Biographies --> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LITERATURE --> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- British: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) England In many ways doth the full heart reveal The presence of the love it would conceal. Motto to Poems written in Later Life. Life As a child, Colderidge had a bright, and highly imaginative mind that he nurtured through spending time with his father and reading fairy tales. Under his headmaster, Boyer, Coleridge excelled in Latin and Greek and developed a taste for the higher caliber of classical and English writers. He consistently challenged himself with difficult literature; the Sonnets of William Bowles influenced him greatly in his own literary and poetical pursuits. During his school-days in London, he befriended fellow poet Charles Lamb. His years in college in Cambridge defined his unconventional disposition. Through his unfortunate financial and romantic situations, he consequently enlisted in the King's Light Dragoons under a false name. His service was limited, as he was discharged and made to return to Cambridge. Meeting Robert Southey at Oxford, Coleridge formed his image of the ideal society. A year later, in 1795, Coleridge was introduced to Wordsworth and following his marrriage, settled with his wife in Bristol. In Bristol, he published his own periodical, The Watchman, which lasted two months. At the same time, he published the first of his poems, Poems on Various Subjects (1796). After an attack of neuralgia, Coleridge began to take opium. A profusion of his most venerable works came in 1797: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Lyrical Ballads, on which he collaborated with William Wordsworth, part one of Christabel, and Kubla Khan preceded the publication of the second edition of Poems. After spending ten months in Germany he visited Sockburn where he met up with Wordsworth. In 1799, he translated Schiller's Wallenstein and contributed his work to the Morning Post. By 1804, Coleridge suffered from failing health and increased addiction to opium. Wordsworth criticized his habit and the two quarreled in 1810. The years before his death were productive, yet not to the same level as his previous works. Criticism Coleridge's genius touched religion, politics, metaphysics, and literature. He possessed an overwhelming amount of potential that was, unfortunately, not resolved due to his problems with opium. Yet he mastered a form of conversational blank verse and lyrical poetry, succeeded, through his observation, in conveying the mystical and dark aspects of nature, and perfected his memory of the imaginative images that floated about in his mind. He influenced Shelley, Byron, and much of the later generation of Romantics. I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,-words in their best order; poetry,-the best words in their best order. Table Talk. Works: Christabel Kubla Khan The Pains of Sleep The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Lyrical Ballads The Eolian Harp Dejection: An Ode The Lime-tree Bower my Prison http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/authors/coleridg.html The Rime of the Ancient Mariner http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html Lyrical Ballads http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgibin/browse-mixed?id=Wor2Lyr&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/lv1/Archive/eng-parsed William Wordsworth (1770-1850) England "There is a comfort in the strenth of love;/ 'Twill make a thing endurable, which else/ Would overset the brain, or break the heart..."-William Wordsworth Life Wordsworth lived a happy childhood, and was schooled in Latin, Greek, and mathematics by a teacher who encouraged his poetic imagination. During the eight years he lived in Hawkshead while attending the local grammar school, Wordsworth spent his time engaging in activities in the open countryside. These years shaped his love for nature and the basis of his poetry. At St. John's College in Cambridge, Wordsworth enjoyed the classics as well as the moderns, grasped the Italian language, and dreamed of nature. He left St. Johns in 1791 without distinction and utterly beyond himself of what he was to do in the future. He decided, however, to become a traveling tutor and set out for France in November. In France, he fell in love, fathered a child, and devoted himself to French Republicanism. A subsequent war between France and England brought him back to his native country. During 1893, he acquainted himself with William Godwin, Joseph Fawcett, Thomas Paine, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Consequently, he converted to Godwin's social radicalism. In 1797, he and his sister Dorothy collaborated with Coleridge in the production of Lyrical Ballads. In 1800, Wordsworth finished The Prelude. In 1802 he reunited with his lover and his daughter and wrote Ode: Intimations of Immortality. He offered to support his daughter financially, yet he married another woman. The next ten years, he fathered 5 children and published more poems and a political tract. In 1812, he experienced the loss of two of his children and reconciled with Coleridge. From 1814 to the end of his life, he traveled extensively and published a great many volumes of poetry, sketches, and other miscellaneous prose work. He died a Poet Laureate in 1843. Criticism Wordsworth possessed a unique perception of his surroundings. He saw things in nature that others did not see, and this power over his contemporaries allowed him to write the most graceful, imaginative and fantastic poetry. His regard for commonplace things was directly displayed in many of his poems, which in effect changed the diction of English poetry considerably. He professed an awareness for human emotions which shaped his original and individualistic form of poetry. With the failure of the French Revolution, he and Coleridge determined to improve the world with their poetry. Wordsworth also believed in his own version of the "oversoul:" And I have felt A presence that distrubs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. (Noyes 239-240) Wordsworth's poetry was a little ahead of its time; however, it instigated Romanticism in England through its emotional nature and its allusions to nature. His work has had a profound legacy on Victorian and twentieth-century literature as well. Yet his ultimate goal was the betterment of mankind through the discovery of an individual's own joy and emotions. Works: An Evening Walk (1793) Descriptive Sketches (1793) Lyrical Ballads (1798) "Tintern Abbey" "The Tables Turned" The Prelude (1805) Poems in Two Volumes (1807) "Ode to Duty" "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" The Excursion (1814) "Laodamia" (1815) "White Doe of Rylstone" (1815) Memorials of a Tour of a Continent (1822) "Yarrow Revisited" (1835) John Keats (1795-1821) England "I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of imagination."-John Keats Born in London, and eldest son of a livery stable-keeper, Keats was nevertheless educated in French and Latin, and well-known for his temper, pugnacity, wit, and generosity. In 1811, he served as an apprentice to an apothecary-surgeon, yet Keats' interest lied in English literature, myths, and fairy tales. In 1815, Keats left the apprenticeship and began the production of his poetry while studying medicine at a hospital. But his writing took precedence over medicine and he did not continue to pursue a career. In 1816, his first poem, Solitude, was published in literary figure Leigh Hunt's Examiner. At this time he familiarized himself with Leigh Hunt, his circle, artist Haydon, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, and Percy Shelley. This acquaintance provided a great influence for his own poetry. In 1817, under the suggestion of Haydon, Keats retired to the Isle of Wight. There he began work on Endymion, his first long poem which was published in 1818 on his return to London. In March of 1818, Keats contracted tuberculosis as a result of nursing his brother Tom. The first signs of the disease were revealed during Keats' visit to Ireland. While he nursed his dying brother, withstood personal and critical attacks upon himself and his work, and then finally experienced Tom's death and endured through his own failing health, he fell hopelessly in love with Fanny Brawne, of which La Belle Dame sans merci, among many other poems, is attributed to. Keats love was not satisfied. Fanny would not marry him because of his poor health and poor financial situation. In 1819, Keats wrote the poems the Eve of St. Agnes, Ode to Psyche, La Belle Dame sans merci, Ode on Indolence, Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode on Melancholy, Ode to a Nightingale, Lamia, Fall of Hyperiod, To Autumn, and the historical tragedy, King Stephen, and a satirical burlesque, The Cap and Bells. In 1820, he published his third volume of poetry, and journeyed to Italy in a futile attempt to improve his health. Criticism Keats' tombstone held this engraving: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water (Noyes 1120)." The engraving suggested Keats' feeling that his life and work were ephemeral and his mark on time virtually nonexistent. His experiences covered love, death, hopelessness, thwarted ambition, and failing health. Such things haunted him through the whole of his life and flowed through to his pen in "When I Have Fears" (1848): "When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charactery... When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance... Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink (Noyes 1163)." Yet disease was the only thing that claimed him; his courage and strength allowed him to achieve the prestige of being considered one of the greatest English poets. He enjoyed solitude, nature, and transcending beyond himself to reveal the mysteries and truths of nature. In his poem "Solitude," Keats gladly welcomes solitude in the presence of nature: "O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,/Let it not be among the jumbled heap/Of murky buildings; climb with me the/steep,--/Nature's observatory-whence the dell,/Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell (Noyes 1125)..." Upon this verse Keats remarked his favor for nature over the "murky buildings" of the city. Keats was idealistic, sympathetic, passionate, intuitive, ambitious; thus his poetry reflected the essence of Romanticism and the pains of human strife expressed through his own vivid color and tone, and his memorable and unique diction. It is unsurprising that many readers find exhilaration, peace, and strength in his verse. Works Poems (1817) "I stood tip-toe upon a little hill" "Sleep and Poetry" "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" Endymion (1818) Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820) "Ode to a Nightingale" "Ode on a Grecian Urn" "To Autumn" "Ode on Melancholy" "La Belle Dame sans Merci" "The Eve of St. Agnes" "When I have fears that I may cease to be" "Bright star! would I were as steadfast as thou art" "Lines on the Mermaid Tavern" "Fancy" "Bards of Passion and of Mirth" "Hyperion" "Solitude" http://englishhistory.net/keats.html George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) England I can never get people to understand that poetry is the expression of excited passion, and that there is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state? Lord Byron, in a letter to Thomas Moore, 5 July 1821 But 'midst the crowd, the hum, the shock of men, To hear, to see, to feel, and to possess, And roam along, the world's tired denizen, With none who bless us, none whom we can bless. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto ii. Stanza 26. Life Born of noble blood, and with a clubfoot, Lord Byron struggled through poverty and scarlet fever to finally land the family title and estates in 1798 upon the death of his granduncle. In his studies, he was unproductive and lazy, yet he excelled in swimming, boxing, and cricket and read profusely. In 1803 he fell in love with Mary Chaworth, who was already engaged to another man. Her marriage inspired several of his early poems. In college, Lord Byron carelessly overspent his allowance, and continued to improve in boxing, fencing, and swimming. In 1806, he wrote his first volume of work, Fugitive Pieces. Yet it was not published until 1807, after revision and expansion, and under the title of Poems on Various Occasions. Hours of Idleness (1807) and English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809) followed, and granted him immediate fame. In December of 1809, following a tour of coastal Europe, Lord Byron settled in Athens, where he finished the first canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. In 1811 he returned to England, and submitted the first and second cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812) for publication. Lord Byron's activities in Parliament at the time were notable and he enjoyed the status of a London socialite and acquainted himself with many prestigious writers and literary figures. In 1813, Lord Byron published The Giaour and The Bride of Abydos. In 1814, he published The Corsair, which became popular in a short matter of time, and Lara. In 1815 he married Anne Isabella Milbanke who bore him a daughter in December. The two would later separate in 1816, and Byron would be cast down from London high society and would flee from England, singing "Adieu! Adieu! my native shore/Fades o'er the waters blue (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto i. Stanza 13)." He met Percy Shelley in Geneva and the two formed a close acquaintance. Lord Byron would send The Prisoner of Chillon and canto III of Childe Harold to England with Shelley. Although he was separated from England, Lord Byron continued to produce an extraordinary amount of work. He would finish Childe Harold and begin Don Juan in 1818. The years following he would become involved with a noblewoman, Countess Teresa Guiccioli. In 1822 he would lose her to a Papal decree that bound her to her father. Also in 1822 Shelley and Williams drowned and were cremated on shore by Byron and Hunt. With the completion of Don Juan in 1824, Lord Byron died of fever and was returned to England for burial. He died a national hero in Greece as he tried to unite the divergent country. Criticism Lord Byron now stands as the quintessential figure of British Romanticism. His passion, reflected in his poetry and his lifestyle, was at the same time intriguing and horrifying to English society. Yet his merits as a writer are not to be denied. From satires to dramas to tragedies, Byron was a master of storytelling, lyricism, and cynicism, and intrigued audiences with his allusions to passion, nature and adventure. He created the Byronic hero, a wandering, brooding man who shuns society and is burdened by the guilt and sins of his past: "But my soul wanders; I demand it back/To meditate amongst decay, and stand/A ruin amidst ruins; there to track/Fall'n states and buried greatness, o'er a land/Which was the mightiest in its old command,/And is the loveliest, and must ever be/The master-mould of Nature's heavenly hand;/Wherein were cast the heroic and free... (Noyes 819)" It is this spirit of darkness that continues to influence artists today.The Byronic hero is in Lara, Manfred, Childe Harold, Don Juan; the Byronic hero is Byron himself. Byron wasn't all "doom and gloom." As extravagant and hedonistic as he was, he was known to be generous, kind, courageous, and hard-working if he could set his mind to it. He was also extremely religious and dreaded the judgment that would come after death. The Vision of Judgment (1822) reflects his "vision of judgement." The devil and the Lord squawk at each other in the same way as Mephisto and God in Goethe's Faust. That was precisely why he created the Byronic hero. Byron was not a brilliant poet; in fact much of his poetry is riddled with stylistic errors. Yet his work conveyed a unique spiritual agony and suffering that only Byron himself could produce. His disillusionment and cynicism still intrigues and delights audiences today. Hours of Idleness (1807) "The World is a Bundle of Hay" (1830) "When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home" (1824) The Vision of Judgment (1822) "When we two parted" (1816) English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809) "She Walks in Beauty" (1815) "Oh! Snatch'd Away in Beauty's Bloom" (1815) Childe Harold (1812-1818) "Darkness" (1816) Lara (1814) Manfred (1817) Don Juan (1819-24) Mazeppa (1819) The Prisoner of Chillon (1816) Manfred (e-text): http://www.litgothic.com/Texts/manfred.html Horace Walpole (1717-1796) England "The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those who feel." - Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1770. Born of a great prime minister, and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Horace Walpole went through life in comfort and luxury. At Eton, Walpole met Thomas Gray, and formed a lasting friendship with the soon-to-be renowned English poet. After traveling France and Italy, in 1747, he settled at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham. He turned this estate into a Gothic castle filled with manuscripts, books, and artifacts In 1757, he set up a private printing press at his estate. In 1758, Walpole published his first book, Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors. In 1780 he published Anectodes of Painting in England. Walpole's most prestigious and well-known work, The Castle of Otranto, was published in 1764. Before dying in London in 1797, Walpole privately printed The Mysterious Mother and succeeded to the family title of Earl of Orford. Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764) officially began the Gothic literature movement. Set in Walpole's very own Strawberry Hill, Otranto thrilled and mystified readers (readers who could no longer stand the stifling principles of reason) with its Gothic setting and its superstitious and supernatural subject matter. What could have inspired such a story in such an age of restraint? Thomas Gray sent Walpole his poem, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." Walpole enjoyed it immensely and urged Gray to publish it. In addition, Walpole had a dream in June of 1764. He envisioned a giant armored hand at the top of the staircase of a Gothic castle. When he woke he began to write a novel that would inspire the Romantic movement and begin the English Gothic revival. Otranto would influence two great Gothic writers, Clara Reeve and Ann Radcliffe. Work: The Castle of Otranto (1764) Anecdotes of Painting in England (1762-80) Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors (1758) The Mysterious Mother (1768) Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) England Fate sits on these dark battlements and frowns, And as the portal opens to receive me, A voice in hollow murmurs through the courts Tells of a nameless deed. - from The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Born the year Walpole's Castle of Otranto was published, Ann grew up writing romances, reading Shakespeare, and enjoying music and nature. In 1787, she married William Radcliffe, the editor and proprietor of the English Chronicle. Ann Radcliffe anonymously published The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789), her first recognized Gothic work. In 1790, she published A Sicilian Romance. By now it was appropriate to include her name on her publications. The next three works, The Romance of the Forest (1791), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1797). These were all exceedingly popular and successful novels. Her posthumous works include Gaston de Blondeville (1826) and St. Alban's Abbey (1826). Before her death, she published a volume of poems, Poems (1816). Her taste for wild scenery as a child emerged in her writing. Influenced by Walpole and Clara Reeve, Radcliffe nevertheless created a new sense of Gothic literature. Suspense, horror, romantic love, impossible situations and drama, a rich hero and a rich, sensitive heroine, a greedy villain-these could constitute for a modern-day soap-opera. Mrs. Radcliffe's talent lied in her ability to create an appropriate ambiance. However, her characters were somewhat unreal. Despite her shortcomings, Mrs. Radcliffe's work is worthy of satire and glory, inspiring Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, and many more. Works: The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789) A Sicilian Romance (1790) The Romance of the Forest (1791) The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) The Italian (1797) Gaston de Blondeville (1826) St. Alban's Abbey (1826) Poems (1816) Robert Southey (1774-1843) England They sin who tell us love can die; With life all other passions fly, All others are but vanity. . . . . . Love is indestructible, Its holy flame forever burneth; From heaven it came, to heaven returneth. . . . . . It soweth here with toil and care, But the harvest-time of love is there. -The Curse of Kehama. Canto x. Stanza 10. Life The first significant incident in Robert Southey's life occurred in 1792, when Southey wrote an essay denouncing flogging. Consequently, he was expelled from Westminster school, and entered college in Oxford. There he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published Poems in 1794 with Coleridge and Thomas Lovell. Southey began seriously pursuing a literary career in 1801, after attempting to study law. After 1803 he shared residence with the Colerdiges and actively wrote for the Tory Quarterly Review, and published Thalaba (1801-1805), Metrical Tales (1801-1805), Madoc (1801-1805), The Curse of Kehama (1810), History of Brazil (1810-1819), and Life of Nelson (1813). In 1813, he was awarded Poet Laureate after Sir Walter Scott refused the title. In 1814, he published Roderick, the Last of the Goths. In 1821, he wrote his epic A Vision of Judgment, which commemorated George III and of which Byron wrote a parody. Before he died in 1843, he wrote Life of Wesley (1820), A Tale of Paraguay (1825), History of the Peninsular War (1832-32), The Book of the Church (1824), Colloquies on Society (1829), Works of Cowper (1833-1837), The Doctor (1834-47), and was offered a baronetcy, which he declined. Criticism Southey was known for his prose more than his poetry. His greatest works were biographies. Aside from his literary life, he supported Coleridge's family, Lovell's widow, and involved himself in the French Revolution. His hard work substituted his lack of genius, and he is known today for his poems "The Battle of Blenheim" (1798), "The Holly Tree" (1799), and A Vision of Judgement (1821). Works: "The Battle of Blenheim" "The Holly Tree" The Life of Nelson A Vision of Judgement Mary Shelley (1797-1851) England Mary Shelley was born into a life of literature as the only child of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, prominent figures of the Enlightenment. Philosophers, artists, and writers, including Coleridge and Charles Lamb were frequent visitors of Mary's during her youth. Her father, William Godwin, taught her to read and write through tracing the inscription on her mother's tombstone. At 16, Mary ran off to the continent with Percy Shelley, whom she admired and loved. It was during her stay in Switzerland, during the summer of 1816 with Byron and Shelley that she was first inspired to write Frankenstein. She would later be attributed as the creator of the science fiction novel. After the deaths of Shelley's wife and Mary's half-sister, Fanny, the couple wedded and moved to Italy. There they experienced more hardship when Mary's first two children died. In 1822, Shelley drowned and left Mary a two-year-old son, and no financial means to raise him. Burdened by her husband's death and the poverty that came with it, she reluctantly moved back to England, where she supported her father and her son through her writing. She faced the struggle of attempting to accord her son with the Shelley family title. In addition, she had to withstand the criticism of society regarding her marriage to Shelley, which was deemed inappropriate. Ironically, she died in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, a demonstration of England's scientific and technological progress. Works: Frankenstein (1818) Valperga (1823) The Last Man (1826) Lodore (1835) Falkner (1837) Sources: Woodbridge, Kim. A. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. 26 June 2001 Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) Ireland The second of five children, Maria Edgeworth's father made education no small matter, and wished with every bit of his heart for his young daughter to contribute something of import to the world. Her father sent her to be educated in a prestigious school in London, and one day through a letter, ordered her to write a story on generosity. Her father gave the same topic to a young man from Oxford, who was visiting the Edgeworth household. Maria's stepbrother judged the stories and declared Maria's the better of the two. Maria's earliest works were of romantic, horrifying, and extremely melodramatic subjects. In 1782, Maria assisted in managing her father's estates and there formed the conclusion that the upper class should be responsible for its tenants. This would be the subject of her later novels, and her motivation for helping the Irish peasants during the potato blight famine in 1845. Her first published work, Letters for Literary Ladies (1795), demanded reform in women's education. Her first novel, Castle Rackrent (1800), was her first success. Maria never married, despite a proposal from a Swedish count. She was also close friends with Sir Walter Scott. Nevertheless she was a renowned literary figure in her own right; her didactic novels portraying Irish peasant life reflected realism, humor, and her own unique style. Works: Letters for Literary Ladies (1795) Castle Rackrent (1800) Belinda (1801) Moral Tales (1801) The Absentee (1812) Sources: Allard, Jody. Women Novelists. 