Lola Ridge—poet, critic.
Born at Dublin, Ireland, but brought up in Sydney, Australia. As a child, lived also in New Zealand, but studied art in Australia. In 1907 she came to the United States and supported herself for three years by writing fiction for the popular magazines. But finding that this work was going to kill her creative ability, she earned her living in a variety of other ways—as organizer, advertisement writer, illustrator, artist’s model, factory worker, etc.—while she wrote poems.Her reputation was made by the publication ofThe Ghettoin 1918.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
James Whitcomb Riley—poet.
Born at Greenfield, Indiana, 1853, of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. Educated in the public schools, but received many higher honorary degrees. Died in 1916.
Mr. Riley came to be the representative poet of his native state, the “Hoosier poet,” and many of his poems are written in the dialect of Indiana, but his reputation is national. His numerous poems were collected and published in ten volumes, asComplete Works, in 1916. For detailed bibliography, cf.Cambridge, III (IV), 651.
Studies and Reviews
Charles George Douglas Roberts—novelist, poet, Nature writer.
Born at Douglas, New Brunswick, 1860. Studied at the University of New Brunswick, 1876. Has been a teacher, editor, soldier. In France during the War.
Major Roberts has published many volumes of poems, besides novels and animal stories.
For bibliography, seeWho’s Who(English). For reviews, seeBook Review Digest, 1914, 1916, 1919.
Edwin Arlington Robinson—poet.
Born at Head Tide, Maine, 1869. Educated at Gardiner, Maine, on the Kennebec River (“Tilbury Town”). Studied at Harvard, 1891-3. Struggled in various ways to make a living in New York, even working in the subway, while publishing his first poems. HisCaptain Craig, 1902, attracted the attention of Roosevelt, who gave the author a position in the New York Custom House, which he held 1905-10. Since then he has been able to give his entire time to poetry.
Suggestions for Reading
1. A good introduction to Mr. Robinson’s work is Miss Lowell’s review of hisCollected Works, in theDial, 72 (’22): 130. Although Miss Lowell’s contention that Mr. Robinson is our greatest living poet would be disputed by some critics, her article suggests many points of departure in the study of his very important contribution to American poetry.
2. Divide Mr. Robinson’s work into two groups: (1) poems of which the material is based upon literature; (2) those of which it comes from his own life experience. Is it possible to say now which of these two groups has the best chance of long endurance? Can you decide how far literature has had a good effect upon Mr. Robinson’s work, and how far it has lessened the value of his poetry?
3. Consider as a group the poems that grow out of Mr. Robinson’s New England origin. In what ways is he characteristic of New England? Compare his work with that of Mr. Frost in this respect.
4. Compare and contrast Mr. Robinson’s portraits of persons with names as titles with similar portraits in theSpoon River Anthology. This type of verse seems to have been developed independently by both poets.
5. An interesting study could be made of the influence on Robinson of Crabbe; another, of the influence of Hardy.
6. Another interesting study might grow out of the consideration of Robinson as a poet born twenty years too soon. How much has the temper of his work been determined by the fact that he had to wait so long for recognition?
7. What are the main features of Mr. Robinson’s philosophy as suggested in the poems?
8. Can you find many poems that sing? What is to be said of the poet’s mastery of rhythms?
9. After reading the best of Mr. Robinson’s work, it is interesting to look up the comments of various admirers of it published on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, in theNew York Times, December 21, 1919, or the quotations from this article inPoetry, 15 (’20): 265, and to see how far your judgment bears out these extravagant statements.
10. The influence of Robinson’s work on younger American poets, especially on Lindsay and Sandburg, makes an interesting study.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Edwin Meade Robinson—poet, novelist.
Born at Lima, Indiana, 1879. Not related to Edwin Arlington Robinson. Newspaper man, first on theIndianapolis Sentinel, later on theCleveland Plain Dealer, in which he conducts a column. Besides his successful volume of verse,Piping and Panning, 1920, Mr. Robinson has published a novel which has attracted attention as an honest record of a growing boy,Enter Jerry, 1920. For reviews, seeBook Review Digest, 1920, 1921.
