The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
VOLUME XVII. Later National Literature, Part II.
X. Later Poets.
§ 9. Minor Figures.
| Of the lesser luminaries in New York little need be said. They include William Winter (1836–1917), who early came from Massachusetts, primarily a dramatic critic 14 but also the author of verses resembling those of his poet friends: Emma Lazarus (1849–87), born in New York of Portuguese Jewish ancestry, some of whose work is remarkable for its Hebraic intensity 15 ; and the Cary sisters, Alice (1820–71) and Phoebe (1824–71), who came from Ohio, importing the sentimental and moralizing tendency of the age along with a sweetness and beauty by virtue of which they still have some charm. Two Philadelphians already mentioned, George H. Boker (1823–90) 16 and Thomas B. Read (1822–72), 17 may be named here again on account of their association with writers of the New York group. Boker, distinguished as a dramatist, began authorship with The Lesson of Life, and Other Poems in 1847 and continued to write verse. Read’s first volume appeared in Philadelphia in the same year. Among his poems are The New Pastoral (1855), a long poem dealing with American pioner life, The Wagoner of the Alleghanies (1862), a tale of the Revolutionary War, and many short lyrics, of which the best known is Sheridan’s Ride. |
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