6 Sept. 1998 William Hazlitt (1778-1830) England Born of a minister, Hazlitt as a young man was expected to be one as well. But after three years in Hackney Theological College in London, Hazlitt retired into literature, art, and philosophy. In 1798, he became acquainted with Coleridge and Wordsworth. In London he befriended Charles and Mary Lamb. In 1802, Hazlitt journeyed to Paris to attempt a career in art. After returning to England, he decided that his writing would reap more than his painting. In 1805, he published his first book, An Essay on the Principles of Human Action. In 1806 he began circulating a political phamphlet and compiled The Eloquence of the British Senate. From 1808 to 1812, Hazlitt married and wrote A New and Improved Grammar of the English Tongue (1810) and Life of Holcroft (1816). In 1812 he launched into philosophy, delivering lectures at the Russell Institution on the Rise and Progress of Modern Philosophy. The years from 1817 to 1819 marked his career as a journalist and involved himself with the Morning Chronicle, the Champion, the Times, the Edinburgh Review, and the Examiner. With A View of the English Stage (1818), Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (1817-1819), English Poets (1817-1819), and English Comic Writers (1817-1819), Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth (1820), he revived Elizabethan theater in England. Before his death, he immersed himself in journalism, writing various essays and contributing to various magazines. Nevertheless he made himself known as a great essayist, biographer, journalist and lecturer, and displayed a keenness of mind and a wide breadth of knowledge. His literary criticisms are distinguished for his great insight and his essays for his unique and diverse style. He is now considered one of the best English essayists. Works: Lectures on the English Poets (1818), Lectures on the English Comic Writers (1819), Table Talk (1821-22), and The Spirit of the Age (1825) Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth (1820) "On Going a Journey," "My First Acquaintance with Poets," "On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth," and "Going to a Fight." Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) England Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword. 1 Richelieu. Act ii. Sc. ii. Edward Bulwer-Lytton was one of the most famous novelists in his day. Educated at Trinity College in Cambridge, like many of the Romantic writers, Lytton pursued politics, drama, and literature. He participated in the activities of Parliament from 1831 to 1841, returning in 1858 and serving as Secretary of State for the colonies in 1858. In 1866 he became Baron Lytton of Knebworth. Although Lytton admired Schiller, Goethe, Godwin, and Byron, he popularized and contributed to the historical novel, of which he is most famous for. He also wrote a series of humorous domestic novels and plays. Lytton is known for coining such phrases as "the pen is mightier than the sword" and "it was a dark and stormy night." Works: Falkland (1827) Paul Clifford (1830) Eugene Aram (1832) The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) Rienzi (1835) The Caxtons (1849) The Coming Race The Lady of Lyons (1838), Richelieu (1839), and Money (1840). Essay by John S. Moore http://www.mith.demon.co.uk/Bulwer.htm Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) England "The world is a stage, and life is a farce, and he that laughs most has most profit of the performance." ---Brother Michael in Maid Marian, Chap. XVI. Thomas Love Peacock, born of a merchant, devoted himself to literature in 1803 after a brief experience in business. Through 1804 to 1814, he wrote many unsuccessful poems and plays. His best poems appeared in his novels, and were often drinking songs. In 1815, he published his first satirical romance, Headlong Hall (1816), as a result of becoming Shelley's neighbor in 1815. A year later he published Melincourt, another satirical romance, and Nightmare Abbey (1818) which satirized Shelley, Byron, and Coleridge. His best long poem, Rododaphne, was published in 1818. In 1819, he married and became employed under the East India Company, and served as chief examiner in the last 20 years of his life. Between his retirement from the company in 1856, he wrote Maid Marian (1822), The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829), and Crochet Castle (1831). As a close friend of Shelley's, Peacock became his literary executor upon his death by drowning in 1822. Peacock's last novel was Gryll Grange (1860) and his last literary works appeared in Fraser's Magazine, which included his memories of Shelley. Peacock was best known for his romantic satires and audiences best admired his use of wit, satire, and irony. His specialty was the English drinking song and he best enjoyed mocking and satirizing the intellectual framework of his era and society and the frivolous ideas of his contemporaries. Works: Gryll Grange (1860) Melincourt (1817) Rododaphne (1817) Nightmare Abbey (1818) Headlong Hall (1816) The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829) Maid Marian (1822) Crochet Castle (1831) Four Ages of Poetry (1820) http://www.thomaslovepeacock.net/ William Blake (1757- 1827) London, England "I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's." ?William Blake William Blake was born to James and Catherine, a moderate family. As a child, William described visions from God to his parents such as seeing God put his head to the window,?or seeing a tree filled with angels. His parents, in return, noticed his differences from other children and William received education at home. William wanted to be a painter and apprenticed with engraver James Basire, who exposed him to a variety of Gothic techniques, this will forever influence his career. In 1779 he began studies at The Royal Academy of Arts, but it was as a journeyman engraver that he was to make his living. In 1772 he married an illiterate woman named Catherine Boucher. When Blake? first collection of apprentice verse called Poetical Sketches (1783) it imitated classical models. The poems protest against war, tyranny, and King George III's treatment of the American colonies. He published his most popular collection, Songs of Innocence, in 1789 and followed it, in 1794, with Songs of Experience. Blake was a nonconformist who associated with some of the leading radical thinkers of his day, such as Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft. In defiance of 18th-century neoclassical conventions, he privileged imagination over reason in the creation of both his poetry and images, asserting that ideal forms should be constructed not from observations of nature but from inner visions. He opposed English monarchy, and 18th-century political and social tyranny in general. Theological tyranny is the subject of The Book of Urizen (1794). In the prose work The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93), he satirized oppressive authority in church and state, as well as the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish philosopher whose ideas once attracted his interest. He taught himself Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Italian, so that he could read classical works in their original language. Blake believed that his poetry could be read and understood by common people, but he was determined not to sacrifice his vision in order to become popular. Some of those who saw the exhibit praised Blake's artistry, but others thought the paintings "hideous" and more than a few called him insane. Blake's poetry was not well known by the general public, but he was mentioned in A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland, published in 1816. Blake's final years, spent in great poverty, were cheered by the admiring friendship of a group of younger artists who called themselves "the Ancients." In 1818 he met John Linnell, a young artist who helped him financially and also helped to create new interest in his work. It was Linnell who, in 1825, commissioned him to design illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy, the cycle of drawings that Blake worked on until his death in 1827. Criticism William Blake's reputation is first of a naive, intelligent virtuoso who could only use emotions to communicate. But as Blake slowly established authority in one field after another, it was blatant that his subjects were often complex yet also normal. One of Blake? goals was to separate himself from others, ironically however, his works were ?bjets d?rt?for connoisseurs. This fact was probable in delaying Blake's reputation. He was a professional engraver yet his poetry was more amateur compared to others of his time. However, Blake's lyrical gifts, unorthodox views, and unification of poetry gave him a great influence on pre-Raphaelites. Works: 1783 - Poetical Sketches 1789 - Songs of Innocence, Book of Thel 1791 - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 1794 - Songs of Experience (contains some of his best known lines, his romantic ideas are expressed as the freedom of imagination and hatred for rationalism and materialilsm) 1795 - The Song of Los 1826 - Book of Job (21 illustrations of his finest artistic work) Additional Links: The William Blake Archive < http://www.blakearchive.org/ > Sources: Exploring Poetry. Gale Group. 2000 < http://www.gale.com/freresrc/poets_cn/blakebio.htm > Houtchens, Carolyn W. The English Romantic Poets & Essayists. London: New York Universitiy Press, 1966. Charles Lamb (1775-1834) London, England "His own books can be lodged in the corner of a shelf; wehreas the books realtiong to him...would fill a library. To write about Elia has become an industry?(W.B. Maxwell, EDH, 1934). Charles Lamb was the son of John Lamb, a clerk of a barrister of the Inner Temple. Young Charles had the opportunity to study at Christ? Hospital where he met life long friend Samuel Coleridge. As his family could no longer fund his education, at the age of 15 Charles sought employment as a clerk at the South Sea House and then at the East India House. Charles and his sister Mary collaborated on some of Charles ? works. However, in 1796 Mary had a sudden insanity attack and killed his mother with a table-knife. Ever since the incident, Charles gave up plans to marry to devoted his life to taking care of Mary. His first literary appearance was a contribution of four sonnets to Coleridge? Poems on Various Subjects (1796). Two years later he published, along with his friend Charles Lloyd, Blank Verse, the little vol. including The Old Familiar Faces, and others of his best known poems, and his romance, Rosamund Gray, followed in the same year. Mary was an intelligent and affectionate companion, but the shadow of her madness continued to plague their lives. Lamb wrote four plays, none of which were successful. In 1807 he was asked by W. Godwin (q.v.) to assist him in his ?uvenile Library,?and to this he, with the assistance of his sister, contributed the now famous Tales from Shakespeare, Charles doing the tragedies and Mary the comedies. In 1808 they wrote, again for children, The Adventures of Ulysses, a version of the Odyssey, Mrs. Leicester? School, and Poetry for Children (1809). About the same time he was commissioned by Longman to edited selections from the Elizabethan dramatists. To the selections were added criticisms, which at once brought him the reputation of being one of the most subtle and penetrating critics who had ever touched the subject. Three years later his extraordinary power in this department was farther exhibited in a series of papers on Hogarth and Shakespeare, which appeared in Hunt? Reflector. In 1818 his scattered contributions in prose and verse were collected as The Works of Charles Lamb, and the favor with which they were received led to his being asked to contribute to the London Magazine the essays on which his fame chiefly rests. He wove life into his prose: his childhood, his days at Christ's Hospital, his hours at India House, his daily experiences with Mary, his daydreams and idle hopes, his beloved books, and his friends. Criticism The place of Lamb as an essayist and critic is the very highest. His life was dramatic and instructive; it attracts novelists, psychologists, and clergymen. His only rival in the former department is Addison, but in depth and tenderness of feeling, and richness of fancy Lamb is the superior. In the realms of criticism there can be no comparison between the two. Lamb is here at once profound and subtle, and his work led as much as any other influence to the revival of interest in and appreciation of our older poetry. His own writings, which are self-revealing in a quite unusual and always charming way, and the recollections of his friends, have made the personality of Lamb more familiar to us than any other in our literature, except that of Johnson. His weaknesses, his oddities, his charm, his humor, his stutter, are all as familiar to his readers as if they had known him, and the tragedy and noble self-sacrifice of his life add a feeling of reverence for a character we already love. Works: 1796 - Poems on Various Subjects 1798 - Blank Verse (includes The Old Familiar Faces, and others of his best known poems) Rosamund Gray 1807- Tales from Shakespeare (one of the most successful works) 1808 - The Adventures of Ulysses 1809- a version of the Odyssey Mrs. Leicester? School Poetry for Children 1818- The Works of Charles Lamb Additional Links: The Charles Lamb Society ?life and works http://users.ox.ac.uk/~scat0385/lamb.html Sources: Houtchens, Carolyn W. The English Romantic Poets & Essayists. London: New York Universitiy Press, 1966. Barnett, George Leonard. Charles Lamb: The Evolution of Elia. Indiana UP 1964. Beasley, Chris ?harles Lamb?The Literature Network. 2000-2001. < http://www.online-literature.com/lamb/ > Thomas De Quicey (1785 - 1859) Manchester, England Thomas De Quincey was born into a wealthy family in the linen business. He received formal education in Bath and Winkfield. He ran away at the age of 17 from Grammar School with the support of his mother and uncle. In 1802 and 1803, Thomas lived in strict poverty and eventually decided to return to Manchester. At Worcester College in Oxford, De Quincey was exposed to opium when it relieved acute neuralgia pains, and he eventually became an addict to the drug. After leaving Oxford, in 1807 he was exposed to a circle of romantic writers on a trip to Bath. There, he was introduced to Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, and William Wordsworth and Thomas lived with them. Suffering a series of debilitating illnesses between 1812 and 1813, De Quincey started to take opium, becoming in 1813 a daily user, although he was able to control his habit until about 1817. He married Margaret Simpson, a farmer's daughter, by whom he had eight children. Early in the 1820 De Quincey moved to London, where he contributed the London Magazine and Blackwoods. His chronicle Confessions of an English Opium Eater, was a mix of stories about his life and descriptions both the ecstasies and the torments of the drug. It became an instant success and an important inspiration for other writers. His book also included quotes in Greek, Latin and Italian, and without considering its intellectually and physically corruptive effects, De Quincey took the drug in hope of increasing his rationality and the sense of harmony. Criticism: Thomas De Quincey wrote voluminously, yet few books were published due to constant financial endeavors. Most of his talent lies in his periodicals. As a writer De Quincey's strong points were his sensitive, inward-turning imagination and his breadth of understanding. He also wrote studies about such German philosophers as Kant, Lessing, Richer. De Quincey's influence, in depicting nightmarish movements of mind, is later seen in the works of Poe and Baudelaire. Perhaps he prefigurated modern Outsider-writers such as Alexander Trocchi, for whom drugs served as confirmation of their alienation from mainstream society. Works: 1822 Confessions of an English Opium Eater 1823 On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth 1825 Walladmor 1827 Murder Considered as on of the Fine Arts 1832 Klosterheim, or the Masque 1834-40 Lake Reminiscenes 1844 The Logic of the Political Economy 1845 Suspiria de Profundis 1849 The English Mail Coach 1853 Autobiographical Sketches 1853 - 1860 Selections Grave and Gay, from the Writings, Published and Unpublished Additional Information: An Interesting Presentation of De Quincy using Excerpts of his Works: < http://www.people.virginia.edu/~bpn2f/opium.htm > Sources: Thomas De Quincey. Infoplease 2000 "Thomas De Quincey." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2000 < http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/03588.html > Thomas Gray (1716 - 1771) Cornhill, London Thomas Gray was born into a below-middle class family in which his father was a "money - scrivener." The family kept a small shop. At an early age, his father exposed Thomas to family abuse and thus Thomas was removed from the family and sent to Eton College in 1725 to be with his uncle Robert who fathered him and provided him with education until 1734. Eton's atmosphere heavily influenced Gray throughout his life. His antiquarian interests, central in many of his works, and which he always was to follow passionately, were first roused at Eton. After Eton, Gray matriculated at Peterhouse College. Gray's habits, as at Eton, were studious and reflective, and he began to write Latin verse of considerable merit. Walpole and Gray kept up a correspondence with West, communicating poems, and occasionally writing in French and Latin. All three contributed to a volume of Hymeneals in 1736. Gray also wrote at college the Tripos verses "Luna Habitabilis", published in the Musae Etonenses. Apart from a few translations, Gray had not yet composed any English poetry. Gray studied for himself alone, and scarcely anything remains, apart from a vast accumulation of notes, to attest to his profound and varied scholarship. Gray left Peterhouse College in 1738 without a degree, and passed some months at his father's house in Cornhill, probably intending to study law at the Inner Temple to which he had been admitted as early as 1735. Yet Gray was in no haste to begin his studies. In 1739, Walpole and Gray set out on the prolonged continental tour. They spent the remainder of that year in France, and crossed the Alps in November. It is typical of the scholarly bent of his mind that he studied the De Bello Gallico as he travelled through France. In Paris Gray cultivated a taste for the French classical dramatists, especially Racine, whom he afterwards tried to imitate in the fragmentary tragedy in blank verse Agrippina. At Reggio, however, a violent quarrel took place, the precise circumstances of which are unknown. Obviously, both Walpole and Gray developed in rather different directions both in their personalities and respective interests. The two friends parted in anger and were not reconciled until 1745. Throughout his years abroad Gray had been a careful sightseer, made notes in picture-galleries, visited churches, and brushed up his classical associations. He observed, and afterwards advised, the judicious custom of always recording his impressions on the spot. Gray had continued his studies abroad throughout his journey, and had acquired an intimate knowledge of classical and modern art, but, at the age of 25, he had not prepared himself for any sort of career. Gray resumed his work on the unfinished and unstageable tragedy Agrippina, which was inspired by a performance of a Racine play in Paris. As part of their literary intercourse, Gray submitted the fragment to his friend. West's criticism, however, seems to have put an end to it. In the next couple of years Gray spent his summers at Stoke to which his mother and Mary Antrobus had retired from business in December 1742. The two women were joined by their sister Anne (1676-1758), the widowed Mrs Rogers, whose husband Jonathan had been a retired attorney who had lived in Burnham parish till his death in October 1742. The three sisters took a house together at West End, Stoke Poges Criticism: As a poet Gray was admired and influential out of all proportions to his ambitions and modest output of verse. The whole of his anthumously published poetry amounted to less than 1000 lines. He was unquestionably one of the least productive and yet a precursor of the romantic revival which was soon to come. Gray's poetry was strongly marked by the taste for sentiment controlled by classical ideals of restraint and composure that characterized the later Augustans, without the inward emotional exploration displayed by the Romantics of the 1790-1820 generation: he shows sensitive response to natural environment without the sense of organic union with human nature. He almost worshipped Dryden and loved Racine as heartily as Shakespeare. He valued polish and symmetry as highly as the school of Pope, and shared their taste for didactic reflection and for pompous personification. Yet he also shared the taste for sensibility which found expression in the romanticism of the following period. In poetry he was regarded as an innovator. Gray was in his own time a distinguished practitioner of poetic form by reason of his abandonment of the close discipline of the heroic couplet for the greater rhetorical freedom of his odes in a form nevertheless sanctioned by antiquity. A man of studious instincts, of a retiring and somewhat melancholy temperament, he nevertheless set his mark upon his age. It had been a lifetime of reading, of reflection, of essentially unsupervised and uncreative study and research in the academic seclusion of Cambridge, diversified only by little outward incident. Works: Additional Information: Thomas Gray: Interactive Online Commentary - http://thomasgray.virtualave.net/ Sources: "Thomas Gray." Briticanna Online. 2001. < http://search.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=38567&tocid=0&query=thomas%20gray > Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) Near Sussex, England "You were all brutally mistaken about Shelley, who was without exception the best and least selfish man I ever knew." - Byron upon Shelley's death Percy's life is one of interest. At the age of ten, he was sent to boarding school and there he because introduced to science. Percy became infatuated with electricity, magnetism, chemistry, and telescopes. Percy attended Eton in 1804 and he was made fun of for his peculiarity. Getting picked on gave birth to a strong sense of anger inside Percy, he was the visionary and daydreamer, often forgetting to tie his shoelaces or to wear a hat. His odd behavior eventually earned him the nickname of "Mad Shelley." At a young age, Percy looked up to Thomas Paine and William Godwin and throughout his life, he emphatically expressed his political and religious views in a struggle against social injustice. Shelley detested the monarchy and aristocracy. He was a great believer in the idea of the power of the human mind to change circumstances for the better, in a non-violent way. The young Shelley was often seen indulging in his habit of sailing paper boats on the water of any nearby pond, lake or river, or reading with a book held right up to his eyes, lying very close to the fire. In 1811 Shelley wrote and distributed to various bishops and heads of colleges a short pamphlet he wrote on The Necessity of Atheism. Shelley was expelled from Oxford. This incident greatly upset Shelley's father and grandfather. His relationship with them and his closeness to the rest of his family was never completely mended. Although he intellectually disliked the institution of marriage, stating that it was not necessary if two people loved each other, he eloped to Scotland in 1811 and married sixteen year-old Harriet Westbrook, the daughter of a London merchant and a school friend of his sister. At the beginning of 1812 Shelley started to suffer from "nervous attacks" for which he took doses of laudanum. He would start to sleepwalk when life became difficult or stressful. In 1814, Shelley had fallen in love with Mary Godwin, which upset both Harriet and Mary's father, William Godwin. When the two persuaded Mary to stop seeing Shelley for a little while, he showed up distraught and hysterical at her house with laudanum and a pistol, threatening to commit suicide. In early 1816. Mary, Shelley and Claire spent the summer of 1816 at Lake Geneva near Byron. The famous "ghost story contest " which spawned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein took place during this period. Tragedy struck twice at the end of 1816 after Mary and Shelley had returned to London. The newlyweds eventually moved to Great Marlow, where Mary finished her work on Frankenstein while pregnant, and Shelley provided help to the poor--a habit which made the local aristocrats call him "mad". In a bout of hypochondria, Shelley imagined for weeks that he was developing elephantiasis after sitting next to a woman with fat legs on a coach. Shelley composed his Stanzas written in Dejection, near Naples. Percy Shelley could not swim, and even though he had recently been involved in a boating accident in a canal one night in which he was nearly drowned, he and several friends decided to spend the summer of 1822 sailing on the Bay of Lerici. A boat was ordered and built for this purpose -- named Don Juan by Byron, but renamed Ariel by Shelley. Meanwhile, the pregnant Mary, who was expecting in December, suffered another miscarriage in June. Shelley himself suffered from disturbing recurring nightmares and hallucinations during. On July 7, after a long trip of sailing out to visit several different friends, a sudden afternoon storm sunk the Ariel ten miles from any land. The bodies of Shelley, Williams and the boat's sailor washed up ten days later and were treated and cremated on the beach because of quarantine laws to protect against the plague. Shelley's ashes were buried in the Protestant Cemetery at Rome. His heart was first given to a friend, then to Mary, and eventually buried in Bournemouth. Criticism: Although Shelley was an enigmatic, eccentric character, his poetry was incredible. His poetry exposes his personal philosophies with a fundamental theme of the power in human emotion and reason, the faith in human perfectibility and progress. His lyric poems are superb in their beauty, grandeur and mastery of language Works: 1816 Alastor 1819 The Cenci, a tragedy in verse exploring moral deformity 1820 Prometheus Unbound 1821 Epipsychidion poem adressed to Emilia Viviani, a young woman whom Shelley met in Pisa and with whom he developed a brief but close friendship Adonais Additional Information: Life and Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~djb/shelley/home.html Sources: "Shelley, Percy Bysshe." The Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth Edition. Feb 2001. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.