Carl Sandburg—poet.
Born at Galesburg, Illinois, of Swedish stock. Has little schooling but wide experience of life. At thirteen drove a milk wagon, and for the next six years did all kinds of rough work—as porter in a barber shop, scene-shifter, truck-handler in a brickyard, turner apprentice in a pottery, dishwasher in hotels, harvest hand in Kansas.
During the Spanish-American War served as private in Porto Rico.
Studied at Lombard College, Galesburg, 1898-1902, wherehe was captain of the basket-ball team and editor-in-chief of the college paper.
After leaving college, earned his living in various ways—as advertising manager for a department store, salesman, newspaperman, “safety first” expert. Worked also as district organizer for the Social-Democratic party of Wisconsin and was secretary to the mayor of Milwaukee, 1910-12.
In 1904 he had published a small pamphlet of poems, but his first real appearance before the public was inPoetry, 1914. In the same year he was awarded the Levinson prize for his “Chicago.” In 1918 he shared with Margaret Widdemer (q. v.) the prize of the Poetry Society of America; and in 1921, shared this with Stephen Vincent Benét (q. v.).
Mr. Sandburg has a good voice and sings his poems to the accompaniment of the guitar.
Suggestions for Reading
1. In judging Mr. Sandburg’s work, it is important to remember that his theory involves complete freedom from conventions of all sorts—in thinking, in metrical form, and in vocabulary. His aim seems to be to reproduce the impressions that all phases of life make upon him.
2. Consider whether his early prairie environment had anything to do with the large scale of his imagination, the appeal to him of enormous periods of time, masses of men, and forces.
3. Do you find elements of universality in his exaggerated localisms? Do they combine to form a definite philosophy?
4. What effect do the eccentricities and crudities of form have upon you? Do you consider them an essential part of his poetic expression or blemishes which he may one day overcome?
5. Do you find elements of greatness in Mr. Sandburg’s work? Do you think they are likely to outweigh his obvious defects?
6. Compare and contrast his democratic ideals with those of Lindsay.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
George Santayana—poet, critic.
Born at Madrid, Spain, 1863. Came to the United States, 1872. A. B., Harvard, 1886; A. M., Ph. D., 1889. In 1889 began to teach philosophy at Harvard; professor, 1907-12.
While Mr. Santayana’s chief work is in philosophy, he belongs to literature by the beauty of his poems, especially his sonnets, and by the quality of his prose.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Lew R. Sarett—poet.
Born at Chicago, 1888. A. B., Beloit, 1911. Studied at Harvard, 1911-2; LL. B., University of Illinois, 1916. Woodsman and guide in the Northwest several months each year for nine years. Teacher of English and oratory. Since 1920, associate professor of oratory, Northwestern University. Lecturer on the Canadian North and on Indian life. Sarett’sMany, Many Moons: A Book of Wilderness Poems, 1920 (with an introduction by Carl Sandburg), is a reflection of his familiarity with Indian material. Received the Levinson prize for his poem, “The Box of God,” 1921.
Studies and Reviews
Clinton Scollard—poet.
Born at Clinton, New York, 1860. A. B., Hamilton College, 1881. Studied at Harvard and at Cambridge, England. Professor of English literature, Hamilton College, 1888-96 and 1911—. Has published nearly forty volumes of graceful, accomplished verse. For bibliography, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Studies and Reviews
(Mrs.) Evelyn Scott—poet, novelist.
Mrs. Scott has lived many years in Brazil (cf.Poetry, 15 [’19]: 100).
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Anne Douglas Sedgwick (Mrs. Basil de Sélincourt)—novelist.
Born at Englewood, New Jersey, 1873. Educated at home. Left America when nine years old and has since lived abroad, chiefly in Paris and London. Studied painting for several years in Paris. Her reputation was made byTante, 1911. Her latest book isAdrienne Toner, 1922. For bibliography, seeWho’s Who in America.
Studies and Reviews
Alan Seeger—poet.
