. Teos in Ionia. He lived at Samos and at Athens, where his patron was Hipparchus. His poetry, graceful and elegant, celeb...

Godfrey, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Godfrey, Thomas, 1736–63, American poet and playwright, b. Philadelphia. The son of Thomas Godfrey, who invented the quadrant, he became apprenticed to a watchmaker after his father's early death. G...

Allen, Hervey

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Hervey, 1889–1949, American novelist and poet, b. Pittsburgh, grad. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1915. After service in World War I, he taught English in Charleston, S.C., where, in collaboration wit...

Drachmann, Holger Henrik Herholdt

(Encyclopedia)Drachmann, Holger Henrik Herholdt hŏlˈgər hănrēkˈ hărˈhŏlt dräkhˈmän [key], 1846–1908, Danish poet and dramatist. His early work was influenced by the political realism of Georg Brandes,...

John II, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)John II, 1405–54, Spanish king of Castile and León (1406–54), son and successor of Henry III. He was little interested in government, which he entrusted to his favorite Alvaro de Luna. Literature...

Petőfi, Sándor

(Encyclopedia)Petőfi, Sándor shänˈdôr pĕˈtöfē [key], 1823–49, Hungarian poet and patriot. A failure as an actor, Petőfi became the author of exquisite lyrics. He composed the national poem “Talpra Mag...

Walcott, Derek Alton

(Encyclopedia)Walcott, Derek Alton, 1930–2017, West Indian dramatist and poet, b. Castries, St. Lucia, grad. Univ. of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, 1953. His grandfathers were both white, one of English, the ot...

Italian literature

(Encyclopedia)Italian literature, writings in the Italian language, as distinct from earlier works in Latin and French. In the second half of the 19th cent. Francesco De Sanctis, literary critic and historian, la...

Baring, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Baring, Maurice, 1874–1945, English author. After a career in the diplomatic service, he turned to journalism in 1904. A war correspondent during the Russo-Japanese War, he wrote several books on Ru...

Immanuel ben Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Immanuel ben Solomon, c.1265–c.1330, Hebrew-Italian poet and scholar, b. Rome. He wrote biblical criticism and, in both Hebrew and Italian, satiric verse and lively stories. His work represents a sy...