< http://www.bartleby.com/65/sh/ShelleyP.html > Shelley, Percy Bysshe," Microsoft(r) Encarta(r) Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com (c) 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Elizabeth Barret Browning (1792-1822) Coxhoe Hall, Durham Elizabeth Barret Browning was born into a wealthy family and lived a privileged childhood. In 1809, the family relocated to Hope End, a country estate in Herefordshire. There, at a young age Elizabeth began writing poems. She was interested in various literary works such as Shakespearian plays, Popes Homeric translations, passages from Paradise Lost, and histories of England, Greece, and Rome. Elizabeth's education was overall self-taught. She even learned Hebrew to read the Old Testament from beginning to end. By the age of twelve she had written an "epic" poem consisting of four books of rhyming couplets. In her early twenties Barrett befriended Hugh Stuart Boyd, a blind, middle-aged scholar, who rekindled Barrett's interest in Greek studies. During their friendship Barrett absorbed an astonishing amount of Greek literature -- Homer, Pindar, Aristophanes, etc... But after a few years Barrett's fondness for Boyd diminished and she began to view him as naive limited and pathetic. Her intellectual fascination with the classics and metaphysics was balanced by a religious obsession, which she later described as "not the deep persuasion of the mild Christian but the wild visions of an enthusiast." From 1822 on, Elizabeth Barrett's interests tended more and more to the scholarly and literary. Mr. Barrett's financial losses in the early 30's forced him to sell Hope End, and although never poor, the family moved three times between 1832 and 1837, settling at 50 Wimpole Street in London. In 1838, The Seraphim and Other Poems appeared, the first volume of Elizabeth's mature poetry to appear under her own name. Her 1844 Poems made her one of the most popular writers in the land, and inspired Robert Browning to write her, telling her how much he loved her poems. Kenyon arranged for Browning to come see her in May 1845, and so began one of the most famous courtships in literature. At her husband's insistence, the second edition of her Poems included her love sonnets, and this helped increase her popularity and the high critical regard in which the Victorians held their favorite poetess. 1857 saw the publication of the verse-novel Aurora Leigh, which today attracts more attention than the rest of her poetry. It is still unclear what sort of affliction Elizabeth Barrett Browning had, although medical and literary scholars have enjoyed speculating. Whatever it was, the opium, which was repeatedly prescribed probably made it worse; and Browning almost certainly lengthened her life by taking her south and by his solicitous attention. She died in his arms on June 29, 1861. Criticism: Elizabeth was the most esteemed female poet among audiences in the United States and England in the 1800s. Her works also heavily influenced later female poets such as Emily Dickinson. In her poems, there are critiques of social injustice such as the slave system in America. For example, in Poems Before Congress, she discussed the Italian independence issue and the English Parliament for lack of aid. Aurora Leigh dealt with gender inequality. Her popularity waned after her death, yet now she is recognized for her bold words as a lady. Works: 1848 Poems 1850 Sonnets from the Portuguese 1851 Casa Guidi Windows 1857 Aurora Leigh Additional Information: Brown University's Information site: http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/ebb/browningov.html Sources: Browning, Elizabeth Barrett," Microsoft(r) Encarta(r) Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com (c) 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) Southgate, Middlesex James Henry Leigh Hunt was born to a clergyman who later ended up in prison due to debts. He was intrigued by the world of politics and prose. He quickly befriended others like him such as Percy Bysshe Shelley or Charles Lamb. Leigh Hunt started writing poems and political articles and worked for the News as a drama critic. With his brother, in 1808 he launched a political journal, The Examiner. This political journal supported political radicals such as Sir Francis Burdett or Robert Owen. Leigh Hunt upset the authorities by pointing out on the front page of every edition of the political journal that half the cost of the price was the result of the government's "tax on knowledge". Authority punished Leigh Hunt and his brother by arresting them and charging them with libel after publishing an article criticizing the Prince Regent. The brothers were found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a Ł500 fine. In prison Leigh Hunt continued to edit the Examiner. After leaving prison, Leigh continued to work for the Examiner until 1821. He traveled to Italy with Byron and Shelley. The three published a journal there free from British authority and it became a wide success. Criticism: Leigh Hunt manly wrote articles and was a journalist. His radical views greatly influenced and inspired other writers to express themselves. Works: 1816 Story of Rimini 1819-21 The Indicator 1822-23 The Liberal 1830-32 The Tatler 1834-35 Leigh Hunt's London Journal 1850 Autobiography Additional Information: Selected Prose and Poetry by Leigh Hunt - < http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/authors/huntleig.html > Sources: "Hunt, Leigh" The Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth Edition. Feb 2001. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.< http://www.bartleby.com/65/sh/ShelleyP.html > Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) Steventon, Hampshire, England Jane Austen was born to a clergyman and she spent the first 25 years of her life in Steventon, Hampshire. As a child, she wrote fiction and composed early versions of her first three novels (Elinor and Marianne, Sense and Sensibility, and First Impressions). In 1801, her family moved to Bath upon the retiring of her father, then they moved to Chawton where Jane spent the rest of her days. In 1811, Sense and Sensibility was published followed by Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. A final novel, Sanditon, was unfinished upon her death in 1817. Jane Austen never married and lived a relatively restricted life. However, the atmosphere of family, village life, and of England's rural gentry did not limit her. Austen's works are satirical comedies of the domestic and social life of a limited sphere of English society. Her plots constitute variations on the standard theme of female novelists of the late 18th century, definitively established by Fanny BURNEY: a young girl's entry into society climaxed eventually by marriage. Each of Austen's heroines follows this course, by the end of the novel acquiring a husband, often an older man who has been both father and guide to her as well as lover. Well aware of the limitations of her fiction, Austen likened herself to a painter of miniatures; yet within the confines of her seemingly predictable plots, and narrow focus, she carefully explores, in highly polished, witty, and meticulous style, an important and universal theme, the adjustments the self must make to family and society. Austen's early novels look back to the 18th century. Northanger Abbey satirizes the Gothic novel and sentimental friendship, and Sense and Sensibility mocks the cult of sensibility in which personal feeling and spontaneity were valued to the exclusion of social responsibility and self-restraint. Pride and Prejudice, representing the flowering of her early style, is probably Austen's best-loved work; its vivacious and witty heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is in the tradition of the articulate women of Restoration and 18th-century comedy. Austen's later works, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, have themes traditionally labeled Victorian; they describe the loneliness and repression of young women forced into silence and self-effacement by the social codes prescribing female behavior. Fanny Price and Anne Elliot, for example, must hide their love and wait for their moral strength to be discovered. Emma, the sunniest and most satisfying of Austen's novels, has something of the sprightliness of Pride and Prejudice but also displays the psychological probing found in the later novels. It is especially skillful in the use of dialogue to convey the mental shifts and starts of its characters. Criticism: In her own time, Austen was a retiring novelist whose name did not appear on her title pages. Yet although she was not widely known or acclaimed, she had a select band of admirers that included the novelist Sir Walter Scott. Her influence on later writers such as Henry James was profound. There is, however, considerable debate about the tone of her work. Some critics have stressed the irony of her vision. They see Austen as responding subversively to a world she knows to be debased, undermining social values while she pays conventional homage to them. Others view her work as an intelligent affirmation of conservative social and religious values. According to proponents of this view, her invariably happy endings are not acts of bad faith but necessary culminations of a mature fictional vision. Jane Austen, one of the greatest of British fiction writers, had a major impact on the development of the English novel. Her six novels, written during the romantic period, combine 18th- and 19th-century concerns and modes of fiction and together have a thematic unity and a consistent excellence that make them one of the supreme achievements of English literature. Works: 1811 Sense & Sensibility 1813 Pride and Prejudice 1814 Mansfield Park 1816 Emma 1818 Northanger Abbey Persuasion Additional Information: Works and Life of Jane Austen - < http://www.pemberley.com/ > Sources: Jane Austen Society of North America. 2001 < http://www.jasna.org/ > "Austen, Jane" The Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth Edition. Feb 2001. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.< http://www.bartleby.com/65/sh/ShelleyP.html > The Brontë Sisters Charlotte (1816 - ) Thornton, Yorkshire Charlotte was the third daughter of a Reverend and his wife, Maria. In 1824, she enrolled in the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge, yet upon the illness of her sisters, she was sent home two years later. In 1826, her father brought home a collection of wooden soldiers and Charlotte and her sisters began to play with them. They created a detailed imaginary world called Angria. In 1844, Charlotte and her sisters decided to start a project for founding a school. However, their advertisements did not elicit a single response from the public. Upon her return home the sisters embarked upon their project for founding a school, which proved to be an abject failure: their advertisements did not elicit a single response from the public. The following year Charlotte discovered Emily's poems, and decided to publish a selection of the poems of all three sisters: 1846 brought the publication of their Poems, written under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Charlotte also completed The Professor, which was rejected for publication. In 1849 Charlotte, visiting London, began to move in literary circles, making the acquaintance, for example, of Thackeray. In 1850 Charlotte edited her sister's various works, and met Mrs. Gaskell. In 1851she visited the Great Exhibition in London, and attended a series of lectures given by Thackeray. 1857 saw the postumous publication of The Professor, which had been written in 1845-46, and in that same year Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë was published. Emily (1818 - 1848) Thornton, Yorkshire Emily was born in 1818. After her mother's death in 1821, Emily and her sisters enroll at the Cowan Bridge School. In 1831, Emily and Anne begin the Gondal saga. 1837 she goes to teach at Law Hill School, near Halifax; remains there for about six months--the exact dates of the Law Hill period are disputed. From 1838 to 842, over half of Bronte's surviving poems written. In 1844, she begins to arrange her poems into two notebooks, dividing the Gondalan from the non-Gondalan material. The idea of a school is abandoned and her brother tells the sisters his idea of novel writing. Charlotte discovers Emily's poems and convinces her sister to collaborate on a volume of poems; December, Wuthering Heights begun. In 1846, Wuthering Heights is finished and she begins to make the round of publishers, along with Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and The Professor by Charlotte; September 14, last dated complete poem. Confusion in the literary world over the identity originates and also number of the Bells. On December 19, Emily Bronte dies. Anne (1820 - 1849) Thornton, Yorkshire The youngest of six children of Patrick and Marie Brontë, Anne was taught in the family's Haworth home, chiefly by her sister Charlotte. She took a position as governess briefly in 1839 and then again for four years, 1841-45, with the Robinsons, the family of a clergyman, at Thorpe Green, near Boroughbridge, Yorkshire. There her irresponsible brother, Patrick Branwell, a drunkard and opium addict, joined her in 1845, intending to serve as a tutor. Anne returned home soon after but was followed shortly by her brother, who had been dismissed, charged with making love to his employer's wife. Additional Information: The Bronte Sisters: http://www2.sbbs.se/hp/cfalk/bronte1e.htm Sources: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bronte/bronte-anne.html http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/bronte/cbronte/bronteov.html http://www.empirezine.com/spotlight/bronte-c/bronte-c1.htm Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) Alloway Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, the oldest of seven children. His father, William Burness was a gardener and tenant farmer. In 1785 he fell in love with Jean Armour, because she became pregnant he offered to marry her, but her father forbid it. On July 31,1786 he published a collection of his poems which became an immediate success. He moved to Edinburgh and was welcomed into the literary circles. In time he returned home to farming and trained to become a full-time excise officer in Dumfries. As well as editing volumes of James Johnson's Musical Museum from 1788 until his death on 21 July, 1796 he wrote copiously and collected works with almost all his spare time. Criticism: Robert Burns is known worldwide for the insight, honesty, and expression through his work. He is honored by the common folk, and his songs are regularly performed by folk singers both modern and traditional. Burns was born into poverty and his formal education was scanty. Although he was poor, Burns read intensely and came across works of Robert Ferguson that inspired him. His poems, perhaps influenced by his continued poverty, were often political and he supported the French Revolution, which did not always endear him to those who might have been helpful to him. Indeed there were threats of arrest for treason and sedition. Works: Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786) The Edinburgh edition (1787) The Scots Musical Museum, 6 vol. (1787-1803) A Select Collection of Original Scotish Airs for the Voice (1793-1818) Additional Information: Everything One wants to know about Burns - http://www.robertburns.org/ Sources: Noyes, Russell. English Romantic Poetry and Prose. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956. Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) Dublin Thomas Moore, son of a shoemaker, was a poet, satirist, and musician. His Irish Melodies is known world-wide and he earned 500 pounds annually for more than 25 years for it's publication. Although noted for his music, Moore's poetry was equally celebrated. He was paid 3,000 pounds for his poem Lalla Rookh (1817), this amount can be compared with poets like Byron and Shelley. He attended Trinity College and there, he found himself in the midst of the Irish cause. At Trinity, he was also exposed to Edward Bunting's traditional Irish music. Most of Moore's first volume was based on Bunting's work. Upon graduation, Moore moved onto law school and upon the success of his first novel, Odes of Anacreon, he was able to travel. In 1804, he lived in London where he would remain for the rest of his days. Criticism: Moore was a charming performer that captured the hearts of his audience. However, he was also heavily involved in politics, which caused him harmful endeavors. Moore is most remembered by his Irish Melodies and biography of Byron. Works: Irish Melodies, a group of lyrics published between 1808 and 1834 and set to music by Sir John Stevenson and others Intercepted Letters, The Two-Penny Post Bag (1813) Lalla Rookh (1817) The Fudge Family in Paris (1818) Additional Information: Selected Poetry By Moore - http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/authors/moore.html Sources: Houtchens, Carolyn Washburn. The English Romantic Poets and Essayists. London: New York University Press, 1966. Moore, Thomas," Microsoft(r) Encarta(r) Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com (c) 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. Susan Edmonsone Ferrier (1782 - 1854) Susan Edomosone Ferrier was the tenth child born into a wealthy family. The large family shared a close bond throughout life. The Presbyterian Church was important in Ferrier's life. She received education at Mr. Stalker's Academy, however, Ferrier was primarily educated by her elder siblings. Upon the death of her mother in 1797, great detriment occurred to Ferrier's mental state. Ferrier often traveled to London to visit her sister Helen. In later life, Ferrier underwent evangelical conversion and joined the Free Church. From conviction she gave up writing fiction. Works: The Marriage (1818) The Inheritance (1824) Destiny (1831) Sources: Homepage. 2001. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~crumey/susan_edmonstone_ferrier.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- American: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Henry David Thoreau (1816 - 1865) Concord, Massachusetts, United States "He was bred to no profession; he never married; he lived alone; he never went to church; he never voted; he refused to pay a tax to the state; he ate no flesh; he drank no wine; he never knew the use of tobacco; and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun." - Emerson Henry David Thoreau was the epitome of New England Transcendentalism. After graduating from Harvard University, Thoreau lived with Emerson and his family. It was there that he considered a wholesome devotion to writing. In 1847, restlessness led him to live a life of exclusion at Walden Pond where he supported himself on the basis of what nature had to offer. It was at Walden that he started his A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. At the time, the Mexican War was occurring, and Thoreau rebelled against it by refusing to pay poll taxes. Due to this, Thoreau was forced to spend a night in jail; from that "Civil Disobedience" was created. Works: 1837 Walden 1849 A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, "Civil Disobedience" 1863 Excursions 1864 The Maine Woods 1865 Cape Cod 1866 A Yankee in Canada Additional Information: All you've ever wanted to know about Thoreau: http://www.transcendentalists.com/1thorea.html Sources: "Thoreau, Henry David" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. www.bartleby.com/65/. Witherell, Elizabeth Hall. "Life and Times of Henry D. Thoreau." August 24, 1999. http://libws66.lib.niu.edu/thoreau/bexhibit.htm Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) Boston, Massachusetts, United States "All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream." - Edgar Allan Poe Poe was born into a family who specialized in the performing arts, as his parents were both actors. Young Poe was sent to Europe to receive education in England and Scotland. He attended the University of Virginia upon his return in 1826. A year later, his first book Tamerlane and Other Poems was published. In 1836, Poe married Virginia Clemm. His wife inspired him to write poetry such as "Annabel Lee." Poe was a dark romantic tortured by alcoholism and a complex mind. He lived a painful life and used neurotic drugs such as opium. He was attracted to intense beauty, violent horror, and death. His poetry is sensational with the use of musical phrases, frightening images, and vivacious words. Poe as a writer analyzed the psyche like never before. Works: Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827) The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838) Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) The Raven and Other Poems (1845) Additional Information: Poe's life and works - http://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/ Sources: "Poe, Edgar Allan" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. www.bartleby.com/65/. Walt Whitman (1819 - 92) West Hills, New York, United States "I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs." - Walt Whitman "I hear America Singing" Walt Whitman is considered to be one of America's most prominent poets. He was born into a Quaker family and attended public school in Brooklyn. Before writing, he worked as a compositor and a teacher. He was also a newspaper editor for periodicals such as The Brooklyn Eagle. From 1850 to 1855, Whitman took his writing more seriously and he published his first edition of Leaves of Grass. Over the next few years, Whitman continued to write and briefly returned to journalism. During the American Civil War he tended wounded soldiers in army hospitals in Washington, D.C., while working as a copyist in the army paymaster's office. Following the war Whitman worked for the Department of the Interior and then as a clerk at the Justice Department. He remained in this position until he suffered a paralytic stroke in 1873. Although he lived nearly twenty more years and published four more editions of Leaves of Grass, Whitman produced little significant new work following his stroke. He died in Camden, New Jersey, at age 72. Some literary techniques he used included free verse, cadence, repetition, onomatopoeia, and parallel structure. He also included American slang or even made up words. Whitman was ahead of his time as he also included minority groups in his works such as Indians and women, which was rarely done. Works: Poetry Leaves of Grass (1855) First edition. Leaves of Grass (1856) Second edition. Leaves of Grass (1860) Third edition. Drum Taps (1865) Sequel to Drum Taps (1865) Leaves of Grass (1867) Fourth edition. Leaves of Grass (1870) Fifth edition. Passage to India (1870) Leaves of Grass (1876) Centennial edition. Leaves of Grass (1881) Sixth edition. Leaves of Grass (1891) "Deathbed" edition. Good-Bye, My Fancy (1891) Prose Franklin Evans; or, The Inebriate (1842) Democratic Vistas (1871) Memoranda During the War (1875) Specimen Days and Collect (1881) November Boughs (1888) Complete Prose Works (1892) Additional Information: Life and Works of Whitman - http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/whitman/ Sources: "Whitman, Walt" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. www.bartleby.com/65/. "Walt Whitman." The Academy of American Poets. 2001. http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=127&CFID=2625050&CFTOKEN=80611045 Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Amherst, Massachusetts, United States A word is dead when it is said, some say, I say it just begins to live that day. - Emily Dickinson, "A word is dead." The life of Emily Dickinson has intrigued individuals for decades. Dickinson seldom left her residency and whenever she had encounters with people, they impacted her thoughts and poetry immensely. One in particular was Reverend Charles Wordsworth, whom she met on a trip to Philadelphia. Dickinson deeply admired Wordsworth and after a brief visit of Wordsworth to her home in 1860, she began to write heartsick poetry. In the 1860s, Emily lived in almost complete isolation from the outside world and her sense of alienation was a common motif in her poems. Metaphysics of England of the 1600s enthralled Dickinson along with her Puritan background. Dickinson admired poets such as Robert, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Keats. Both Dickinson and Whitman, although differing in styles, share a unique American anthem. Dickinson used strict iambic meters, employed both rhyme and slant rhyming schemes, used unconventional grammar and spelling, and never titled her work. She would write poetry in little strips of paper, curl them up, and stick them in odd places such as door hinges or gaps in the wall of her bedroom. She tried publishing her poetry once, yet canceled on the idea; she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. Dickinson was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in letters to friends, but she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. The first volume of her work was published posthumously. Works: Poetry Poems by Emily Dickinson (1890) Poems: Second Series (1891) Poems: Third Series (1896) The Single Hound: Poems of a Lifetime (1914) The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (1924) Further Poems of Emily Dickinson: Withheld from Publication by Her Sister Lavinia (1929) Unpublished Poems of Emily Dickinson (1935) Bolts of Melody: New Poems of Emily Dickinson (1945) The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (1960) Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems (1962) Prose Letters of Emily Dickinson (1894) Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminisces (1932) Additional Information: Online Literary Criticism of Emily Dickinson's Work: http://www.ipl.org/cgi-bin/ref/litcrit/litcrit.out.pl?au=dic-61 Sources: Campbell, D. Homepage. March 31, 2001 http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/dickinson.htm "Emily Dickinson." The Academy of American Poets. 2001. http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=156 Washington Irving (1783 - 1859) New York City, New York, United States "Who ever hears of fat men heading a riot, or herding together in turbulent mobs?-No-no, 'tis your lean, hungry men who are continually worrying society, and setting the whole community by the ears." Named after George Washington, Irving was born in New York City into an immigrant family. Although he pursued ambitions of architecture, writing, landscape design, traveling, and diplomacy, he is known in the contemporary world as the first American author to make a living off of his written work. He wrote under the penname of Diedrich Knickerbocker, which he derived from New York Knickerbockers (Knicks). Irving was a traveler and spent a portion of his life in Europe, specifically England, France, Spain, and Germany. And many stores sprung up from his adventures abroad such as Voyages of Christopher Columbus. However, his most famous work sets in his hometown of New York. In 1819, he published a sketchbook under the penname of "Geoffrey Crayon Gent," which contained short stories of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Due to his travels abroad and great written work, Irving was recognized worldwide and received many honors such as the role of ambassador of Spain granted to him by President Taylor. He finally retired to his pastoral retreat Sunnyside in the 1840s, where he received frequent visitations from fellow writers and fans. Irving was the first American writer. According to Perkins, et. al. The American Tradition in Literature. 