Born in New York City, 1888. In his boyhood lived in Mexico, and later in Paris and London. Entered Harvard, 1906. In 1913, went to Paris. In the first weeks of the War, enlisted in the Foreign Legion of France and was in action almost continually. Killed July 4, 1916.
He won fame with his poem, “I Have a Rendezvous with Death.”
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Ernest Thompson Seton—Nature writer.
Born at South Shields, England, 1860. Lived in the backwoods of Canada, 1866-70 and on the Western plains, 1882-87. Educated at the Toronto Collegiate Institute and (as artist) at the Royal Academy, London. Official naturalist to the government of Manitoba. Studied art in Paris, 1890-6. One of the illustrators of theCentury Dictionary. Prominent in the organization of the Boy Scout movement in America. For many years kept full journals of his expeditions and observations (illustrated). These make the “most complete pictorial animal library in the world.”
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Dallas Lore Sharp—Nature writer.
Born at Haleyville, New Jersey, 1870. A. B., Brown, 1895; S. T. B., Boston University, 1899; Litt. D., Brown, 1917. Ordained for the Methodist Episcopal ministry, 1896. Pastor, 1896-9; librarian, 1899-1902. On staff ofYouth’s Companion, 1900-3. Has taught English in Boston University since 1902, professor since 1909.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Edward Brewster Sheldon—dramatist.
Born at Chicago, 1886. A. B., Harvard, 1907; A. M., 1908. Mr. Sheldon’s most successful play thus far isRomance, which was played by Doris Keane for almost ten years.
Bibliography
For bibliography of unpublished plays, cf.Cambridge, III (IV), 771.
Studies and Reviews
Stuart P(ratt) Sherman—critic.
Born at Anita, Iowa, 1881. A. B., Williams, 1903; A. M., Harvard, 1904; Ph. D., 1906. Taught English at Northwestern University, 1906-11; professor at the University of Illinois since 1911. Associate editor of theCambridge History of American Literature.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Upton Sinclair—novelist.
Born at Baltimore, 1878. A. B., College of the City of New York, 1897. Did graduate work for four years at Columbia. Assisted in the government investigation of the Chicago stockyards, 1906 (cf.The Jungle). Socialist.Founded the Helicon Hall communistic colony at Englewood, New Jersey, 1906-7, and the Intercollegiate Socialist Society.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Elsie Singmaster (Mrs. Harold Lewars)—novelist.
Born at Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, 1879. A. B., Radcliffe, 1909; Litt. D., Pennsylvania College, 1916. Her work deals with the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Bibliography
For reviews, seeBook Review Digest, 1917, 1920.
Logan Pearsall Smith—essayist.
American scholar living in England. Belongs to literature through hisTrivia—short prose poems, which suggest comparison with similar experiments by Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, and Marcel Schwob.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Wilbur Daniel Steele—novelist, short-story writer.
Born at Greensboro, North Carolina, 1886. A. B., University of Denver, 1907. Studied art in Boston, Paris, and New York, 1907-10.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
George Sterling—poet.
Born at Sag Harbor, New York, 1869. Educated in private and public schools. About 1895 he moved to the West and now lives in California.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Wallace Stevens—poet.
A New York lawyer, living in Hartford, Connecticut, whose work although not as yet collected into a volume has attracted much attention. Received thePoetryprize for the best one-act play, in 1916, for his “Three Travellers Watch a Sunrise,” and the Levinson prize for his “Pecksniffiana,” 1920.
Mr. Stevens’s art is purely decorative, and its effects must be studied as in pictorial art. He is an experimenter in free verse forms as well as in impressions.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Arthur Stringer(Canada, 1874)—novelist.
Author ofThe Prairie Wife, 1915, andThe Prairie Mother, 1920. For bibliography, seeWho’s Who in America.
Simeon Strunsky—essayist, man of letters.
Born at Vitebsk, Russia, 1879. A. B., Columbia, 1900. Department editor of theNew International Encyclopedia, 1900-06, and editorial writer for theNew York Evening Post, 1906—.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Ida M(inerva) Tarbell—essayist, historian.
Born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, 1857. A. B., Allegheny College, 1880; A. M., 1883. Honorary higher degrees. Associate editor ofThe Chautauquan, 1883-91. Studied in Paris at the Sorbonne and the Collège de France, 1891-4. On staff ofMcClure’sand associate editor, 1894-1906. Associate editor of theAmerican Magazine, 1906-15.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
(Newton) Booth Tarkington—novelist, dramatist.
Born at Indianapolis, Indiana, 1869, of French ancestry on one side. Came early under the influence of Riley (q. v.), a neighbor. Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Purdue University, and Princeton. Honorary higher degrees. Popular at college for his singing, acting and social talents. Began to study art but was not successful as an artist. Has written songs. Takes an active part in the social and political life of his state. Served in the Indiana legislature, 1902-3.
Suggestions for Reading
1. Consider separately Mr. Tarkington’s studies of boy life (especiallyPenrod), and of adolescence (especiallySeventeenandClarence). Judged by your own experience and observation, are they presented with true knowledge and humor, or are they a farcical skimming of surface eccentricities? Compare them with Mark Twain’s books about boys and with Howells’sBoy’s Town.
2. Consider separately the historical novels. Is pure romance Mr. Tarkington’s field? Why or why not?
3. Consider the justice or the injustice of the following:
According to all the codes of the more serious kinds of fiction, the unwillingness—or the inability—to conduct a plot to its legitimate ending implies some weakness in the artistic character; and this weakness is Mr. Tarkington’s principal defect.... Now this causes the more regret for the reason that he has what is next best to character in anovelist—that is, knack. He has the knack of romance, when he wants to employ it: a light, allusive manner; a sufficient acquaintance with certain charming historical epochs and the “properties” thereto pertaining...; a considerable experience in the ways of the “world”; gay colors, swift moods, the note of tender elegy. He has also the knack of satire, which he employs more frequently than romance ... he has traveled a long way from the methods of his greener days. Why, then, does he continue to trifle with his threadbare adolescents, as if he were afraid to write candidly about his coevals? Why does he drift with the sentimental tide and make propaganda for provincial complacency?
According to all the codes of the more serious kinds of fiction, the unwillingness—or the inability—to conduct a plot to its legitimate ending implies some weakness in the artistic character; and this weakness is Mr. Tarkington’s principal defect.... Now this causes the more regret for the reason that he has what is next best to character in anovelist—that is, knack. He has the knack of romance, when he wants to employ it: a light, allusive manner; a sufficient acquaintance with certain charming historical epochs and the “properties” thereto pertaining...; a considerable experience in the ways of the “world”; gay colors, swift moods, the note of tender elegy. He has also the knack of satire, which he employs more frequently than romance ... he has traveled a long way from the methods of his greener days. Why, then, does he continue to trifle with his threadbare adolescents, as if he were afraid to write candidly about his coevals? Why does he drift with the sentimental tide and make propaganda for provincial complacency?
4. In what direction lies Mr. Tarkington’s future? Is he likely to become more than a popular writer? What, if any, elements of enduring value do you find in his work?
5. What “Hoosier” elements do you find in his work? Compare him with Ade, Riley, Nicholson, and with the older writers of Indiana, Edward Eggleston, and Maurice Thompson.
Bibliography
For bibliography of unpublished plays, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Studies and Reviews
Bert Leston Taylor(“B. L. T.”, Massachusetts, 1866)—humorist, poet, “columnist.”
Editor of “A Line o’ Type or Two” in theChicago Tribuneuntil his death in 1921. Characteristic books areMotley Measures, 1913, andThe So-Called Human Race, 1922. For complete bibliography, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Sara Teasdale (Mrs. Ernst B. Filsinger)—poet.
Born at St. Louis, Missouri, 1884. Educated in private schools, St. Louis. Traveled in Europe and the Near East. Received prizes from the Poetry Society of America, 1916, 1918.