6th Ed. One Volume, he was the first American literary humorist, wrote the first modern short stories, was the first to write history and biography as entertainment, introduced the nonfiction prose as a literary genre, and used gothic looks forward to Poe. Works: Salmagundi (with William Irving and James Paulding), 1808 Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, 1809 The Sketch Book, 1819-20, containing "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Bracebridge Hall, 1822 Tales of a Traveller, 1824 The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1828 The Conquest of Granada (1829) Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus, 1831 The Alhambra, 1832 The Crayon Miscellany, 1835 Astoria, 1836 The Rocky Mountains, (The Adventures of Captain Bonneville), 1837 Biography of Margaret Miller Davidson, 1841 Goldsmith, Mahomet, Mahomet's Successors, 1850 Wolfert's Roost, 1855 Life of Washington, 1855. Additional Information: A List of Literary Criticism of Irving's Works: http://www.ipl.org/cgi-bin/ref/litcrit/litcrit.out.pl?au=irv-94 Sources: Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 3: Early Nineteenth Century - Washington Irving." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. WWW URL: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/irving.html Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882) Portland, Maine, United States "And all the great traditions of the Past They saw reflected in the coming time. And thus forever with reverted look The mystic volume of the world they read, Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book, Till life became a Legend of the Dead." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow grew up next to the seaport, which kept him away from the New England Puritanical train of thought. The life of the port opened Longfellow's eyes as he met new people. At a young age, Longfellow was drawn to sounds, writing, and words. Irving's The Sketch Book heavily influenced his own thoughts. In 1826, he set out on a tour of Europe. He traveled in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and England, and returned to America in 1829. Besides writing, his teaching also heavily influenced people. However, Longfellow is a well-known American poet, for since the rhymes of Mother Goose, many have carried his work throughout life. Longfellow has the amazing skill of rhyming that gives his poems distinct character. His poems were also optimistic and hopeful, tying together fundamental motifs that every person could relate to. Longfellow was also unique for his choice of subjects as he included the rawness of America along with its original inhabitants, the American Natives, in his works. This was something bold for the time and very few poets included them. Works: Hyperion (1839) Evangeline (1847) The Song of Hiawatha (1855) The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858) Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863) Divine Comedy (1867) Additional Information: Works of Longfellow: http://encyclopediaindex.com/b/cphwl10.htm Sources: Rabe, Roberto "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Biography." Homepage. 2001. http://EclecticEsoterica.com/longfellow_bio.html "Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. Sarah Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Let me gather from the Earth, one full-grown fragrant flower, Let it bloom within my bosom through its one blooming hour. Let it die within my bosom and to its parting breadth Mine shall answer, having lived, I shrink not now from death. It is this niggard halfness that turns my heart to stone, 'Tis the cup seen, not tasted, that makes the infant moan. Let me for once press firm my lips upon the movement's brow, Let me for once distinctly feel I am happy now. And bliss shall seal a blessing upon the moments brow." Sarah Margaret Fuller was one of the most influential female writers in the literary circles of her time. Unlike females of her time, Fuller received education at an early age as her father persisted, but it permanently damaged her health. Nevertheless, through her broad understanding of the world, Fuller became a feminist. She was also the editor of various transcendental and romantic literary magazines such as The Dial. In 1847, Fuller traveled to Rome and married Marchese Ossoli. In 1850, while sailing to the United States, she was drowned with her husband and infant son when the ship was wrecked off Fire Island, N.Y. Her works were republished incompletely. Works: Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845) Summer on the Lakes in 1843 (1844) Papers on Literature and Art (1846) Additional Information: An informative homepage on everything Margaret Fuller - http://www.worldlymind.org/fullerwrit.htm Sources: "Fuller, Margaret." Infoplease. 2001.http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0819860.html Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) New York City, New York, United States "There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own." - Melville in Moby Dick Herman Melville was born into financial instability and a rough life. Upon the death of his father, it was up to Melville to support his family through various jobs such as banking and teaching school. In 1845, Melville went on ocean adventures, which inspired him to start writing. For example, on one voyage, he was captured and held for several months by the Typees; when he returned unscathed, friends encouraged Melville to write the escapade down. Melville became friends with Hawthorne and they both heavily influenced each other's work. Moby Dick is what modern scholars consider a timeless masterpiece; however, when it was published, it was not a financial success. He was unable to support his family through his novels and his talent went unnoticed. He discontinued writing fiction and began experimenting with poetry. In his poetry, Melville often used the motif of the Civil War as many of his family members participated in the War. He died in 1891 quietly as it was not until the 20s when literary criticism became popular that Melville received the credit he deserves. Works: Poetry Battle-Pieces and Aspectsof the War: Civil War Poems (1866) Clarel: A Poem and a Pilgrimage (1876) John Marr and Other Sailors (1888) Timoleon (1891) Prose Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846) Omoo (1847) Mardi (1849) Redburn (1849) White-Jacket; or, the World in a Man-of-War (1850) Moby-Dick, or the Whale (1851) Pierre, or The Ambiguities (1852) Israel Potter (1855) The Piazza Tales Israel Potter (1856) The Confidence-Man (1857) Billy Budd, Sailor (1924) Additional Information: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Melville: http://www.melville.org/ Sources: "Melville, Herman" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864) Salem, Massachusetts, United States "The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself with ancient limits." Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem. This is significant, as he would later include Salem and New England in his works. He was named after his father, whom when Hawthorne was four, died. While playing ball in his youth, Hawthorne injured himself and was prevented from doing any activity that was physically demanding. As a result, Hawthorne became interested in literature. In 1825, Hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin College. There, he befriended President Pierce along with Longfellow. At this time he also acquired a love for solitude and came middle in his class due to his excessive perusal of literary authors. Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody and enjoyed a life of literature, politics, and family. In The Scarlet Letter his literary talent bursts forth in the intensity of images and the mastering of psychological truths. He left Salem for Boston in 1850, where he had as a neighbor Herman Melville. Nathaniel had a great influence on American Literature after the reception of The Scarlet Letter. Herman Melville changed Moby Dick to accommodate Hawthorne's way of writing and dedicated the book to him. This style of narrative fictional Romance has created American Fiction. Many authors have also adopted his use of psychological analysis since he introduced it. His works give the reader a glimpse into Early Colonialism as also a window into the time of the author. Here one reads of American traditions as well as the struggle that Hawthorne himself experienced with evil and fate and reconciling one's own response to it. The reader finds much allegory in the images Hawthorne creates, forcing one to question and formulate one's own responses to the moral issues that are dimmed by the circumstances surrounding the characters of the story. Works: Twice-Told Tales, 1837 Mosses from an Old Manse, 1846 The Custom House and The Scarlet Letter, 1850 The House of Seven Gables, 1851 The Blithedale Romance, 1852 The Life of Franklin Pierce, 1852 The Marble Faun, 1860 Additional Information: A More Extensive Look at Hawthorne http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/hawthor.htm Sources: Turner, Arlin. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography. Oxford University Press, Inc., 1980. Hawthorne, Nathaniel", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 2001. William Cullen Bryant (1794 - 1878) Cummington, Massachusetts, United States "Here the free spirit of mankind, at length, Throws its last fetters off; and who shall place A limit to the giant's unchained strength, Or curb his swiftness in the forward race?" William Cullen Bryant was erudite at a young age. This child-prodigy published his first poem at the age of ten, followed by a political satire of Jefferson at the age of thirteen. His father provided Bryant with a library collection of classical books, which heavily influenced his writing. Bryant would heavily edit his works before publishing them. He wished people to praise his work not for its distinct American individuality yet for its merit, as it stands alone. Bryant focused on technique to express his thoughts. His poetic theory and practice, founded upon romantic principles of emotional expression, naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity, irregularity, and freedom, set him squarely in the Romantic Movement. Bryant was also a lawyer and an editor for the New York Evening Post. And as he made more money in journalism, he abandoned his poetic talent. Bryant was also enthusiastic about politics. Bryant was a proponent of "Laissez-Faire", hands-off , economic policy. He opposed tariffs of any kind, as we saw in his earliest book where he satirizes the embargo of U.S. goods to the European ports. He was against slavery, endorsing the Free-Soil party, the Republican party, and Lincoln. His influence from the editorial desk of the New York Evening Post was great. He published poetry, but his first collected edition included only five previously unpublished poems. Bryant's place in literary history is not altogether secure. He is regarded as falling somewhat short of his potential. Although he published little as he became immersed in the journalistic life, he was extremely popular in his time and even one time was named as a candidate for President. Works: "Thanatopsis," 1817 Poems, 1821 Lectures on Poetry -1826 Letters of a Traveler -1850 Poetry: The Embargo"- 1808 "Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood," "Thanatopsis," "The Yellow Violet," "To a Waterfowl"- 1815 "The Burial Place"- 1818 "Oh Fairest of the Rural Maids"- 1820 "The Ages"-1821 "Monument Mountain"- 1824 "A Forest Hymn"- 1825 "To the Fringed Gentian"- 1832 "The Prairies"- 1833 "Earth," "To the Apennines"- 1835 "The Fountain"- 1839 "The Antiquity of Freedom"- 1842 "The White-Footed Deer"- 1843 "October, 1866"- 1866 "Among Trees"- 1868. Additional Information: Works By Bryant - http://www.4literature.net/William_Cullen_Bryant/ Sources: Yarborough, Wynn . "William Cullen Bryant." Virginia Commonwealth University. 1996. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/brybio.htm Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 82) Boston, Massachusetts Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher and poet. He was the son of a Unitarian minister who died when Emerson was eight. He was educated at Harvard, studied theology, was ordained, and became a pastor in Boston, but resigned his charge (shortly after the death of his first wife) because he felt unable to believe in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In 1832, Emerson set sail for Europe where he visited England and met writers such as Coleridge and Wordsworth. On his return to America Emerson embarked on a career as lecturer, evolving the new quasi-religious concept of Transcendentalism, which found written expression in his essay Nature (1836): 'Nature is the incarnation of thought. The world is the mind precipitated.' This form of mystic idealism and Wordsworthian reverence for nature ('What is a farm but a mute gospel?') was immensely influential in American life and thought, and Emerson, like his friend Carlyle, was revered as a sage. In 1835 he married and settled in Concord; his 1837 Harvard address, 'The American Scholar', urged America (as Channing had recently done) to assert its intellectual independence: 'We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe.' The Dial, founded in 1840, was edited by Emerson from 1842 to 1844, and published many of his gnomic, rough-hewn, but frequently striking poems, including 'The Problem' and 'Woodnotes'. His first volume of essays (1841) contains 'Self-Reliance' ('Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist ... A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds'); 'Compensation'; and 'The Over-Soul', which proposes a mystic Unity 'within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other'. His second Essays (1844) contains 'The Poet', in which he urges the 'incomparable materials' of America, 'our log-rolling, our stumps and their politics, our fisheries, our Negroes and Indians ... America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.' In 1845 Emerson delivered the lectures later published in 1850 as Representative Men; these studies of Plato, Swedenborg, Napoleon, and others owe something to Carlyle's concept of the Hero. In 1847 he revisited England on a lecture tour, staying in London in the home of his publisher, J. Chapman; he was greatly admired in this country and his English Traits (1865), a perceptive study of the English national character, won him more readers. On his return to America he was actively engaged in the anti-slavery campaign, and continued to lecture and write (including poems and prose for The Atlantic Monthly) until, in his last decade, he gradually lost his mental powers and became a quiet blank. Of his many later works, mention should be made of his moving tribute to his friend and follower Thoreau (1862) in which, after a warm appreciation, he mildly deplored Thoreau's want of ambition, a comment which takes on an ironic light in view of Emerson's current neglect as a writer and Thoreau's great and continuing influence. A definitive edition of Emerson's Collected Works, ed. R. E. Spiller and others (Vol. I, 1971) is in progress, as is a complete edition of the Journals and Notebooks (1960). Works: 1817 Journal 1836 Nature 1840 The Dial 1847 "Threnody," "Brahma," "The Problem," "The Rhodora," "The Concord Hymn" "The Over-Soul," "Compensation," "Self-Reliance" 1850 Representative Men 1856 English Traits 1860 The Conduct of Life 1870 Society and Solitude Additional Information: http://www.rwe.org/ Sources: http://www.transcendentalists.com/1emerson.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- French ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VICTOR HUGO (1802-1885) Victor Marie Hugo not only was a novelist, a poet, and a skilled dramatist but also he was one of the leading exponents of Romanticism. As the most important French wrter of his period, Hugo's work often involved politics, although he was surely best known as a novelist and a dramatist. After the age of 10, a period in which Hugo traveled with his father, the writer settled in Paris with his mother. He later shared his house as a meeting point with the prominent Romantic writers of the 19th century: Sainte-Beuve, Alfred de Vigny and others inspired undoubtfully Hugo's Cromwell (1827). Starting from 1826, year of publication of Odes and Ballads, Hugo published essays, volumes of poems, three novels, and a lot of dramatic works. In 1841 he joined the Acadčmie Francaise. This prolific period ended in 1843, year in which his daughter Leopoldine died. Since that year he decided to dedicate most of the time on political issues, and he took part in the constitutional government, becoming in 1848 a representative of the people, turning his beliefs from conservative into republican. Hugo's was exiled by Napoleon Bonaparte il 1851. Hugo's first marriage (Adčle Foucher) ended at the beginning of the 1830s, then he began a relashionship with Jouliette Drouet, who accompanied him in exile. While exiled, Hugo created his major writing works: he produced the first volume of his epic poem Legend of the Centuries (1859-83), Les Miserables and Conteplations (his best collections of poems, 1856). After 19 years, As the Second Empire was proclamed (1870) he came back to Paris and he was elected a senator of the Third Republic, acclaimed as a national hero. Although the last 20 years of his life were consumed by the death of his dearest, he went on writing and taking part in the political life of the state. His death occurred in 1885, and he received a state funeral. MAJOR WORKS CRITICISM His two major novels, Notre-Dame de Paris (1831; trans. as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1833) and Les Misérables (1862; Eng. trans., 1862), demostrate how Hugo's works have survived critical indifference and remain, thanks to the richness of his style, among the most important writings of the 19th century. Cromwell (1827) was seen by the academics as the manifesto of romantic literary theory. In it, Hugo explained how to evade the formal constraints of classicism in order to show the truth in the human nature. In Hernani (1830) Hugo's romantic theory is strongly remarked and exemplified. Hugo almost always provided worthy historical settings to his novels. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a sad story of medieval Paris that talks about a deformed bell ringer's love to a wild gypsy girl. And Les Misérables focus on Jean Valjean, a victim of social injustice, but offers a multitude of details and events that build a full view of post-Napoleonic France and the beginning of the 19th century. QUOTE There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come. -- Victor Hugo WORKS 1822 -ODES AND VARIOUS POEMS. Early poetry. 1823 -HAN OF ICELAND. Historical romance. Hugo is just warming up. 1826 -BUG-JARGAL. A forgotten novel about a slave revolt in Santo Domingo. Hugo wrote the first edition when he was 16 years old. -ODES AND BALLADS. More poetry. 1827 -CROMWELL. In it preface, he argues for aromantic rebirth of drama. 1829 -MARION de LORME. Outraged censors ban this shocking drama. The lead character is a loose woman. -THE LAST DAY OF A CONDEMNED MAN. A novel protesting the death penalty. Hugo's first "mature" novel. -ORIENTAL POEMS. Echoes the era's popular romantic themes. 1830 -HERNANI. The literary establishment is scandalized by this play's unabashed romanticism. The opening night audience splits between ardent fans and violent detractors. Fistfights break out. But when the dust settles, Hugo's romantic ideas dominate French theater. 1831 -THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The art of the novel is never the same after this bold, groundbreaking effort. The book results in the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. -AUTUMN LEAVES. Intimate poetry. 1832 -THE KING TAKES HIS AMUSEMENT. A play about womanizing King Francis I and his noble jester. Banned by the authorities. Guiseppe Verdi uses the plot for his opera, RIGOLETTO. 1833 -LUCRECE BORGIA and MARIA TUDOR. Hugo writes these two dramas for the actress Juliette Drouet. 1834 -LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY MINGLED. Essays. -CLAUDE GUEUX. Another novel denouncing the death penalty. 1835 -SONGS AT DAYBREAK. Political poetry. Increasingly, Hugo involves himself in partisan disputes. -ANGELO. A drama of passion and revenge in the sixteenth century. 1837 -INNER VOICES. Vivid verse. 1838 -RUY BLAS. A play about a princess loved by a poor poet. A barely-veiled cry for political reform. 1840 -SUNBEAMS AND SHADOWS. Ambitious poetry on religion, social problems, politics and philosophy. 1842 -THE RHINE. A travel book. 1843 -THE BURGRAVES. A melodrama set in medieval Germany. It flops big time. 1848 -THE EVENT. A newspaper begun by Hugo to advance his political views. Within three years, he is forced into exile. 1852 -NAPOLEON THE LITTLE. Satirical comparison between Napoleon III (Hugo's political nemesis) and Napoleon I. 1853 -PUNISHMENTS. Political satire in poetic form. Here, he completely abandons classical patterns and discovers a freer, fully-formed poetic voice. 1856 -CONTEMPLATIONS. Poignant poetry inspired by the death of Hugo's daughter Leopoldine. 1859 -THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES. In verse, Hugo develops a complex vision of a universe shaped by man's imperfection. He will wrestle with this theme throughout the rest of his life. 1862 -LES MISERABLES. A smashing international success. A huge novel, plotted like a detective story, with unforgettable depictions of life in Paris. Ultimately, it details man's search for true justice. 1864 -WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. A celebration of poetic imagination and human genius. 1865 -SONGS OF LANE AND WOOD. Light, lyric, pastoral poetry. 1866 -TOILERS OF THE SEA. A novel dedicated to the sailors of Guernsey, the island where Hugo endures much of his nineteen-year exile from France. 1869 -THE LAUGHING MAN. An anti-feudalism novel set in 17th-century England. The hero's deformed face is twisted into a permanent smile. 1872 -THE TERRIBLE YEAR. An account of the siege of Paris and the rise of the Commune during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. 1873 -"1793." A novel on the French Revolution. 1875 -BEFORE EXILE and DURING EXILE. Collections of Hugo's political speeches and essays. 1876 -SINCE EXILE. More political material. 1877 -THE ART OF BEING A GRANDFATHER. Light verse inspired by grandchildren Georges and Jeanne. -THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES, SECOND SERIES. More phantasmagoric poetry exploring the secrets of creation. -STORY OF A CRIME. Written in exile, this recounts the coup that put Napoleon III on the throne of France. 1879 -THE SUPREME PITY. A long poem arguing that a criminal deserves pity because his first victim is himself. 1880 -THE ASS. A donkey narrates this poem about human thought. -RELIGION AND RELIGIONS. A poetic attack on materialism and established sects. 1881 -THE FOUR WINDS OF THE SPIRIT. Dramatic, epic, lyric and satiric poetry. 1882 -TORQUEMADA. A scathing play about Spain's inquisitor general. 1883 -THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES. Once again, Hugo uses verse to muse on metaphysics and mankind. 1886 -THE END OF SATAN. An epic poem of heaven and earth, light and shadow. -FREE PLAYS. Dramatic work from 1854 onward. 1888 -THE WHOLE LYRE, part one. More poetry. 1891 -GOD. Another theological poem. Hugo summarizes his own religion in one word -- Love. 1893 -THE WHOLE LYRE, part two. Even more poetry. 1898 -THE FATAL YEARS. Poetical politics. 1902 -LAST GLEANINGS. Bits and pieces of poetry stitched together by Hugo's literary executor. 1942 -OCEAN and HEAP OF STONES. Fragments collected from all stages of Hugo's career. LINKS: poetes.com/hugo ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE (21 Oct 1790; 1 Mar, 1869) QUOTE Sentiment is the poetry of the imagination. De Lamartine traveled trough Italy, and spent much time to Naples, the place that most influenced his works and his life. In France, he began a political life as a diplomat (Secretary of embassy), traveling to Naples and Florence. He, as well as Victor Hugo, participated in government and politics (1848) and withdrew from public life after the coup d'état of Napoleon. The more important woman of his life was Julie Charles, and her death was constantly alluded to in his poetry. In 1820 he published "Les Méditations Poétiques," which was very much appreciated for its personal, emphatic, and confident tone. In 1830 "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" was a success, turned out of a spiritual inner-search that he underwent to face deeper and more ambitious topics. When "Meditations" first appeared France was shown an entirely new kind of poetry that used "cessait d'etre un jeu stérile de l'esprit pour renaître fille de l'enthousiasme et de l'inspiration". He was able to write with a great Christian love, but later in his life he became a spiritualist. However, he was a poet of rare elevation. De Lamartine was not only a lyric poet, but also wrote many novels and speeches. . Graziella (1849) Jocelyn (1836) Méditations poétiques (1820) Les Confidences (1852). The Fallen of an Angel (1838) Histoire des Girondins" (1847) Les Secondes Méditations" (1823) "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" (1830) "La Chute d'un Ange" (1838) "Recueillements Poétiques" (1839) "Voyage en Orient", (1835) ------------------ LINKS: http://poetes.com/lamartine http://le-village.ifrance.com/Tadine/lamar01.html --------------------------- Alfred Victor, comte de Vigny (1797-1863) Born of a noble family, de Vigny joined the military in 1814. He was a good friend of Victor Hugo, and because of that he soon was able to enter the romantic's salons. He married in 1825 to Lydia Bunbury, an English woman. However his marriage was complicated by his wife's poor health. Finally, in 1827, he obtained the consent to leave the army and he moved to Paris. In July 1830, Carlo X abdicated and fled to England, giving the crown to Luigi Filippo. These events confused Vigny, and he was undecided between his humanitarian ambitions and his loyalty for the dynasty. After a period of reflection he became interested in Saint-Simon's doctrine and professed Republican tendencies. In 1848, he unsuccesfully applied for deputate of Charente. In 1845 was accepted in the Académie Francaise, after many a failed attempt. He was strongly pessimistic, and his lonely nature conducted him to retirement in 1853, when he decided to spend the last years of his life with his ill wife. Criticism His poetry (Počmes antiques et modernes, 1826; les destinče, 1864) addressed the human condition with a stoic and pessimistic approach. The eternal conflict between dreams and reality and the universality of pain are addressed by Vigny, who rejected both desperation and credulity, and sought for a wisdom without illusions. His output in prose and drama was minor. (stello, 1832, servitude et grandeur militaires, 1835) and dramatic ( La marčchale d'ancre 1831; chatterton, 1835) Vigny left numerous unedited works of exceptional interest. Although he did not receive the recognition he merited during his lifetime, next generations-- including writers as Charles Baudelaire and André Breton--have revered his memory and his message. MAJOR WORKS: 'Le Bal', 1820 (first poem) POÉMES, 1822 ÉLOA, OU LA SOEUR DES ANGES, 1824 POČMES ANTIQUES ET MODERNES, 1826 (enlarged edition of Poémes) CINQ-MARS, 1826 LA MARÉCHALE D'ANCRE, 1831 STELLO, 1832 QUITTRE POUR LA PEUR, 1833 SERVITUDE ET GRANDEUR MILITAIRES, 1835 - The Military Necessity CHATTERTON, 1835 LES DESTINÉES, 1864 JOURNAL D'UN POČTE, 1867 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1883-85 CORRESPONDANCE 1916-63, 1905 DAPHNÉ, 1912 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1913,1920, 1960-65 LETTRES Á HUGO, 1929 LETTRES Á SAINT-BEUVE, 1929 LETTRES D'UN DERNIER AMOUR, 1952 MÉMOIRES INÉDITS, 1958 LINKS: poetes.com/vigny http://romantis.citeweb.net/vigny/html/vignindex.html ------------------- ALFRED DE MUSSET (1810-1857) Quote: Experience is the name men give to their follies or their sorrows. Although his family encouraged him to study medicine or law, Alfred de Musset preferred to study the arts (music, painting, poetry). He became a member, while he still was very young, of Victor Hugo's aalon, the capitol of the romantic movement in France. After many attempts in literature (translations, verses, drama), he decided seriously to become a writer in 1832, the year in which his father died. In 1852 he joined the Acadčmie Francaise. His life, focused on pleasure, alcohol, and lovers (his most famous affair was with George Sand), characterized his romanticism. He saw literature as an extreme lyric valorization of word, both in verses (Les nuits, 1835-36, Complete počms 1840) and in fiction (le confession d'un enfant du sičcle 1836). Musset was a master in drama; his plays created multidimensional female portraits, and had a deep sight of the psychology of love. He combined the passionate perception of Racine with the wit of Marivaux. Many of the titles for his works were taken from proverbs popular at the time. Musset's popularity nowadays is second only to Racine and Moliere. WORKS: L'ANGLAIS MANGEUR D'OPIUM, 1828 LES MARRONS DE FEU, 1929 LA NUIT VÉNITIENNE, 1830 - A Venetian Night CONTES D'ESPAGNE ET D'ITALIE, 1830 UN SPECTACLE DANS UN FAUTEUIL, 1832 LA COUPE ET LES LČVRES, 1832 - The Cup and the Lip Ŕ QUOI RÉVENT LES JEUNES FILLES, 1832 - Of What Young Maidens Dream LAS CAPRICES DE MARIANNE, 1833 - The Follies of Marianne GAMIANI, 1833 ROLLA, 1833 ANDRÉ DEL SARTO, 1833 - transl. FANTASIO, 1834 ON NE BADINE PAS AVEC L'AMOUR, 1834 - No Trifling with Love LORENZACCIO, 1834 - transl. - Lorenzo LE CHANDELIER, 1835 - The Candle-Stick BARBERINE, 1835 LES NUITS, 1835-37 LA CONFESSION D'UN ENFANT DU SIČCLE, 1936 - Confession of a Child of the Century - Vuosisadan lapsen tunnustus, suom. V.A. Koskenniemi IL NE FAUT JURER DE RIEN, 1836 - You Can't Be Sure of Anything LETTRE Ŕ LAMATINE, 1836 LETTRES DE DUPUIS ET COTONET, 1836-37 UN CAPRICE, 1837 - A Caprice CONTES ET NOUVELLES, 1838 MARGOT, 1838 LE SOUVENIR, 1841 HISTOIRE D'UN MERLE BLANC, 1842 PIERRE ET CAMILLE, 1844 IL FAUT QU'UNE PORTE SOIT FERMÉE, 1845 - The Door Must Be either Open or Shut MIMI PINSON, 1846 L'HABIT VERT, 1849 (with Émile Augier) - The Green Coat LOUISON, 1849 CARMOSINE, 1850 BETTINE, 1851 PREMIČRES POÉSIES, 1852 POÉSIES NOUVELLES, 1852 LA MOUCHE, 1853 COMÉDIES ER PROVERBES, 1853 ON NE SAURAIT PENSER Ŕ TOUT, 1953 - You Can't Think of Everything L'ÂNE ET LE RUISSEAU, 1860 - The Donkey and the Stream OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1866-83 OEUVRES, 1876 OEUVRES POSTHUMES, 1881 Comedies, 1892 The Complete Writings, 1905 COMÉDIES ET PROVERBES, 1906 CORRESPONDANCE 1827-57, 1907 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1907-09 LETTRES D'AMOUR, 1923 CORRESPONDANCE ENTRE GEORGE SAND ET ALFRED DE MUSSET, 1930 COMÉDIES ET PROVERBES, 1945 OEUVRES COMPLČTES E PROSE, 1951 POÉSIES COMPLČTES, 1951 THČÂTRE COMPLET, 1952 TEXTES DRAMATIQUES INÉDITS, 1953 A Comedy and Two Proverbs, 1957 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1962 Seven Plays, 1962 THÉÂTRE COMPLET, 1964 SUGGESTED READINGS: Fantasio and Other Plays, 1993 Comedies & Proverbs, 1994 Five Plays: The Moods of Marianne, Fantasio, Lorenzaccio, Don't Play With Love, Caprice, 1995 Historical Dramas of Alfred De Musset, 1997 LINKS: poetes.com/musset -------------------------------- GERARD DE NERVAL (1808-1855) Ť Il vivait au jour le jour, acceptant avec reconnaissance, avec amour, chacune des belles heures de la jeunesse, tombées du sein de Dieu. Il avait été riche un instant, mais par goűt, par passion, par instinct, il n'avait pas cessé de mener la vie des plus pauvres diables. Seulement, il avait obéi plus que jamais au caprice, ŕ la fantaisie, ŕ ce merveilleux vagabondage dont ceux-lŕ qui l'ignorent disent tant de mal.ť Gerard de Nerval's most memorable experience was the death of his mother, which influenced and haunted him throughout his life. He grew up in Valois, in his uncle's house, and moved to Paris when he came of age to study medecine, which was the will of his father (who was a doctor). However, he pursued literary interests. In 1834, an inheritance allowed him to travel to Italy. There he spent his money and made a living as a journalist and dramatist alongside Dumas. He traveled again before he suffered madness (1841). In between 1841 and 1853, at which time he suffered another mental crisis, he wrote and set the basis of almost all his future works. In 1855, he committed suicide. De Nerval's narrative masterworks include Daughters of Fire (1854), containing Sylvia and Octavie; the same collection also contained La Pandora which was published unfinished. In 1855 Aurélia was released, and it became one of his most important works, even in its unfinished state. It summarized his crises and visions. He wrote a collection of sonnets, Les chimeres (1854). Nerval's work anticapted surrealism. He accomplished and found a new stylistic balance that melted two different worlds and contradictory lexicons. MAJOR WORKS: Aurelia 1853-54 LEs Filles du Feu 1854 Les Chimeres 1854 QUOTE: "Every flower is a soul blossoming in Nature." LINKS: poetes.com/nerval http://www.lapisangularis.org/nerval.html (Chapter 12 of his Voyage in Orient) -- center for Nerval studies -- http://www.fundp.ac.be/recherche/unites/en/9247.html E-TEXTS: Les Chimeres http://hypo.ge-dip.etat-ge.ch/www/athena/nerval/nerv_chi.html --------------------------------- PROSPER MERIMEE (1803-1870) He was the son of the famous painter and art historian Léonor, and was close friend of Stendhal. Mérimée was also a friend to Empress Eugenia, a monument inspector, and a senator and France academic, and was able to enjoy prestige in the court of Napoleon III. An expert of English and Spanish literature, he was strongly inspired by them in his works; of which most were theatrical. His narratives marked the shift from Romanticism to Realism. He wrote short stories, La venus de L'ille (1837), Colomba (1840), and Carmen (1845, that inspired the so named play by Bizet), dramas and the historic novel La vision du charles IX (1829). He went on with his activity of poet and narrator, but he dedicated himself to historic and archeological studies as well. His wide correspondence (published only in 1941-61) was remarkable and one of the most important of the century; his notes and memories offered worthy testimonies of Stendhal's life. E-TEXT: (Carmen) ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext01/carmn10.txt (la venus de L'ille) http://www.ac-orleans-tours.fr/lettres/merimee/text1.html WORKS: CROMWELL, 1822 LE THÉÂTRE DE CLARA GAZUL, 1825 LA GUZLA, 1825 LA GUZLA, 1827 LA JACQUERIE, 1828 - Peasant Revolt LA CHRONIQUE DU RČGNE DE CHARLES IX, 1829 - A Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX - Pärttylinyö eli Mustalaistytön ennustus MATEO FALCONE, 1829 - suom. LE CAROSSE DU SAINT-SACREMENT, 1829 - Jean Renoir's historical film The Golden Coach from 1953 is loosely based on the novel, starring Anna Magnani, Dincan Lamont, Paul Campbell, Riccardo Rioli, Jean Debucourt LA VISION DE CHARLES IX, 1829 L'ENLČVEMENT DE LA REDOUTE, 1829 TAMANGO, 1829 LE VASE ÉTRUSQUE, 1830 LA PARTIE DE TRICTRAC, 1830 LA DOUBLE MÉPRISE, 1833 MOSAĎQUE, 1833 LES ÂMES DU PURGATOIRE, 1834 LA VÉNUS DE L'LLE, 1837 NOTES D'UN VOYAGE EN CORSE, 1840 COLOMBA, 1840 - Verikosto - suom. Kasimir Leino (1907) CARMEN, 1845 - HISTOIRE DE DON PČDRE I, ROI DE CASTILLE, 1848 LE FAUX DÉMÉTRIUS, 1854 MÉLANGES HISTORIQUES ET LITTÉRAIRES, 1855 LOKIS, 1869 LA CHAMBRE BLEUE, 1872 LETTRES Á UNE INCONNUE, 1873 - Letters to an Unknown Girl PORTRAITS HISTORIQUES ET LITTÉRAIRES, 1874 LETTRES Ŕ M. PANIZZI: 1850-70, 1881 LETTRES Ŕ UNE INCONNUE, 1889 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1927-33 ROMANS ET NOUVELLES, 1932 LETTRES Ŕ CONTESSE DE MONTIJO, 1936 LETTRES A FANNYLAGDEN, 1938 CORRESPONDANCE GÉNÉRALE, 1941-64 (17 vols.) LETTRES Ŕ E. ELLICE, 1963 NOTES ET VOYAGES, 1971 ------------------------------------ TEOPHILE GAUTIER (1811-1872) Inizialmente si dedicň alla pittura, in seguito partecipň con passione alla polemica letteraria tra classici e romantici, schierandosi in favore dei secondi (č passato alla alla storia il gilet rosso di Gautier, che indossava a teatro, alla guida dei giovani innovatori). Nel 1833 perň prese le distanze dal pensiero romantico, e pochi anni dopo rivalutň l'ideale classico di bellezza, nella prefazione al romanzo Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835), che teorizzava l'Ťarte per l'arteť. Fra le altre opere, ricordiamo il romanzo Capitan Fracassa (1863), concepito in piena epoca romantica, ma scritto trent'anni dopo, e le liriche di Smalti e cammei, che precorrono la cura formale del Parnaso. Notevoli sono anche gli scritti di carattere fantastico, come i racconti ispirati dalla lettura di E.T.A. Hoffmann (tra i quali La caffettiera, 1831, La morta innamorata, 1836, Il cavaliere doppio, 1840, Arria Marcella, 1852, Avatar, 1856) e il romanzo Spirite (1866). Gautier ha lasciato anche molti resoconti di viaggio e moltissimi articoli di critica artistica, teatrale e letteraria, in parte raccolti in volume. ENGLISH At first Gautier devoted himself to painting, then he passionately participated in the literary polemic between classics and romantics, siding with romantics. But in 1833, he abandoned the romantic thoughts, and after a few years he re-evaluated the classic idea of beauty. In the foreword of his novel, Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835), he theorized the idea of "art for art's sake". This idea introduced the school of the Parnassians and the symbolists. Conceived in the middle of the Romantic era, but written 30 years later, was his novel, Captain Fracassa (1863). La morte amoureuse (1836) The double Knight (1840) Arria Marcella (1852) Avatar(1856) and the novel Spirite (1866) came from the inspiration of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Gautier also left many reports of travel and a lot of articles of artistic, theatric and literary criticism, partly collected in a book. In many ways, Gautier's life was full of disappointments. He was never elected to the Académie française, and his government appointments and subsidies were never sufficient. In addition, the frequent changes of government (born during the Napoleonic Empire, Gautier lived through two revolutions, a coup d'état, a major war and the Commune) always seemed to destroy whatever financial independence he had aspired to recieve. On October 23, 1872, his heart hit by the privations of the siege of Paris and without fortune, but universally known and admired, he died. He had a book of poems published in his honor a year later, which also included poems by Hugo and Mallarmé. WORKS MENTIONED: La morte amoreuse, 1836 the double knight, 1840 Arria Marcella, 1852 Avatar, 1856 Spirite, 1866 Captain Fracasse, 1863 ADD LINKS: poetes.com/gautier E-TEXTS: Night with Cleopatra The mummy's foot http://www.bibliomania.com/0/5/163/frameset.html (Captain Fracasse) http://www.bookvalley.com/cgibin/bv?b=22 ------------------------------------- CHARLES BAUDELAIRE (1821-1867) The Beauty Conceive me as a dream of stone: my breast, where mortals come to grief, is made to prompt all poets' love, mute and noble as matter itself. With snow for flesh, with ice for heart, I sit on high, an unguessed sphinx begrudging acts that alter forms; I never laugh, I never weep. In studious awe the poets brood before my monumental pose aped from the proudest pedestal, and to bind these docile lovers fast I freeze the world in a perfect mirror: he timeless light of my wide eyes. He lost his father when he was 6 years old and devoted his love to his mother who after two years re-married to Jaques Aupick, a military officier. This marriage was a shock to young Charles, and due to that marriage he felt a lack of love through his whole life. During his studies in college, he became fond of novels defined as "satanic" and started writing verses. His step-father, worried, in 1841 forced him to take a long journey to the Orient that lasted 10 months. There he produced several of the poems that were later published in his most famous work, "Les Fleurs du Mal." From 1842 to 1844 he founded intellectual alliances with Gautier, Balzac, Manet and Delacroix. Moreover he frequented the Club des Haschischins (hascish smokers) and became interested in the theory and practice of the use of alcohol and drugs to instigate imagination. In 1857 was released the first edition of Les Fleurs du Mal and after few days Baudelaire was sequestrated. Both poet and editor were upbraided. The collection was re-published with an extension in 1861, and innovated European poetry, opening the door to Symbolism. MAJOR WORKS: SALON DE 1845, 1845 SALON DE 1846, 1846 LA FANFARIO, 1847 LES FLEURS DU MAL, 1857 - The Flowers of Evil - Pahan kukkia LES PARADIS ARTIFICAELS, 1860 - Artifical Paradise RÉFLEXIONS SUR QUELQUES-UNS DE MES CONTEMPORAINS, 1861 LE PEINTURE DE LA VIE MODERNE, 1963 CURIOSITÉS ESTHÉTIQUES, 1868 L'ART ROMANTIQUE, 1868 LE SPLEEN DE PARIS/PETITS POÉMES EN PROSE, 1869 EUVRES POSTHUMES ET CORRESPONDANCE GÉNÉRALE, 1887-1907 FUSÉES, 1897 - Välähdyksiä MON COEUR MIS Ŕ NU, 1897 - Alaston sydämeni My Heart Laid Bare and Other Prose Writings, 1950 OEUVRES COMPLČTES, 1922-53 (19 vols.) Mirror of Art, 1955 The Essence of Laughter, 1956 CURIOSITÉS ESTHÉTIQUES, 1962 The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays, 1964 Baudelaire as a Literary Critic, 1964 Arts in Paris 1845-1862, 1965 Selected Writings on Art and Artist, 1972 Selected Letters of Charles Baudelaire, 1986 CRITIQUE D'ART; CRITIQUE MUSICALE, 1992 ADDICTIONAL LINKS: http://poetes.com/baud The Devil and Romanticism (link) (Catalogue) http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/sable/baudelaire/ (some e-texts) http://users.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/People/baud.html ----------------------------------------- HONORE DE BALZAC (1799-1850) Di famiglia borghese, studiň a Parigi alla facoltŕ di giurisprudenza, anche se frequentň soprattutto i corsi di lettere. Fu impiegato presso un avvocato, poi in uno studio notarile, e provň anche gli affari, ma con pessimi risultati. Infine, la famiglia gli consentě di tentare la carriera di scrittore. Per l'insuccesso delle prime opere ( una tragedia in versi e un romanzo filosofico) cercň nel giornalismo e nella narrativa di consumo la speranza di un'indipendenza economica dalla famiglia. La relazione sentimentale con ŤDilectať, Laura de Berny, che aveva 20 anni piů di lui, lo sostenne in quel periodo. A 30 anni, e pieno di debiti, ebbe finalmente il suo primo successo con un romanzo storico, che fece immediatamente seguire da un saggio di costume che gli diede grande popolaritŕ. Era l'inizio di una brillante carriera di scrittore e giornalista, cui si dedicň (forzato anche dai debiti) con ritmi di lavoro intensissimi: scrisse in 16 anni circa un centinaio di romanzi o racconti, che in seguito avrebbe ordinato sotto il nome di Commedia umana, cosě composta: Studi di costumi del XIX secolo (sulla realtŕ quotidiana); Studi filosofici; Studi analitici (comprendono solo la Fisiologia del matrimonio). Nel 1850, quando il suo fisico era giŕ molto debilitato dall'eccessivo lavoro, sposň Eva Hanska, una nobildonna polacca, con la quale aveva da anni una problematica relazione. Ad ogni modo, pochi mesi dopo fu stroncato da un ictus cerebrale. Creatore del romanzo realista, Balzac esercitň un forte influsso su tutta la narrativa del secondo '800; l'originalitŕ della sua opera č nel vigore e nella varietŕ dei personaggi, nell'esatta descrizione degli ambienti, nella scoperta del carattere tragico della vita domestica. Tra le opere piů significative ricordiamo: La pelle di zigrino (1831), Il medico di campagna (1832), Eugénie Grandet (1833), Storia dei Tredici (1833-35), Papŕ Goriot (1834), La ricerca dell'assoluto (1834), Splendori e miserie delle cortigiane (1839-47), La cugina Bette (1846), Il cugino Pons (1847). ENGLISH: Born in a middle class family, he studied law at the Paris School of Law, although he mostly attended literary courses. He was first employed by an attorney, then in a notary's office, and later he tried business with unsuccessful results. Finally, his family gave him the consent to pursue a literary career. Due to the failure of his first works (a tragedy in verses and a philosophic novel), he looked for an economic independence through becoming a journalist and a narrative commercial writer. His sentimental relationship with "Dilecta", Laura de Berny, who was 20 years older than him, supported him in that period. At 30 years, cornered by debt, he finally had his first success with an historic novel, that was immediately followed by a cultural essay. These two brought him popularity. That was the beginning of his brilliant career as a writer and journalist, which he was intensely dedicated to (forced by his debts). He wrote almost a hundred novels or stories, that would later collect under the name of 'Human Comedy." In 1850, when his body was already very debilitated by the hard work, he married Eva Hanska, a Polish noblewoman, with whom he had troublesome relationship for many years. Several months after his marriage, he died. Creator of the realist novel, Balzac had a strong influence on all 8th century fictional works; the originality of his work lay in the variety of his characters, on the exact description of the environment, and in the discovery of tragedy in ordinary life. CRITICISM: Balzac's men and women are, somehow, as individual as any characters of romanticism. His style helped to initiate the new realist school which succeeded romanticism. This was the method of the photograph or of the daguerreotype, the close reproduction of the details of life. Today, the novels of Balzac are valued as documents for the study of the period they chiefly describe, the reign of Louis Philippe. Balzac's stories are apt to deal with the selfish side of life, but those results were due to the social conditions of the time or from the prejudices of his mind than from the inherent demands of his style. MAJOR NOVELS: Adieu, The Alkahest, The Atheist's Mass, The Ball at Sceaux, Bureaucracy, The Collection of Antiquities, The Commission in Lunacy, The Country Doctor, A Daughter of Eve, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Domestic Peace, A Drama on the Seashore, The Duchesse de Langeais, El Verdugo, The Elixir of Life, An Episode Under the Terror, Father Goriot, The Firm of Nucingen, Gaudissart II, Gobseck, The Hated Son, The Hidden Masterpiece, The Illustrious Gaudissart, Juana, La Grenadiere, The Lily of the Valley, Madame Firmiani, The Magic Skin, Maitre Cornelius, The Marriage Contract (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley, Melmoth Reconciled (tran Ellen Marriage), The Message, Modeste Mignon, An Old Maid, A Passion in the Desert, Paz, Pierre Grassou, The Purse, The Recruit, The Red Inn, Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan, Seraphita, Sons of the Soil, A Start in Life, Study of a Woman, The Two Brothers, Two Poets, Unconscious Comedians, Ursula, Vendetta, The Vicar of Tours. Thw most famous is Pčre Goriot (1834) QUOTE: Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell you that solitude is fine. "Love is a game in which one always cheats." LINKS: (list of a lot of his books) http://www.concordance.com/balzac.htm (E-texts) http://www.selfknowledge.com/109au.htm ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- German ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) Germany "I am mortal, born to love and suffer." Life Born and educated in Germany, Hölderlin began writing poems at the age of 14, his first poems were published in Stäudlin's "Musenalmanach fürs Jahr 1792" in 1791. A the university of Tübingen, he studied theology and became great friends with Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel. Living in Frankfurt in 1793, he lived as a private tutor and subsequently fell in love with his employer's wife, Susette Gontard. He met Schiller at this time, who took the liberty of publishing several of his works. His Fragment von Hyperion in the "Thalia" (1794). 1798, he left Frankfurt to pursue a literary career. In Hamburg, he began the second volume of Hyperion, and a tragedy, Der Tod des Empedokles (1799), as well as a number of philosophical essays. Upon hearing of Susette's death in 1802, Hölderlin's sanity began to wane. In 1807, he was declared incurably insane, and spent the rest of his life in Tübingen. Criticism Hölderlin's poetry fluctuated between classicism and romanticism. He was influenced by Schilller and Greek poetry. He was never celebrated during his time. In fact it was not until the early 20th century that critics declared him Germany's greatest poet after Goethe. Notwithstanding, his contributions to poetry, as well as philosophy, are quite significant. His inclination towards nature, especially his admiration for the stars, as well as his excessive use of classical diction and syntax, he is regarded as the link between Weimar Classicism and Jena Romanticism. Works: Hyperion (1797-1799) Der Tod des Empedokles (1799) Sources: "Friedrich Hölderlin." Pegasos- Literature Related Resources. Kuusankosken Kaupunginkirjasto, Finland. 1999 < http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/> Kalbhenn, Sven. Hölderlin Homepage. 26 April 1998 Hölderlin Homepage http://www.hoelderlin-gesellschaft.de/english/index_e.html Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) Germany "When the heroes go off the stage, the clowns come on." Heine was born to a Jewish tradesman and educated at Bonn, Berlin, and Göttingen, from which he took a degree in 1825. Heine was taught by Hegel in Berlin, and they both admired Napoleon. His sympathy towards the French Revolution is evident in his many prose works. Heine tried to sign up for civil service, which was closed to Jews at the time, by changing his name to Heinrich and converting to Protestantism, yet he did not serve. His first published poem, Gedichte (1821), put him among the young Romantics. Another successful work came in 1826's Die Harzrreise. It displayed a wit and grace uncommon to Germany and was immediately praised. In 1827, he published Buch der Lieder. Its verses have been set to music by Liszts, Mendelsohnn, Schubert and Schumann. In 1831 he left Germany for Paris, because of his political ideas. By this time, he became the leader of the Junges Deutschland literary movement. His works criticized the school of German Romanticism for selling out to the monarchy and the church. He satirized the reactionary circles in Germany and German nationalism. His poetry was sympathetic to the working class, which made him a great poet in the Communist countries. His poetry, however, remained Romantic in nature. Works: Gedichte (1822) Die Harzreise [Harz journey] (1826) Reisebilder [travel pictures] (1827-31) DEUTCHLAND: EIN WINTERMÄRCHEN (1844), Romanzero (1851), Friedrich Leopold Freiherr von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772-1801) Germany "We are near awakening when we dream that we dream." (1798) Novalis was born into nobility and educated in law at Jena. However, his heart lay elsewhere. He became friends with Schlegel, Tieck, and other early Romantics in 1797. He was often published in the Athenaeum, and became involved in the Fruhromantiker circle. An outpouring of his romantic ideas surged through his lyric poetry upon the death of his fiancée, Sophie von Kühn. Hymnen die Nacht (Hymns to the Night) published in 1800, which was dedicated to Sophie, became his best-known work. Novalis constantly had visions of a "blue flower," which served as the bulk of the imagery in his unfinished work, Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802). Heinrich's search for the elusive blue flower, a symbol of futility, as well as Novalis' other work greatly influenced the budding German Romantic movement. His Romantic ideas of human spirituality, love, and beauty, prospered to nourish Romanticism in its infancy. Works: Hymnen die Nacht (1800) Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802) Glaube und Liebe (1798) Christendom or Europe (1826) Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) Germany There is nothing more marvelous or madder than real life. Like many Romantics, Hoffmann was educated in law. His interests lay elsewhere; as he drew caricatures of the officials he worked with, he pronounced an affinity for drawing. Yet he pursued music and literature as well as art. His devotion to music was characterized by such passion that he changed his third name, Wilhelm, to Amadeus out of respect for Mozart. He started his life as a composer and music critic in Bamberg, where he composed opera and various works of music. After the French invasion, he became a musical director and music teacher in Berlin. In 1816, he was appointed a position in the Supreme Court. Although he was a success in music, his talents carried him further. His writings, which were primarily bizarre and grotesque tales of Gothicism, have had a profound influence on all things Romantic, surreal, supernatural, and Gothic. The themes of the dopplegänger and reality versus the supernatural were initiated by him. He inspired two ballets, Coppélia and the Nutcracker, and through his mad kappellmeister Kreisleriana, he inspired Schumann. His influence spread as far as the United States, to Hawthorne, Poe, and Irving. His split personality, which would figure as a common theme in many of his tales, allowed him to be a stately court official by day, and a deranged novelist by night. However, his love for drawing caricatures of court officials was never satisfied. He narrowly escaped persecution for such unseemly conduct through his untimely death due to his excessive lifestyle. http://www.littlebluelight.com/hoffmannframe.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUSIC --> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) Austria In his 31-year lifetime, Schubert sang in the Imperial Court, worked as a teacher, and composed over 600 Lieden along with 9 symphonies, several operas, piano sonatas, and works of choral and chamber music before dying of syphilis in 1828. Upon death, Schubert asked to be buried beside Beethoven, whom he admired very much as a composer. Nevertheless, Schubert possessed his own amazing talent; by the age of 17, he had already composed several piano pieces and string quartets, a symphony, and a three-act opera. In addition he had a truly unique style. He assisted in establishing the German Lied, and was influenced most by Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Sir Walter Scott among others in the construction of his songs. Despite election to the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, a public concert in 1828, and limited publication, Schubert's music was not very greatly appreciated by his contemporaries. However, he is greatly admired today for his Lieden and the quality of his music. Works: - Lied: Erlkönig (1815), Heidenröslein (1815) Die schöne Müllerin ("The Beautiful Mill Maiden," 1823), Winterreise ("Winter Journey," 1827), Gretchen am Spinnrade ("Gretchen and the Spinning Wheel," 1814) , Die Forelle ("The Trout," 1817), Schwanengesang ("Swan Song," 1828) - Piano: Fantasia in C "Wanderer" (1822) - Symphonies: Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished," 1822), Symphony No. 9 in C major ("The Great," 1825) - Chamber Music: The "Trout" Quintet (1818), Die Zwillingsbrüder, Die Zauberharfe, Quartet in D minor ("Death and the Maiden," 1817), Octet in F (1824), String Quartet in C (1828) - Opera: Alfonso und Estrella, Fierabras, Lazarus Sources: The Classical Music Pages. Ed. Matt Boynick. Feb. 1996. Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. Additional Links: Franz Peter Schubert: Master of Song http://classicalmus.hispeed.com/articles/schubert.html Hearts Ease: Franz Schubert http://www.hearts-ease.org/cgi-bin/conservatory_index.cgi?ID=43 The Schubert Institute < http://www.siuk.org.uk/> Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Germany Born to the son of a banker, Mendelssohn grew up to the privilege and comfort of performing in his family's garden home in Berlin. He and his sister Fanny possessed great talent, and Mendelssohn was considered a prodigy; he composed his first musical piece at the age of eleven and twelve symphonies for strings by the age of fourteen. As a seventeen-year-old, he astounded the public with his Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), which was inspired through the reading of Bach and Shlegel's translations of Shakespeare. His great interest in literature took him as far as meeting Goethe in person in 1821. In 1829, Mendelssohn became an important figure conducive in the 19th century rediscovery of Bach by conducting a performance of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion at the Berlin Singakademie. For the next six years, Mendelssohn became an extensive traveler for the purpose of touring, writing, and promoting his music. He incorporated the highlights of his travels in his music; The Hebrides (1830) is his perception of the Scottish seaside. His travel schedule took him all around England, Scotland, Wales, and Italy, and into the scenes of Paris, London, and Düsseldorf, where he took a job as a conductor in 1833. In 1835, he became director of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, where he founded a conservatory in 1842. Six years before his death, Mendelssohn was named director of Music in the Academy Arts of Berlin. Due to the sorrow of the death of his sister and a series of strokes, Mendelssohn died in 1847, leaving the world his singular style of classically-oriented Romanticism. His piano work, especially his "Lieder ohne Worte (Songs Without Words)" and chamber music are especially notable. Works: - Symphonies: Symphony No. 3 ("Scottish," 1842), Symphony No. 4 ("The Italian," 1843), Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation," 1830), Overture A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1842), The Hebrides, or Fingal's Cave (1830), Piano Concerto No. 1 (1832), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1837), Violin Concerto (1844) - Choral Music: St. Paul (1836), Elijah (1846), The First Walpurgis Night (1832) - Piano Music: Lieder ohne Worte ("Songs Without Words," 1829-1845), Sonata for Piano in E flat Major (op. 12, 1830) - Chamber Music: C minor trio (Op. 66, 1845), D Minor Trio (op. 49), Octet for Strings (1825) Additional Links: Felix Mendelssohn- biographical notes < http://www.sirius.com/~arts/mendbio.html> Sources: The Classical Music Pages. Ed. Matt Boynick. Feb. 1996. Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. Hagar, Kroy. Mendelssohn. 8 March 2000 < http://www.mendelssohn.homestead.com/ > Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) Germany As a woman, Fanny did not receive the same musical opportunities as her brother, Felix Mendelssohn; however she composed over 500 musical works of which 28 were published, including six of which were published under her brother's name. Her style was reflected in her beautiful melodies and Lied compositions. In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel, a German painter and a supporter of her music. Fanny also distinguished herself as a talented performer and director. She, like her brother, composed her work in a classical style reminiscent of Bach and Beethoven. Works: - Piano Trio in D minor (Op. 11, 1846) - Das Jahr ("The Year," 1841) - Oratorium nach den Bildern der Bibel (Oratorio after Pictures from the Bible, 1831), Gartenlieder (Garden Songs, 1846) "Schwanenlied" ("Swan Song", 1846) and "Bergeslust" ("Mountain Yearning", 1847) * Op. 1 Six lieder for voice and piano, vol.1 * Op. 2 Four lieder for piano, vol.1 * Op. 3 Gartenlieder. six songs for four part choir, vol.1 * Op. 4 Six melodies for piano, vol.1 * Op. 5 Six melodies for piano, vol.2 * Op. 6 Four lieder for piano, vol.2 * Op. 8 Four lieder for piano * Op. 9 Six lieder with piano accompaniment * Op. 10 Five lieder with piano accompaniment * Op. 11 Trio for piano, violin, and cello - Piano: Sonata in C Major, Sonata in G Major Sources: 19th Century Romanticism in Music Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Ed. Suzy Smith. Jan. 1999. Emory University. 25 Jan. 1999 http://www.emory.edu/MUSIC/ARNOLD/hensel_content.html Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. Hector Berlioz (1813-1869) France As a man distraught by love, illness, instability, failure, and melancholia, Hector Berlioz utilized his talents and genius in music to overcome the hardships in his life and to rise to immorality as a Romantic composer. His parents consisted of a lenient father and a strict mother who both wanted him to adopt a career in medicine despite his budding passion in music. After two years, he dropped out of medical school and pursued classes at the music conservatory in Paris. In 1830, he won the Prix de Rome competition after three unsuccessful attempts. During these years he supported himself through musical journalism, which thoroughly disinterested him as he considered writing to be tedious and he later became a conductor. However, he wrote the Treatise on Instrumentation, which forever changed the methods of orchestration. Also in 1830, he earned the respect of Franz Liszt through the performance of his most famous symphony, Symphonie Fantastique (1830). Berlioz was also a great admirer of Goethe, Shakespeare, the English Romantics, Beethoven, and Mozart, yet much of his work defied the Classical tradition. Following his marriage to Harriet Smithson in 1833, Berlioz composed a plethora of music including Harold in Italy (1834), Romeo and Juliet (1839) and Le damnation de Faust (1846). However, his music was not accepted well by the public, for the growing popularity of Wagner and the German Romantics overshadowed him. Yet his music was original and respected by many of his contemporaries, and he mastered Romantic counterpoint and contributed to the format of program music and orchestration through his diverse works and writings. Following the deaths of his wife, mistress, son, and father, Berlioz fell ill and died in January of 1869. Works: Orchestral music: Waverley (1828), Rob Roy (1831), Le roi Lear (King Lear, 1831); Symphonie fantastique (1830), Harold en Italie (Harold in Italy, 1834), Romeo et Juliette (1839) Le Corsair, (1831), Grande symphonie funčbre et triomphale (1840) Songs: Les Nuits d'été (1841), Roman Carnival Overture (1844) Choral music: Requiem Mass (1837), Te Deum (Hymn of Praise, 1849), La damnation de Faust (The Damnation of Faust, 1846), and the oratorio L'enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ, 1854), Grand messe des morts Requiem (1837) operas: Les Troyens (The Trojans, 1858) and Béatrice et Bénédict (1862), Les Francs-juges (1826), Benvenuto Cellini (1837) Additional Links: The Magic of Berlioz http://members.ozemail.com.au/~phillijr/Berlioz.html Complete List of Works http://www.philclas.polygram.nl/class/ca-b/berlioz.htm Sources: Asselbergs, Doug. Hector Berlioz. 1995. < http://home.pon.net/dougie/berlioz.htm> The Romantic Generation Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) Poland Chopin is known as the "poet of the piano." According to Heinrich Heine, Chopin was "neither Pole, Frenchman, nor German; he betrays a much higher origin... from the land of Mozart, Raphael, Goethe; his true fatherland is the realm of poetry (Longyear 129)." Although Chopin is most credited with his work in piano, that did not limit his talent in composition. Born to a French emigré and a Polish courtesan, Chopin was not held back from music. In fact, he was known as a child prodigy, and was most often compared to Mozart. By his seventh year, he had already composed two polonaises. Polish folk songs and dances and the music of Hummel, Field, and Weber were great sources of inspiration to him. In 1826, Chopin received professional training in music at the Warsaw High School of Music by Józef Elsner, who proclaimed him a genius. After completing his studies in music, he journeyed to Vienna where he was praised for his piano compositions. On October 11, 1830, Chopin bade a formal farewell to his native Poland to continue with his success in Vienna and to stay away from the uprising revolt against Russia for 8 months. After hearing of the failure of the revolt against the Russians, Chopin grew very disappointed. Yet he went on to Paris and helped many Polish emigrés. While in Paris, he befriended Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Berlioz and was accepted into Europe's elite literary and musical circles. Schumann considered him a genius.It was not long before his fame as a composer erupted all over Europe, yet sorrow continued to pervade his life. His health went down considerably and he found it difficult to visit his Polish family and friends with the new restrictions placed by the Russian government. In addition, his engagement to a woman he loved ended in heartbreak. Afterwards, he and writer George Sand (Aurore Dudevant) had a long romantic affair. However, Sand's son complicated the affair and the two parted in 1847. Two years later, after touring England and Scotland and finally settling back in Paris, Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Today, Chopin is considered the first nationalist composer and the epitome of Romanticism in music. His works are best noted for his flexible rhythm, modal harmony, and his genius in counterpoint. Key Works: Orchestral: Variations for piano and orchestra on 'La ci darem la mano' (aria from Mozart opera Don Giovanni (1827), Cello Sonata (1845), Piano: Nocturne in E-flat (1827), Piano Concerto No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 2 (1830), Opus 10 (1832), Opus 25 (1834), Fantaisie Impromptu (1835), Piano Ballade No. 1 (1835), Piano Ballade No. 2 (1838), Prelude in E minor (1839), Piano Sonata No. 2 (1839), Fantasy in F Minor (1841), Barcarole (1846) Additional Links: Frederic Chopin: Poet of the Piano http://www.geocities.com/fredericchopin/main.html Sources: Anh, Tran Luong. Frederic Chopin: Poet of the Piano. 2 June 2001 < http://www.geocities.com/fredericchopin/main.html> 19th century Romanticism Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Germany The son of a German bookseller, Schumann grew up with a great inclination towards literature, which would later show up in when he pays homage to E.T.A. Hoffman in Kreisleriana op. 16 (1838). However, his mother insisted on his studying law in Leipzig, which Schumann hated bitterly. While in Leipzig, he studied piano with Frederick Weick, his future father-in-law. In 1834, he edited the music periodical, Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which was "instrumental" to the development of Romanticism in music. At this time, Schumann had quit law school, which he thought very banal and restrictive. Schumann had a paranoia of insanity, of which he was never able to escape. His work reflected this paranoia and his enigmatic personality, yet he also developed his own individual musical style influenced by Beethoven, Schubert (of whom he was very fond of), Hummel, Haydn, Mozart, and Dussek. His creativity was at its height in 1840, in which he wrote 127 songs and married Clara Weick after many years of legal opposition by her father, who raised her in the hopes of her becoming a great musician. Yet she was still to achieve that position even with her marriage to Robert Schumann. Nevertheless the couple spent many years of happiness together touring, composing and performing until Schumann's mental health started to deteriorate. This resulted in his resignation as conductor in Düsseldorf in 1853. In 1854, he felt his mental health growing increasingly worse; subsequently he jumped into the river Rhine in a suicide attempt. Following his rescue from the river, he voluntarily stayed in a mental asylum, where he was visited by Johannes Brahms, whom he admired very much, and later, his wife Clara. His fears of insanity were finally realized in these last two years of his life. However, his legacy and contributions to music, of which his greatest contribution were his creativity in form and the melding of literary and musical ideals, made him a lasting inspiration to following generations. Works: - Lieder: Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman's Love and Life, 1840) and Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love, 1840) - Orchestral music: Symphony No. 3 op. 97 ("Rhenish," Piano Concerto in A minor (1841-1845), Davidsbündlertänze (1837), Symphony No. 1 "Spring" (1841), Symphony No. 2 (1845) Chamber music: Fantasiestücke op. 73, Märchenerzählungen op. 132 Choral music: Manfred, op. 115 (1848-49), Scenes from Faust (1844-1853) Piano music, Papillons (Butterflies, 1831), Carnaval (1835) and Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood, 1838); large works, including Symphonic Etudes (1835-1837) and Fantasy in C (1836-1838) , Kreisleriana op. 16 (1838), Fantasiestücke, op 12, Piano Quintet in E Flat (1842) Opera: Genoveva (1850) Additional Links: The Poet Speaks- Life of Robert Schumann < http://www.roangelo.net/schumann/ > Franz Joseph Liszt (1811-1886) Hungary Performer, teacher, priest, conductor, virtuoso, composer, and womanizer-Liszt lived his life with little reserve to hinder him from becoming one of the greatest contributors to the Romantic movement in music. His talent in music was discovered early and allowed to grow through his musical studies in Paris. There he would meet Chopin and Berlioz. Liszt's popularity as a musician at that time is undeniably similar to the popularity of a pop start today (Longyear 149). The women he knew intimately included George Sand, Countess Marie d'Agoult, and Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein. Liszt performed as a musician before accepting the role as court conductor to the Duke of Weimar in 1848. At this point, he concentrated on composing until 1856, when he moved to Rome, took minor orders, and began focusing on religious composition. He lived his life much longer than most Romantic composers, yet he endured the death of his daughter and several endings of turbulent, emotionally-draining, romantic affairs. His efforts as a composer were nevertheless productive and fruitful, and his career and popularity spanned more than half a century. Through his genius and insight, Liszt gave birth to the symphonic poem, created musical impressionism and atonal music, restructured the form of music, reformed the outlines of conducting, refined the transformation of themes through harmony, rhythm and melody, and discovered new techniques for the piano. Works: Orchestral: Les Préludes (1848), Dante Symphony (1856), Faust Symphony (1857), Totentanz (1849), Tasso, Orpheus (1854), Prometheus (1856), Mazeppa (1851) Chorus: Missa Choralis (1865), Via Crucis (1869), Christus (1867) Piano: Transcendental Etudes (1851), Sonata in B Minor (1853), Hungarian Rhapsodies (1846), Années de pčlerinage (1848), Réminiscences de Don Juan (1841), Funérailles, Liebersträume (1850), Consolations (1850), Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1860) Lied: Die Lorelei (1856) Franz Liszt Page. Richard DiSilvio/Digital Vista Inc. 2001. < http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/franzliszt.html> Richard Wagner (1813-1833) Germany After the death of Carl Maria von Weber in 1826, German opera stagnated. Only until Richard Wagner's Rienzi (1837-1840) was performed in 1842 did German opera sustain an audience. How this happened can only be explained through Wagner's abandonment of traditional "number" opera and his many reformations of 19th century opera. He viewed his opera as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work). This Gesamtkunstwerk demanded more from the singer and more from the orchestra; operas were now to be based on legend and myth and constant implementation of the lietmotiv would serve as a unification device. His most "romantic" opera is Tannhäuser (1845). Yet Wagner was not to specialize in opera alone. In 1850, exiled away in Zürich, Wagner wrote an anti-Semitic tract and a statement on musical theater, Oper und Drama (Opera and Drama). It was also at this time that he began to develop his most famous opera-cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (which will take 22 years to complete), of which many remnants remain in modern entertainment; who has not seen a parody of the fat, Viking opera singer donning a horned-helmet, and who has not heard the melody of The Ride of the Valkyries featured at least one Simpsons episode? In 1864, Ludwig II invited Wagner to stay in his Bavarian castle. It was also at this time that Wagner engaged in an adulterous affair, which cost him his social standing in Bavaria. Ludwig would later assist Wagner in the development of a revolutionary theater in Bayreuth suitable enough for The Ring. But the theater was too much of a drain on Wagner's wallet, and in 1877, Parsifal would appear as part of his attempts to correct the balance. Parsifal was not performed until 1882. In between 1877 and 1882, Wagner concentrated on his musical and political writings. In 1833, while in Venice, Wagner died of heart failure. Yet despite his shoddy character, questionable heritage, and blatant anti-Semitic views, Wagner indubitably remains the savior of 19th century German opera. Works: Orchestral: A Faust Overture (1840), Siegfried Idyll (1870) Opera: Rienzi (1840), Der fliegende Holländer ("The Flying Dutchman", 1841), Tannhäuser (1845), Lohengrin (1848), Das Rheingold (1854), Die Walküre (1856), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867), Siegfried (1871), Götterdämmerung (completing Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1874), Music Drama: Tristan und Isolde (1859), Parsifal (1882) Richard Wagner: Zenith of German Romanticism. Charles K. Moss, M.M.Ed., M.Mus. 18 May 2001 < http://classicalmus.hispeed.com/articles/wagner.html> Amy Beach (1867-1944) America Amy Beach was the first great American woman composer, and was rightfully so. Her composition endeavors started at the early age of 4, at which time she started writing simple waltzes. She started to sit a the piano at age-six. Ten years later she became a part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1882, the New York Philharmonic Society played an aria she had composed at the age of 13. However, her life as a performer was limited. Her husband did not allow her to perform much, yet he did not limit the time she spent in composition. Unsurprisingly, almost all of her 150 compositions were published and praised. In 1896, Mrs. Beach's Gaelic Symphony was the first American symphony to be played by major European orchestras. Works: Orchestral: Gaelic Symphony (1896) Opera: Cabildo (1932) Chamber Music: Violin Sonata (1896), Piano Quintet (1907), String Quartet (1929), piano trio (1938) Choral Music: Mass in E-Flat (1896), Festival Jubilate (1891), "The Song of Welcome" (1898) and "The Chambered Nautilus" (1907) Songs: Five Songs to Words by Robert Burns (1899) and Three Browning Songs (1900); concert aria "Eilende Wolken" ("Racing Clouds") for voice and orchestra (1892) Keyboard: The Hermit Thrush at Morn and The Hermit Thrush at Eve, 1921 Organ: "The Fair Hills of Eire, O" (1943) "Amy Marcy Beach." Classical Composers Database. Ad. Joe Smeets. 14 Feb. 1999 < http://utopia.knoware.nl/~jsmeets/abc.htm> Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Russia A genius and a perfectionist, Tchaikovsky is yet another composer who endured much emotional pain that consequently fueled the development of his own unique music. As a youth, Tchaikovsky was bidden into the same educational situation as Schumann; but, at the age of 23, Tchaikovsky fled law for music and entered the St. Petersburg conservatory where he studied with Anton Rubinstein. Rubinstein was the first to unearth the talent within young Peter and to criticize his compositions. Yet Tchaikovsky was shy and sensitive and was therefore too nervous to attend the first public performance of his work. Soon after, he applied for a position as a professor of composition at the Conservatory of Music in Moscow. For the rest of his life, he would be burdened with the desire for perfection which would lead him to destroy much of his work. This was complicated by his homosexuality, the circumstances of his marriage, and his overall tendency towards depression. By 1876, Tchaikovsky completely devoted himself to composition. It was during this period that he brought himself to compose some extraordinary work, which included his famous Symphony No. 4, the opera Eugene Onegin, Serenade for Strings, Capriccio Italien, and the 1812 Overture. In 1888, he underwent a European tour, which prompted him to compose his more successful and famous work. In 1893, nine days after the premier of his last symphony, the Pathétique, Tchaikovsky died. The causes of his death are still to this day unknown. Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky defined himself through his brilliant, highly Romantic, and individualistic work. Works: Orchestral: Symphony No. 1 "Winter Daydreams" (1866), Overture Fantasy Romeo and Juliet (1869), Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian" (1872), Piano Concerto No. 1 (1875), Symphony No. 3 "Polish" (1875), March Slave (1876), Variations on a Rococo theme (1876), Symphony Francesca da Rimini (1876), Symphony No. 4 (1878), Violin Concerto (1878), Serenade for Strings (1880), Capriccio Italien (1880), Overture 1812 (1880), Manfred Symphony (1885), Overture Fantasy Hamlet (1888), Symphony No. 5 (1888), Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique" (1893) Song: Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (1869) Ballet: Swan Lake (1876), The Sleeping Beauty (1889), The Nutcracker (1892) Opera: Eugene Onegin (1878), The Maid of Orleans (1878-1879) The Queen of Spades (1890), Iolanthe (1891) Marcos Gazdarica. Tchaikovsky Page. 2001. < http://www.tchaikovsky.host.sk/index.htm> http://www.hearts-ease.org/cgi-bin/index_c.cgi?period=Late%20Romantic%20Period Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901) Roncole, Italy Giuseppe Verdi was the son of an innkeeper. As a child he demonstrated talent on the organ. Verdi was refused admittance to the Milan Conservatory for he was inadequately trained. As a young man, Verdi's operas had the characteristics of Italian bel canto. As his knowledge of music grew, he developed his own individualistic taste from this fundamental bel canto and experimented with harmony and orchestration. His work and techniques are in a plethora of standard repertories of operas in the status quo. For example, one of his greatest works Rigoletto, shows his artistic expression at its best. In 1871, upon the premier of Aďda, Verdi decided to retire. However, three years later upon the death of Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni, what is considered one of his best works by critics, Messa de Requiem was constructed. Today, Verdi can be considered one of the greatest opera producers of Italy. He had many who attempted to follow his footsteps, and Verdi influenced even the Verismo School of opera. Verdi's work was so appealing because he had a balance of bel canto with drama. His work was beautiful to the ear and warming to the heart. Works: Verdi Opera: - Macbeth (1847) - Rigoletto (1851) - Il trovatore (The Troubadour, 1853) - La traviata (The Lost One, 1853) - Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859) - La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny, 1862) - Don Carlos (1867) - Aida (1871) - Otello (1887) - Falstaff (1893) Vocal music: - Requiem Mass (1874) Chamber music: - String quartet in E minor (1873) Additional Information: Verdi's Operas In Detail - http://www.r-ds.com/verdiana.htm Sources: Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Antonín Dvorák (1841 - 1904) Nelahozeves, Czech Republic "My own duty as a teacher... is to give what encouragement I can to the young musicians of America. I... hope that just as this nation has already surpassed so many others in marvelous inventions and feats of engineering and commerce, and has made an honorable place for itself in literature in one short century, so it must assert itself in the... art of music... To bring about this result, we must trust to the very youthful enthusiasm and patriotism of this country." Many scholars consider Antonín Dvorák one of the most prominent Bohemian composers and master of symphonic and chorale music of the late 1800s. Although Dvorák was born into the poverty of the rural countryside, his unusual predilection for music turned him into a masterful violinist and composer. At sixteen, Dvorák traveled to Prague to learn the organ and he later performed in the National Theatre Orchestra with Bedrich Smetana. In 1873, his first successful composition was made, Hymnus. He began receiving grants from the Austrian government, which furthered his musical pursuit, and by 1891, he was appointed to the Prague conservatory. His fame grew steadily and upon the publication of Slavic Dances, Dvorák was a well-known musician. As he befriended Brahms, his music was introduced to German listeners. In 1892, he moved across the Atlantic to join the New York National Conservatory. In 1901, Dvorák's famous opera Rusalka premiered at the Prague theatre. Dvorák was a prolific composer, yet his best talent lays in his orchestral music along with his chamber music, and string quartets. Works: Orchestral music: Symphony No.9 "From the New World" (1893 Slavonic Rhapsodies (1878) Slavonic Dances (1886) Cello concerto (1895) Symphony No. 1 1865) Serenade for Strings (1875) Symphony No. 5 (1875) Symphony No. 6 (1880) Overture Carnival (1891) Symphony No. 9 From the New World(1893) Opera: Rusalka (1901) Vocal: Cantata- The Spectre's Bride (1884) Requiem (1890) masses Choral: Stabat Mater (1877) Chamber Music: String Quartet: "American" (1893) Piano: Slavonic Dances (1878) Piano trio: Dumky (1891) Sources: Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Gustav, Mahler (1860 - 1911) Kaliste, Czech Although the quantity of Mahler's compositions is few in number when compared to other composers, his nine chief symphonies and seven song cycles take an hour or more to perform each with a large orchestra requirement and even chorale accompaniment. He was not famous in his time, yet scholars view him now as a glimpse of the Romantic era. Mahler was a perfectionist and sometimes his works alienated audiences and certain musicians. As a child, he was exposed to a plethora of folk music and art, these melodies, which heavily influenced his own music later on. As a segment of his education, Mahler studied in Vienna and in 1880 Mahler completed his first composition. Mahler wished his music to carry the timeless touches of the past, such as Beethoven or Wagner. He traveled from various opera houses to conduct, from Budapest to Leipzig, yet he settled back to Vienna and conducted there. Mahler's only composition for the stage, a completion of Weber's sketches for the opera Die Drei Pintos, was produced in 1888. He emigrated to the United States and became the conductor for the Metropolitan Opera and eventually, the New York Philharmonic. In 1901, Mahler married Alma Schindler, herself a talented composer--although Mahler required her to give up her own work in order to provide him with a secure environment in which to compose. Although 19th-century European composers all contributed to the symphonic tradition, Mahler alone can be said to have taken up the challenge to expand the symphonic form that Beethoven laid down in his Ninth Symphony. He did so by infusing the symphony with the poetic, psychological, and religious content of vocal music, especially the German Lied. Unsurpassed as an orchestrator, he was also, in his later works, a prefigurer of atonality. Nevertheless he remains a controversial figure with concertgoers. The naked emotionalism of his music is greatly prized by some and repellent to others. Works: Orchestral music, including 10 symphonies Symphony No. 1 (1888) Symphony No. 2 Resurrection (1894) Symphony No. 3 (1896) Symphony No. 4 (1900) Symphony No. 5 (1902) Symphony No.6 (1905) Symphony No.7 (1905) Symphony No.8 'Symphony of a Thousand' (1907) Song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde (1909) Symphony No.9 (1909) Symphony No.10, unfinished (1910) Songs: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer, 1885) Das knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn, 1888) Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children, 1904) Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth, 1908) Additional Information: More about Mahler - http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/mahler/ Sources: Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) Germaine-en-Laye, France "A symphony is usually built on a melody heard by the composer as a child. The first section is the customary presentation of a theme on which the composer proposes to work; then begins the necessary dismemberment; the second section seems to take place in an experimental laboratory; the third section cheers up a little in a quite childish way, interspersed with deep sentimental phrases during which the melody recedes, as is more seemly; but it reappears and the dismemberment goes on... I am more and more convinced that music is not, in essence, a thing, which can be cast into a traditional and fixed form. It is made up of colors and rhythms." Claude Debussy is the leading French musician of the French Impressionist movement. He was intrigued by the sensuous capabilities that music had to offer. His style heavily influenced music of the 1900s. He did not conform, as a youngster at music school as he refused did not follow the traditional rules of musical theory. Instead, Debussy attempted to bring the works of impressionist artists and poets onto the canvas. For example, the most significant impressionist opera Pelleas et Melisande was a masterpiece that shows Debussy's emotional style. His musical objective was that he wanted audiences to feel that his music was not even written down, that it was whimsical and fresh with emotion. Debussy rejected the harmonic style of artists such as Mahler and Strauss. Debussy's more liberal interpretation of music also opened his horizons to music from different backgrounds and traditions. Debussy's piano music is the most important since Chopin's. He created a subtle pianistic style that made new demands on performing technique, and the shifting, blurred sonorities of the style were achieved by a new use of the damper pedal. His best-known composition is probably "Clair de lune" (Moonlight) from "Suite Bergamasque" (1890-1905) for piano. Works: Debussy Orchestral music: Prelude L'apre-midi d'un faune (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun, 1894) Nocturnes (1899) La Mer (The Sea, 1905) Images (1912) Dramatic works opera Pell?s et M?isande (1902) ballet Jeux (Games, 1913) Chamber music: string quartet (1893) cello sonata (1915) violin sonata (1917) flute viola and harp sonata (1915) Piano: Pour le piano (For the Piano, 1901) Estampes (Prints, 1903) 2 books of preludes (1909-1910, 1912-1913) Songs and choral music L'enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son, 1884) Additional Information: Another Biography - http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0814903.html Source: Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) Munich, Germany Richard Strauss was a successful conductor and composer. The work of Wagner was influential to him. He developed the symphonic or tone poem to an unrivalled level of expressiveness and after 1900 achieved great success with a series of impressive operas, at first on a grand scale, but later tending to a more classical restraint. His father was a horn player, and provided Strauss with a good classical music background; this was the only source of education exposure for Strauss. By six, Strauss began composing. He had several works given in Munich, including a symphony, when he was 17, and the next year a wind serenade in Dresden and a violin concerto in Vienna. At 20, a second symphony was given in New York and he conducted the Meiningen Orchestra in a suite for wind. In 1885 he became conductor of that orchestra, but soon left and visited Italy. Strauss became the conductor for the Munich Opera. As a conductor, Strauss experimented with music and developed tone poetry, which was programmatically oriented and as descriptive as the paint brushes of the Renaissance. It is Don Juan that, with its orchestral brilliance, its formal command and its vivid evocation of passionate ardour (he was in love with the singer Pauline von Ahna, his future wife), shows his maturity and indeed virtuosity as a composer. With its premiere, at Weimar (he had moved to a post at the opera house there), he was recognized as the leading progressive composer in Germany. At the turn of the century, Strauss wanted to explore the world of Operas. His Feuersnot was given in 1901; in 1904 Salome was begun, after Wilde's play. It was given at Dresden the next year. Regarded as blasphemous and salacious, it ran into censorship trouble but was given at 50 opera houses in the next two years. This and Elektra (given in 1909) follow up the tone poems in their evocation of atmosphere and their thematic structure; both deal with female obsessions of a disordered, macabre kind, with violent climaxes involving gruesome deaths and impassioned dancing, with elements of abnormal sexuality and corruption, exploiting the female voice pressed to dramatic extremes. During the 1930s Strauss, seeking a smooth and quiet Iife, had allowed himself to accept - without facing up to their full import - the circumstances created in Germany by the Nazis. For a time he was head of the State Music Bureau and he once obligingly conducted at Bayreuth when Toscanini had withdrawn. But he was frustrated at being unable to work with his Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig (Hofmannsthal had been part-Jewish), and he protected his Jewish daughter-in-law; during the war years, when he mainly lived in Vienna, he and the Nazi authorities lived in no more than mutual toleration. When Germany was defeated, and her opera houses destroyed, Strauss wrote an intense lament, Metamorphosen, for 23 solo strings; this is one of several products of a golden 'Indian summer', which include an oboe concerto and the Four Last Songs, works in a ripe, mellow idiom, executed with a grace worthy of his beloved Mozart. He died in his Garmisch home in 1949. Works: Orchestral music: - Macbeth (1888) - Don Juan (1888-1889) - Death and Transfiguration (1889) - Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, 1895) - Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra, 1896) - Don Quixote (1897) - Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life, 1898) - Domestic symphony (1903) - Alpine symphony (1915) - Horn Concerto No. 2 (1842) - Oboe Concerto (1946) Operas: - Salome (1905) - Elektra (1909) - Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose, 1911) - Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) - Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman, 1935) Chamber works: - Metamorphosen (1945) Additional Information: Life and Works of Strauss - http://www.hnh.com/composer/straussr.htm Source: Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Paris, France Georges Bizet was born into a family of musical talent, as both of his parents were musicians. By the age of ten, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied counterpoint with Zimmerman and Gounod and composition with Halévy, and under Marmontel's tuition he became a brilliant pianist. Bizet's exceptional powers as a composer are already apparent in the products of his Conservatoire years, notably the Symphony in C, a work of precocious genius dating from 1855 (but not performed until 1935). His talent granted him, in 1858, the Prix de Rome, which gave him three years of financial aid to pursue composition. From that experience, only four works survived. Upon returning home, he decided to pursue writing. In June 1869 he married Genevičve, daughter of his former teacher, Halévy, and the next year they suffered the privations caused by the Franco-Prussian war (Bizet enlisted in the National Guard). Bizet found little time for sustained composition, but in 1871 he produced the delightful suite for piano duet, Jeux d'enfants (some of it scored for orchestra as the Petite Suite), and he worked on a one-act opera, Djamileh. Both the opera and Daudet's play L'arlésienne, for which Bizet wrote incidental music, failed when produced in 1872, but in neither case did this have anything to do with the music. Bizet was convinced that in Djamileh he had found his true path, one which he followed in composing his operatic masterpiece, Carmen. Here Bizet reaches new levels in the depiction of atmosphere and character. The characterization of José, his gradual decline from a simple soldier's peasant honesty through insurbordination, desertion and smuggling to murder is masterly; the colour and vitality of Carmen herself are remarkable, involving the use of the harmonic, rhythmic instrumental procedures of Spanish dance music, to which also the fate-laden augmented 2nds of the Carmen motif may owe their origin. The music of Micaela and Escamillo may be less original, but the charm of the former and the coarseness of the latter are intentional attributes of the characters. The opera is the supreme achievement of Bizet and of opéra comique, a genre it has transformed in that Bizet extended it to embrace passionate emotion and a tragic end, purging it of artificial elements and embuing it with a vivid expression of the torments inflicted by sexual passion and jealousy. The work. however, was condemned for its 'obscene' libretto, and the music was criticized as erudite, obscure, colourless, undistinguished and unromantic. Only after Bizet's death was its true stature appreciated, and then at first only in the revised version by Guiraud in which recitatives replace the original spoken dialogue (it is only recently that the original version has been revived). The reception of Carmen left Bizet acutely depressed; he fell victim to another attack of quinsy and, in June 1875, to the two heart attacks from which he died. Works: Orchestral music: - L'arlienne (The Woman of Arles, 1872) - Symphony in C (1855) Operas: - Les p?heurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers, 1863) - La jolie de Perth (The Fair Maid of Perth, 1867) - Djamileh (1872) - Carmen (1875) - Operetta: Le docteur miracle (1856) Piano Duet: - Jeux d'enfants (1871) Additional Information: For a more extensive biography, music, and information about Bizet: http://www.hearts-ease.org/cgi-bin/conservatory_index.cgi?ID=53 Sources: Untitled. Homepage. 2001. http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/3722/BizetGeorges.html Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Hamburg, Germany Johannes Brahms was born into a musical family. His father was a double bass player and by the age of seven, Brahms started taking piano lessons. By thirteen, he started theory and composition. In 1853, on a tour with the Hungarian violinist Reményi, he met Joseph Joachim and Liszt; Joachim, who became a lifelong friend, encouraged him to meet Robert Schumann. Brahms's artistic kinship with Robert Schumann and his profound romantic passion (later mellowing to veneration) for Clara Schumann, 14 years his elder, never left him. In 1869, he composed one of his most known works, German Requiem and Variations on a Theme in 1873. With these successes, Brahms started to explore other opportunities such as a symphony. Soon, he was termed the next Beethoven. He was able to create compositions for every genre but opera. Fundamentally reserved, logical and studious, Brahms was fond of taut forms in his music, though he used genre distinctions loosely. In the piano music, for example, which chronologically encircles his vocal output, the dividing lines beteen ballade and rhapsody, and capriccio and intermezzo, are vague, such terms refer more to expressive character than to musical form. As in other media, his most important development technique in the piano music is variation, whether used independently (simple melodic alteration and thematic cross-reference) or to create a large integrated cycle in which successive variations contain their own thematic transformation (as in the Handel Variations). Brahms's greatest vocal work, and a work central to his career, is the German Requiem (1868) combining mixed chorus, solo voices and full orchestra in a deeply felt, non-denominational statement of faith. More Romantic are the Schicksalslied and the Alto Rhapsody. Between these large choral works and the many a cappella ones showing his informed appreciation of Renaissance and Baroque polyphony (he was a diligent collector, scholar and editor of old music) stand the justly popular Zigeunerlieder (in modified gypsy style) and the landler-like Liebeslieder waltzes with piano accompaniment. His best-loved songs include, besides the narrative Magelone cycle and the sublime Vier ernste Gesänge, Mainacht, Feldeinsamkeit and Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer Works: Orchestral music: - Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1873) - Academic Festival overture (1880) - Tragic overture (1886) - Serenade No. 1 (1858) - Serenade No. 2 (1860) - Symphony No. 1 (1876) - Symphony No. 2 (1877) - Violin Concerto in D (1878) - Symphony No. 3 (1883) - Symphony No. 4 (1885) Chamber music: - String Quartet NO. 2 (1863) - Clarinet Quintet 1891) Piano music: - Piano Sonata No.1 (1852) - Piano Sonata No. 2 (1852) - Piano Concerto No. 1 (1859) - Piano Quintet (1862) - Piano Concerto No. 2 (1881) Choral music: - A German Requiem (1868) - Alto Rhapsody (1869) Lieder: - Vergebliches St?dchen (Futile Serenade, 1881) - Four Serious Songs (1896) Additional Information: A site that leads to other great sites about Brahms: http://www.uky.edu/FineArts/Music/Projects/Brahms/Brahms.html Sources: "Johannes Brahms" Internet Public Library. January 1, 1998. http://www.ipl.org/exhibit/mushist/rom/brahms.htm Sony Classical. Sony Music Entertainment. 2001. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/eras/romhist.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ART--> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) Germany Caspar David was the sixth child of a soapworks and chandler's shop owner in Greifswald. The most memorable event of Casper David's life is the death of his brother, who drowned during a boating accident while trying to rescue another brother who had fallen into the water. This memory deeply affected Caspar and explains much of the brooding and melancholy in his works. Caspar was educated in drawing at the University of Greifswald by Johann Gottfried Quistorp. In 1794, Friedrich traveled to Copenhagen to receive four years training at the academy there. Afterwards he moved to Dresden, a city that other prominent Romantic artists would flock to in later years. Friedrich preferred to paint landscapes, landscapes of his native country Germany especially. In Greifswald, Friedrich met Phillip Otto Runge, who first initiated the school of symbolic landscape that Friedrich would later follow and excel in. In 1805, Friedrich participated in a contest hosted by Weimar Friends of Art (Goethe and Heinrich Meyer). Runge lost. Friedrich received half the prize money and a citation. Goethe was fascinated by Friedrich and admired his landscapes. At first Friedrich's paintings were subtle; he started with sepia, watercolors, and topographical paintings until 1808, when he began using oils. But even then, the color in his paintings were muted. The light of the sky greatly contrasted the shadows of the people he painted. He rarely painted people in his pictures and when he did, it was only to accentuate the vastness of nature and the sublime, and most often the people's backs were turned. As his painting progressed, themes became more melancholy. His famous paintings of churches, monastaries, and cemetaries evoked dread and devastation. Three paintings of barren, leafless oak trees in snow expressed a great contrast between light and dark and Friedrich's own isolation and temperament. In 1816, Friedrich joined the Dresden academy and lectured there in 1824. In 1818, Friedrich married Christiane Caroline Bloomer, who was as quiet and as simple as he. His last painting was done in 1834, The Lonely Cemetery Gate in Winter. In 1835, suffered a stroke and paralysis set in. He slowly lapsed into insanity and died in 1840, unknown and stricken with poverty. Works: The Cross in the Mountains (The Tetschen Altarpiece) (1807-1808) oil on canvas Mountain Landscape with Rainbow (circa 1809) oil on canvas Abbey in the Oakwood (1809-10) oil on canvas Monk on the Seashore (1809-1810) oil on canvas Winter Landscape (1811) oil on canvas Winter Landscape with Church (1811) oil on canvas The Cross on the Baltic (1815) oil on canvas Griefswald in the Moonlight (1817) oil on canvas Two Men by the Sea at Moonrise (1817) oil on canvas Chalk Cliffs on Rügen (1818) oil on canvas Wanderer Looking Over the Sea of Fog (1818) oil on canvas Woman in Front of Setting Sun (1818) oil on canvas Woman at the Window (1818) Meadows Near Greifswald (after 1820) oil on canvas The Tree of Crows (1822) oil on canvas Village Landscape in Morning Light (1822) oil on canvas The Moon Rising Over the Sea (1823) oil on canvas Lone Tree (1832) oil on canvas The Polar Sea (1823-1824) oil on canvas Trees in Moonlight (1824) oil on canvas Oak Tree in the Snow (1829) oil on canvas Vision of the Christian Church (1830) oil on canvas The Large Enclosure Near Dresden (1830-1832) oil on canvas The Stages of Life (1835) oil on canvas Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) Germany Overbeck came from a well-situated family. His father was a senator and later a mayor. First, he attended painting lessons in his hometown of Lübeck, where he was taught by J. Peroux. Overbeck enrolled in the Vienna Academy of art in 1806, but was subsequently expelled after declaring his opposition to Classicism. He left the academy for Rome. There he formed the German Romantic school of the Nazarenes, who painted religious scenes in a medieval and high-Renaissance style. The Nazarenes consisted of Peter von Cornelius, Veit, Schadow-Godenhaus and other German Romantics. In 1813 he converted to Catholicism and he tried to paint a new image of Christ, one that people would revere. Alas, he failed. Most Notable Works: Storie di Giuseppe in Egitto (1816-1817) fresco Gerusalemme Liberata (1819-1830) fresco Vittoria Caldoni (1821) oil on canvas Italia e Germania (1811-1828) oil on canvas Trionfo della religione nelle arti (1840) oil on canvas Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871) Austria Born in Vienna, Schwind traveled to Munich in 1827 to receive formal a formal education in art. There he became enamored of Cornelius' teachings, who told him to draw everything from memory instead of nature. Instead of wandering out into the wilds like his peers, Schwind retired to the Munich library and there he completed scenes from the life of Charlemagne. In 1835, he went to Rome and there acquired the art of painting frescoes. He painted one at Carlsrhue, which was very strongly allegorical. In 1847, he became a professor at the academy in Munich and began painting fairytales. Needless to say his work reverberated that of fairy tale writers Brentano and Eichendorff. His work always had a literary touch to it. His own imagination also compromised the canvas, making his work truly unique. Most Notable Works: Wedding Trip Hermit Early Morning Woman at the Window Nocturnal Duet Beside a Garden Gate oil on canvas Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) England Samuel Palmer was a visionary; his paintings foretold of impressionism and Van Gogh. He was born in London, and the first of his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy when he was 14. Palmer took great inspiration from William Blake and J.M.W. Turner, and from his honeymoon in Italy in 1838 left him with glorious images which would be retained in his mind while he painted. In 1826 he moved to Shoreham with his family. There he formed the Ancients with George Richmond and Edward Calvert. They were all followers of Blake, and possessed Medieval mysticism from which their name originated. Shoreham was ideal for the fostering of Palmer's genius. He was sheltered from the industrial society he so loathed. Palmer's first notable works were of landscapes. They were at the same time simple and visionary and religious and symbolic. His paintings often displayed the presence of God through the sun or the moon. Palmer's medium of choice was watercolor and gouache, yet he also used ink, chalk, and oil for portraits, and took to engraving in 1835. His watercolors gave him freedom to paint vividly and imaginatively. But by the 1830s, his creativity was waning. He attempted to regain it through travel. After his visit to Italy, he began working with oil, for the purpose of producing art that could support his wife and children. In 1861, after the death of his son, Palmer suffered frustration and moved to Redhill to recreate his early works. Most Notable Works: The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1825) oil and tempera Coming from Evening Church (1830) Pear Tree in a Walled Garden (1829) Watercolor and gouache In a Shoreham Garden (1829) watercolor and gouache Moonlight, a landscape with sheep (1831-1833) pen and ink A Review of Two Works Related to Samuel Palmer http://landow.stg.brown.edu/cv/Reviews/palmer.html Source: Xrefer. Xrefer. 2001. John Constable (1776-1837) England Unlike his colleague Turner, who wished to be an artist during childhood, Constable was rather late in his decision to become one of Europe's most celebrated and prestigious landscape artists. After several years of studying the family business (he was born to a corn merchant in Suffolk), Constable left for London in 1799 to pursue serious study in art at the Royal Academy. While at the Royal Academy, he studied the work of the masters that preceded him. Rather than sit in the stuffy rooms of the academy, Constable preferred the magnitude of the English countryside. His ideal setting was nature itself, and unlike Turner's serene and smooth landscapes, Constable's was wild and unstable. It projected itself from the canvas, and was tainted with reminders of civilization. His early work was done in watercolor. In 1811, he unleashed his emotions in oil with oil sketches of the Stour. His work was an innovation and inspiration in landscape painting. His chief tool was his palette knife. Meanwhile Constable had fallen in love with the young heiress, Maria Bicknell. Ten years passed before they were married in 1816. During that time, Constable painted portraits for a living. While Turner toured Europe, Constable painted on 6-foot canvasses whatever was in his way in his home of Stour Valley. However, he influenced not only Romanticism, but the Barbizon school and the impressionist movement in France. In fact, his work was forged the most in France. After the death of his wife in 1829, Constable's painting changed. Style dominated nature. By that time he was made a Royal Academician, but he had grown cynical and irritable and painted storms and tragedy in his landscapes. Nevertheless, he was the "Wordsworth of the canvas" (Clark 280). His paintings changed the way landscapes were seen forever. Most Notable Works: Dedham Vale (1802) oil on canvas Malvern Hall (1809) oil on canvas Stour Valley and Dedham Village (circa 1814) oil on canvas Wivenhoe Park, Essex (1816) oil on canvas Flatford Mill (1817) oil on canvas The Lock (1823-24) oil on canvas The Cornfield (1826) oil on canvas Valley Farm (1835) Reynolds, Graham. Constable's England. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. John Malford William Turner (1775-1851) England He is called "the painter of light," "the great pyrotechnist," "the first impressionist," and "the greatest of all modern painters," by John Ruskin, and born in London to a barber and wig-maker. His mother was mentally unstable, and was committed to the asylum for the insane in 1800. Yet his father was quite the opposite and encouraged the young boy in his painting, and allowed his works to be displayed in his shop windows. Turner was a self-taught genius; at 14 years, his sketch-book was filled with drawings of trees and buildings he observed from wandering the countryside. In 1789, Turner attended the Royal Academy, and his first exhibition at the academy took place two years later. In 1795, Turner turned to oils. Throughout his years at the academy, he toured England and Wales, painting profusely. In 1799 he was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1803 he was appointed to the Royal Academy Council. His attachment to the Academy would be for the rest of his life. His early works were influenced by French painter Claude Lorrain. The same, broad-sweeping, emotional and wild landscapes occasionally dotted with people dominated his paintings. His contemporaries described him as uncouth, morose, volatile, passionate, poetic, romantic-his temperament matched his paintings. He also fed himself with Byron, Gray, Thomson, Milton, and Shelley. His literary attachments would reveal themselves through his 1830's illustrations of Byron, Campbell, and Rogers, particularly Byron's Childe Harold. He kept his private life a secret and therefore not much is known of it. In his later years, he took to announcing himself as Admiral Booth, to hide his identity in public places. During the Peace of Amiens, Turner had the chance to visit France and Switzerland. There he produced over 400 sketches and studied the masters that hung in the Louvre. As he neared his 30s, his paintings became more and more abstract. Towards the 1840s, he began to depict violence and suspense of man against man and man against nature on the high seas. He toured Italy, Germany, and Switzerland again in the early 1840s, producing much astonishing and impressive work. In 1845, he became acting president of the Royal Academy, as the elected president lay on his sickbed. As Turner neared the end of his life, he resorted to alcoholism and his works matched his destructive habits. As he died, he saw the first rays of light blind the Thames river. He died wealthy and famous, with over 19,000 works to his credit. Most Notable Works: Calais Pier Dido building Carthage (1815) Fighting Temeraire (1838) Rain, Steem, Speed (1844) Wilton, Andrew. J.M.W. Turner- His Art and Life. New York: Rizzoli, 1979. Thomas Cole (1801-1848) Cole is considered by many the founders of Romantic landscape painting in America. His family moved from England to the U.S in 1818, where the 17 year-old Cole was trained in drawing and wood engraving. He spent some years in Steubenville designing patterns and probably also engraving woodblocks for his father's wallpaper firm. He made his first landscape paintings after learning the basis of oil painting from a itinerant portraitist called Stein. In 1823 he joined the Philadelphia Academy of Art. Later he co-founded the Hudson River School, the main school of Romantic landscape painting in USA. In 1829 and in 1841-42 Cole traveled to England, Switzerland, Italy and studied the landscape of Europe's best painters. In Europe, his visits to the great galleries of London and Paris and, overall, his travel in Italy from 1831 to 1832, fueled his imagination with high-minded themes and ideas, and he developed a strong, true Romantic spirit. The second trip to Europe, in 1841-42, provided even greater advances in the mastery of his power: his use of color showed more virtuosity and his shaping of atmosphere, especially the sky, became more luminous. When he came back, Cole revolutionized painting in America, due to his new knowledge and philosophical experiences. The innovations he presented to the new world include the symbolic, moral landscape, as represented by the series on the themes of The Course of Empire (1832; New York, Historical Society) and The Voyage of Life (1839/40; Utica, Munson William Proctor Institute): The Course of Empire: The Savage State (1836), The Voyage of Life: Childhood (1842). In these fantastic, symbolic scenes Cole infused strange effects of grandiose space and theatrical light contrasts. Cole also used antique and biblical subjects, increasing fantastic and mystical feelings in his paintings. His late pictures do not have the fine quality of his earlier atmospheric landscapes, they are raw and primitive, but they're able to stun spectators with extremely strong surrealism. Though Cole's unexpected death after a short illness sent a shock in New York and in art world, that can only thank many achievements that he provided, building a firm ground for the continued improvement of the school of American landscape. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FOR images refers to cole.zip in dev.thinkquest.org there you find also html files with the info you need. Davide Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) Johann Heinrich Füssli was born in Zurich. In England he read theology intending to become a priest (he studied in London, where he befriended Joshua Reynolds), but the travels to Italy, where he spent eight years understanding the atmosphere of the recently uncovered ruins and the masterworks of Michelangelo, lead him to paint subjects around the imaginary, the Gothic and the horrible. Returning to England, he exhibited a number of works of a grotesque and visionary quality, including the famous Nightmare (1782). He absorbed the essence of the dream-like universe he found in the works of Shakespeare, Weiland, and Milton. He was one of the key precursors of Symbolism and Surrealism, as he presented the macabre, the world of the sub-conscious and dreams. His romantic spirit is easily recognizable in his eccentricity and his sign of "unconscious" rebellion against neo-classical purity. Finally, his drawings, of which he left over 800, further reveal his romantic appeal for the terrifying and weird. Fuseli admired and encouraged William Blake. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THEODORE GERICAULT (1791-1824) Théodore Géricault grew up in the turbulent period of the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon. He studied with many important artists, but the strongest influence on his art, if we don't consider Goya, came from a painter named Baron Jean-Antoin Gros (1771-1835). Géricault drew much inspiration from Gros's canvases, which often made Napoleon the main character of an emotional glorification, and started to build his view for Romantic interpretation and for Romantic styles. Géricault was fascinated by violence and horror, and like other romantics sought and painted the passion and the emotions that overwhelm topical events, so he made a series of bloodcurdling paintings of decapitated heads of criminals. These are an example of how Géricault searched strange, dark and previously unknown images. His studies reflected his will to understand the awful nature of pain, suffering, violence and death, as well as his behavior: he often attempted to commit suicide and he had a bad habit of riding dangerous horses. The series of mad men and women paintings confirm how Géricault courted madness and insanity. His studies on those subjects demonstrates a fundamental shift in the concept of art and of what it is supposed to depict. The famous "Raft of the Medusa" showed Géricault's ability to plan out and complete a wide and ambitious history painting. In fact the story of the raft was a popular subject that interested many of his contemporaries: the titanic struggle of man against the forces of nature was a theme gorgeously presented in his painting by the immense sea and the stormy atmosphere terrorizing the powerless occupants of the raft. Ultimately, Géricault left us just four or five works completed, which was a condensation of research expressed in notes and studies. He believed in the heroism that is achieved through risky experiments-- he spend his life performing and actually living the emotions he wanted to depict. Géricault died from a fall off a horse in 1824. Allston Washington (1778 -1843) He was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, and in 1800 he graduated from the prestigious Harvard College in Boston. From 1800 to 1818, from the exception of three years that he spent in Boston, he moved to Europe and traveled there, where he absorbed a romantic classicism that was a reference for numerous painters who followed him. One of the most important steps of his journey in Europe was in London. He studied at the Royal Academy with Benjamin West where he found the possibility to travel and paint with John Vanderlyn. In 1805, he settled in Rome till 1808, and befriended Washington Irving, Samuel Coleridge and other popular Romantic Americans living abroad. In England, where he was recognized as one of the most impressive history painters, he excelled in Biblical themes rather than in the classical subjects he had painted in Italy. A curious issue that mined his productivity was years of struggle on "Belshazzar's Feast", a large painting begun in 1817 thanks to the ten-thousand dollar subscription of ten wealthy Americans. However, he never completed it. As said, By 1818 he came back and settled in Boston, where he was acclaimed as the nation's top artist. Anyway, the demand for history painting was minimal, and he performed smaller works, some figural and landscape, that he romanticized. Allston achieved an international reputation as painter, poet and art philosopher of romantic period. His style was dark, wild and loftly, and he showed it clearly in his paintings. His way influenced other American artists and his travel abroad encouraged many of them to study in Europe. He also was a figure that showed to the 'old world' that United States artists were not disreputable artisans but respectable romantic, poetics and idealists. His place in American art history is hard to understand, by the way. His styles turned from classicism into romanticism, and his subject matter and painting attitude was wide ranging. What we can say for sure is that he had tremendous impact on succeeding generations of artists, American and European, who followed his style for its refined sensibilities and serious, professional touch. GOYA (1760-1828) Goya is considered by many the father of modern art: his work, spread through 60 years of his life, have changed the concept of the reality in art in many artists, and his influences are still present nowadays. In fact he was one of the earliest artists to bring irrationality on the canvas: Goya made human madness the center of many of his works, and he gained this feeling observing and looking deeply at the decaying period he lived in. He experienced Napoleon's injustices and violence against the Spanish, and constructed his view of humanity over that. As a teenager, Goya was taught by a local artist, Jose Luzan, in the province of Zaragoza. In Madrid, when he was young he witnessed the execution of Spanish loyalists in 1808. That was the Third of May, as recalled by one of his most important paintings title "Third of May." This shows that victims were a major theme of Goya's works: pain, suffering and terror can actually be felt in his helpless men. After his first adventures in Madrid, Goya traveled to Rome. Then he returned to Spain, where he witnessed the oppressive reign of Ferdinand VII, who offered him to work for the court. He refused and moved to France. That (1819) signed the beginning of the "black painting" period of his life. During this period he produced painting about death and destruction, like the God Saturn that eats his own children. Goya has the ability to show the evil of sadism, violence, and even of ignorance. His pessimistic nature, increased in 1793 after an illness, brought himself to solitude, isolation and anguish. He died in Bordeaux in 1828. Most of his works are now conserved at El Prado Museum in Madrid. DELACROIX (1798-1863) QUOTE: The individual's whole experience is built upon the plan of his language. "I confess that I have worked logically, I, who have no love for logical painting. I see now that my turbulent mind needs activity, that it must break out and try a hundred different ways before reaching the goal towards which I am always straining. There is an old leaven working in me, some black depth that must be appeased." - from Delacroix's journal, 7 May 1824 --------- Eugčne Delacroix Biography Eugčne Delacroix is probably the main figure of romantic artists: he's often called the 'Prince of Romanticism in Art'. His influence has been very widespread. He not simply imitated the old masters, he literally trascended their art, finding inspirations over them, assimilating their lessons, and constructing his own originality. Delacroix's father was Charles Delacroix, foreign Minister, however many suspected that his real father was the diplomat Talleyrand. Delacroix was interested in art as a teenager, when he started to take art lessons. It was the end of the Rococo period and the young Eugčne studied briefly with Piere-Narcisse Guérin, which was also a teacher of Théodore Géricault. In 1805 his father died and in 1814 his mother left Delacroix an orphan at the age of 16. However Delacroix didn't like much the systematic method suggested by Guérin, in fact he followed the new directions taken by Goya, Gros and Géricault. Delacroix's themes were chosen and inspired chiefly by his great love for literature and by historical events. His first success was painted in 1822, Dante and Virgil in Hell. His second work was purchased by the French government, Massacre at Chios: a painting about a genocide of more than ten thousands Greeks on the isle of Chios. They were exposed in the Paris Salon exhibition. Massacre at Chios recognized Delacroix among the Romanticists. His more important work was Liberty Leading the people (about a battle of the French Revolution in July 1830). The painting was bought by the new king Louis-Phillippe, that never exhibited it. In 1827 he painted The Death of Sardanapalus, which was inspired by a Lord Byron's poem. Delacroix really appreciated the art of English painter, John Constable, who served as an inspiration to Delacroix. Women of Algiers is an example of how England was not the only place that influenced him-- in the 1830s he traveled to North Africa. While in England he changed his approach on color, in Africa he absorbed the sense of exotic-- his paintings were infused with a new atmosphere, exotic and brightening. In 1833 he started to work under the government, painting walls of public buildings till his death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DRAMA --> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Richard Cumberland (1732 - 1811) Cambridge, England Richard Cumberland was the great-grandson of a prominent English philosopher of the same name. He was the son of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Clonfert. Cumberland attended school at Westminster school and later graduated from Cambridge University. Cumberland's sentimental touch in his works morphed into a significant literary force in the late eighteenth century. He was also deemed the master of stagecraft and observation of human actions. Scholars today mostly credit him for his inspiration for Sir Fretful Plagiary in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Critic. In 1761, Cumberland became the private secretary of the Earl of Halifax and held government positions in his latter life. Some of his most successful dramas include The Brothers (1769), a comedy based on Henry Fielding's novel Thomas Jones; The West Indian (1771) was performed by famous actor David Garrick throughout the eighteenth century. Cumberland was a key player in the Romantic Drama movement. Works: The Brothers (1769) The West Indian (1771) Arundel (1789) Henry (1795) Autobiography (1806-7). Sources: "Cumberland, Richard" The Columbian Encyclopedia. Sixth Edition New York: Columbia University Press July 2001. http://www.bartleby.com/65/cu/CumberR1732.html "Cumberland, Richard" Briticanna.com. 2001. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=504661 Richard Lalor Sheil (1791 - 1851) Drumdowny, County Kilkenny, Ireland Richard Lalor Sheil was born to a successful merchant and received his education with a French priest. At the age of eleven, he was educated at a Catholic school in Kensington, London and then attended Jesuit College. There, he became interested in politics and an active participant in the Catholic Emancipation debate, in which he sided with Protestants. In 1807, he attended Trinity College Dublin with a strong fundamental education in Italian, Spanish, French, and an incredible understanding of literature. Upon gradtuation in 1811, he decided to pursue law and attended the Irish Bar. Having a literary bent, he turned to dramatic composition and produced a number of plays some of which were quite successful, the most popular being "Adelaide", "The Apostate", and "Evadne". Financially they were very successful. His chief fame, however, as a literary man came through his "Sketches at the Irish Bar", a series of articles contributed to the "New Monthly Magazine", which were published in two volumes after his death. They give considerable information of the leading men and events of the times. Works: The Emigrants (1814) The Apostate (1817) Bellamira The Fall of Tunis (1818) The Statue (1819) The Huguenot (1819) Montoni (1820) Source: "Richard Lalor Sheil." Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume XIII. 1999. Catholic Encyclopedia. February 1, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13754b.htm Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (1751 - 1816) Dublin, Ireland "I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in the audience - it also marks the time, which is four o clock in the morning, and saves a description of the rising sun, and a great deal about gliding the eastern hemisphere." Richard Brinsley Sheridan is remembered as the author of the wittiest comedies of all time for the English theatre. Ironically however, he never personally enjoyed the theatre life and wished to be a politician. This unbalance between his heart and his talent created a financial endeavor throughout most of his life. In 1762, Sheridan attended Harrow School and he later moved to Bath with his family where he began to write. In 1775, Sheridan produced The Rivals and through one of its characters Mrs. Malaprop came the English word malapropism. The Rivals, Saint Patrick's Day, and The Duenna were all successful. He along with two others bought a half interest in Drury Lane Theatre. His 'A Trip to Scarborough', based on an earlier play by Sir John Vanbrugh, was presented there in 1777, followed the same year by The School for Scandal, probably the best of Sheridan's comedies. In 1780, Sheridan became involved in politics as he entered as a Member of Parliament for Stafford. He served there for thirty-two years. Works: The Rivals (1775) The Duenna (1775) A Trip to Scarborough (1777) The School for Scandal (1777) The Critic (1779) Pizarro Sources: "Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 1994. Columbia University Press. 2000. http://www.infoplease.com/search.php3?query=Richard+Brinsley+Sheridan&in=encyclopedia&go.x=13&go.y=10 "Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan." The Guardian. 2001. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRsheridan.htm Oliver Goldsmith (1730? - 1774) Elphin, Roscommon, Ireland "For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again" Oliver Goldsmith was born to an Anglo-Irish Clergyman and Anne Jones. He received his education from Trinity College in Dublin with a B.A. degree. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden, but his career as a physician was quite unsuccessful. He wandered throughout Europe and lived by begging. However, his rise to fame came quickly upon the publication of The Deserted Village in 1770. Although his first play failed, She Stoops to Conquer in 1773 was a great success and is known today as one of the greatest comedies ever. His comedies injected a much-needed sense of realism into the dull, sentimental plays of the period. They are lively, witty, and imbued with an endearing humanity. The Vicar of Wakefield is the warm, humorous, if somewhat melodramatic, story of a country parson and his family. Although he earned a great deal of money in his lifetime, Goldsmith's improvidence kept him poor. Boswell depicted him as a ridiculous, blundering, but tenderhearted and generous creature. He had the friendship of many of the literary and artistic great of his day, the most notable being that of Samuel Johnson. Works: Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe (1759) The Citizen of the World (1762) The Traveler (1764) The Vicar of Wakefield (1766). The Good-natur'd Man (1768) The Deserted Village (1770) She Stoops to Conquer (1773) Sources: "Oliver Goldsmith." TheatreHistory.com. 2001. http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/goldsmith001.html Grouden, Brenda. "Oliver Goldsmith." Glasson. 1999. http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/goldsmith001.html Samuel Johnson (1709 - 84) Lichfield, England "The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience." Samuel Johnson is considered by scholars to be one of the most important English writers of the eighteenth century. In fact, he is so influential in the literary world that scholars often refer to the late eighteenth century as "The Age of Johnson." He is the most quoted prose writer next to Shakespeare and The Bible. He was born to a bookseller and lived in poverty. Despite a weakness in health, Johnson excelled in school. In 1784, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford yet withdrew due to poverty. In 1737, along with his student David Garrick, he traveled to London and tried to make a living off of writing. He wrote for a variety of genres, from biographies to political satire. In 1738, he had his first hit through his politically satirical poem London. Johnson's first work of lasting importance, and the one that permanently established his reputation in his own time, was his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the first comprehensive lexicographical work on English ever undertaken. It remained until a century later the Oxford dictionary replaced it. While working on the dictionary, Johnson worked on a series of periodicals called The Rambler. In 1764 Johnson and Joshua Reynolds founded "The Club" (known later as The Literary Club). Its membership included Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, David Garrick, and Boswell. The brilliance of this intellectual elite was, reportedly, dazzling, and Dr. Johnson (he had received a degree in 1764) was its leading light. His witty remarks are remembered to this day. He was a master not only of the aphorism-e.g., his definition of angling as "a stick and a string, with a worm on one end and a fool on the other"-but also of the quick, unexpected retort, as when, while listening with displeasure to a violinist, he was told that the feat being performed was very difficult: "Difficult," replied Johnson, "I wish it had been impossible!" Johnson was a great man of adversity and he is still remembered today as one of the best there ever was. Works: Life of Savage (1744) The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) The Rambler (1750-52) Dictionary of the English Language (1755) Rasselas (1759) The Idler (1761) Lives of the Poets (1779-1781) Sources: Lynch, Jack. "Samuel Johnson." Homepage. November 2, 2000. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Johnson/Guide/who.html "Samuel Johnson." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 1994. Columbia University Press. 2000. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0826489.html Carlo Goldoni (1707 - 93) Venice Carlo Goldoni is most prominent for his ability to reform the Italian Theatre. He substituted a drama of improvisation into one a fully elaborated scene inspired by Moličre. Born in Venice, he accompanied his father in his peregrinations to various Italian cities, among them Perugia and Rimini, where he practised as a physician. The boy was intended at first for his father's profession, but he early indicated his real tastes by running away from Rimini with a theatrical troupe. Later we find him at Venice studying law, and ere long he is seen occupying at Chioggia the post of assistant to the registrar or clerk of the criminal court. By this time he had begun the composition of plays. He finally took his degree in law and settled in Venice, practising as an advocate and continuing his literary work. But he did not remain at rest long. Associated with the diplomatic service for brief periods, he sojourned in Milan and in Genoa, and then for one reason or another shifted his domicile hither and thither in Northern Italy, making his longest stay in Pisa, where for five years he devoted himself to legal pursuits. In 1746 he received the appointment of dramatic poet to the theatre S. Angelo at Venice, and in the following year betook himself to his native city. In his new position he wrote many comedies, which were performed successfully, and in 1752 he accepted a similar appointment to the Venetian theatre of San Luca, for which he provided additional pieces. The partisans of the inartistic "Commedia dell' arte" were waging all the while warfare against him, and finally, although he had gained the day, he determined from sheer weariness to accept the offer made him in 1761 of the place of poet to the Théâtre Italien at Paris. Honourable though his post was, he never felt really happy in it, and when the time of his contract was finished, he meditated an instant return to his native land. This purpose he did not carry out, for an appointment as Italian tutor to the daughters of Louis XV induced him to remain in France. A pension was assigned to him, and it was paid to him regularly up to the year 1792. He died the next year. Works: La locandiera (1753, tr. The Mistress of the Inn, 1856) Il ventaglio (1763, tr. The Fan, 1911) Il burbero benefico (1771, tr. The Beneficent Bear, 1849) La buona figliuola (1756, tr. The Accomplished Maid, 1767) Sources: "Carlo Goldoni." Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume XIII. 1999. Catholic Encyclopedia. September 1, 1909. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06631a.htm "Carlo Goldoni." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 1994. Columbia University Press. 2000. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0826489.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------END----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------