Sara Teasdale’s love lyrics have been admired for their simplicity, feeling, and perfection of form. They need merely to be read to be appreciated.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Augustus Thomas—dramatist.
Born at St. Louis, Missouri, 1859. Son of the director of a theatre in New Orleans. As a boy often went to plays; began to write them at fourteen; at sixteen or seventeen, organized an amateur company. Educated in the St. Louis public schools. Page in the 41st Congress. Honorary A. M., Williams, 1914. Studied law two years; had six years of experience in railroading. Special writer, and illustrator on St. Louis, Kansas City, and New York newspapers.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Eunice Tietjens (Mrs. Cloyd Head)—poet.
Born at Chicago, 1884. Married Paul Tietjens, the composer, 1904; Cloyd Head, the writer, 1920. Associate editor ofPoetry, 1914, 1916. War correspondent in France, 1917-8.
Mrs. Tietjens’Profiles from Chinais based upon her experience as an observer of life in China.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Elias Tobenkin—novelist.
Born in Russia, 1882. Came to the United States as a boy. A. B., University of Wisconsin, 1905; A. M., 1906. Specialized in German literature and philosophy. Extensive newspaper experience in Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Chicago. European correspondent ofNew York Tribune, 1918-9.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
(Frederic) Ridgely Torrence—poet, dramatist.
Born at Xenia, Ohio, 1875. Educated at Miami University and Princeton. Librarian in the Astor Library, 1897-1901, and Lenox Library, 1901-3. Assistant editor ofThe Critic, 1903-4, and associate editor of theCosmopolitan, 1906-7.
Mr. Torrence’s plays for a negro theatre are worth special study.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Horace Traubel—poet, biographer.
Born at Camden, New Jersey, 1873, of part Jewish parentage. Worked as newsboy, errand boy, printer’s devil, proof reader, reporter, and editorial writer. Editor of various publications, includingThe Conservator. Died in 1919.
Mr. Traubel is best known for his association with Whitman as friend, secretary, and literary executor. When Whitman went to Camden in 1873, he became a member of the Traubel household; and Mr. Traubel’s account of his life there is of the greatest value for the study of Whitman.
Although Traubel’s poetry was strongly influenced by Whitman, he worked out a philosophy of his own which is worth study. An interesting comparison can be made of his ideas with Whitman’s and with Edward Carpenter’s (cf. Manly and Rickert,Contemporary British Literature).
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Jean Starr Untermeyer—poet.
Born at Zanesville, Ohio, 1886. Educated at Putnam Seminary, Zanesville, and special student at Columbia. In 1907, she married Louis Untermeyer (q. v.).
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Louis Untermeyer—poet, critic.
Born in New York City, 1885. Educated at the De Witt Clinton High School, New York. An accomplished pianist and professional designer of jewelry. Married Jean Starr (q. v.), 1907. Business man. Associate editor ofThe Seven Arts(cf.Poetry, 9 [’16-’17]: 214). Contributing editor toThe Liberator. Socialist.
Mr. Untermeyer’s early verse was influenced by Heine, Housman, and Henley, especially the last; but he has broken away from them to an individual expression of social passions.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Carl Van Doren—critic.
Born at Hope, Illinois, 1885. A. B., University of Illinois, 1907; Ph. D., Columbia, 1911. Taught English at the University of Illinois, 1907-16; assistant professor, 1914-6. Associate in English at Columbia since 1916. Headmaster of The Brearley School, New York, 1916-9. Literary editor ofThe Nation, 1919—. Co-editor of theCambridge History of American Literature. His most important books areThe American Novel, 1921;Contemporary American Novelists, 1922.
Studies and Reviews
Henry van Dyke—man of letters.
Born at Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1852. Graduate of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, 1869; A. B., Princeton, 1873, A. M., 1876; Princeton Theological Seminary, 1877; at the University of Berlin, 1877-9. Many honorary higher degrees and other marks of distinction. Ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, 1879. Pastor in Newport, Rhode Island, 1879-82, and in New York, 1883-1900, 1902, 1911. Professor of English literature at Princeton University, 1900—. American lecturer at the University ofParis, 1908-9. United States minister to The Netherlands, 1913-7.
Most of Mr. Van Dyke’s numerous stories, essays, and poems are to be found in hisCollected Works, 1920. His most recent works are:Camp-Fires and Guide Posts, 1921, andSongs Out of Doors, 1922.
Studies and Reviews
Hendrik Willem van Loon—man of letters.
Born at Rotterdam, Holland, 1882. A. B., Cornell, 1905; Ph. D., Munich, 1911. Associated Press correspondent in Russia during the revolution of 1906 and in various countries of Europe during the war. Lecturer on history and the history of art.
Mr. Van Loon has made a place in literature byThe Story of Mankind, 1921. Cf.Book Review Digest, 1921.
Stuart Walker—dramatist.
Born at Augusta, Kentucky. A. B., University of Cincinnati, 1902. Studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Play-reader, actor, and stage manager with David Belasco (q. v.), 1909-14. Originator of the Portmanteau Theatre, 1914, and since 1915 his own producer.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Eugene Walter—dramatist.
Born at Cleveland, Ohio, 1874. Educated in the public schools. Political and general news reporter on various newspapers in Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Seattle, and New York. Business manager of theatrical and amusement enterprises, ranging from minstrels and circuses to symphony orchestras and grand opera companies. Served in the Spanish War. His most successful play,The Easiest Way(1908), is printed by Dickinson,Chief Contemporary Dramatists, 1915, and by Moses,Representative Plays by American Dramatists, 1918-21, III.
For bibliography of unpublished plays, cf.Cambridge, III (IV), 772.
Studies and Reviews
Willard Austin Wattles—poet.
Born at Bayneville, Kansas, 1888. A. B., University of Kansas, 1909; A. M., 1911. Taught English in various schools; since 1914, at the University of Kansas.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Mary Stanbery Watts (Mrs. Miles Taylor Watts)—novelist.
Born at Delaware, Ohio, 1868. Educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Cincinnati, 1881-4.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Henry Kitchell Webster—novelist.
Born at Evanston, Illinois, 1875. Ph. M., Hamilton College, 1897. Instructor in rhetoric at Union College, 1897-8. Since then he has given his time entirely to writing novels.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Winifred Welles—poet.
Born at Norwich Town, Connecticut, 1893, and educated in the vicinity. Her first volume,The Hesitant Heart, 1920, attracted attention for its lyric beauty.
Studies and Reviews
Rita Wellman (Mrs. Edgar F. Leo)—dramatist.
Born at Washington, D. C., 1890. Daughter of Walter Wellman, the airman and explorer. Educated in public schools and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Bibliography
Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton—novelist, short-story writer.
Born in New York City, 1862. Educated at home but spent much time abroad when she was young. Mrs. Wharton is a society woman and a great lover of outdoors and of animals. Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France.
Suggestions for Reading
1. Mrs. Wharton’s friendship with Henry James and the derivation of her methods from his suggest an interesting comparison of the work of these two writers. For this comparison, books treating of similar material should be chosen; for example, Mrs. Wharton’sThe Custom of the CountryorMadame de Treymeswith Mr. James’sPortrait of a LadyorThe Ambassadors. The result will show that Mrs. Wharton, having an essentially different type of mind, has worked out an interesting set of variations of Mr. James’s method.
2. Mrs. Wharton’s novels of American social life should be studied and judged separately from her Italian historicalnovel (The Valley of Decision) and from her New England stories,Ethan FromeandSummer.
3. Two special phases of Mrs. Wharton’s work which call for study are her management of supernatural effects in some of her short stories and her use of satire.
4. Her short stories offer a basis of comparison with those of Mrs. Gerould (q. v.), another disciple of Mr. James.
5. Has Mrs. Wharton enough originality and enough distinction to hold a permanent high place as a novelist of American manners?
6. Use the following criticisms by Mr. Carl Van Doren as the basis of a critical judgment of your own. Decide whether he is in all respects right: