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Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

(Encyclopedia)Kakinomoto no Hitomaro käˈkēˈnōˈmōˈtō nō hēˈtōˈmäˈrō [key], ?–710?, early Japanese lyric poet. He is the greatest poet represented in the Manyôshu [collection of myriad leaves], wh...

Muses

(Encyclopedia)Muses, in Greek religion and mythology, patron goddesses of the arts, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Originally only three, they were later considered as nine. Calliope was the Muse of epic poetry a...

Li Ch'ing-chao

(Encyclopedia)Li Ch'ing-chao lēˈ chĭngˌ-chouˈ [key], 1084?–c.1151, Chinese poet. Li's 78 extant song lyrics [tz'u] have earned her a reputation as a master of lyrical poetry. She achieves a simple, natural v...

Casadesus, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Casadesus, Robert käsädāsüsˈ [key], 1899–1972, French pianist and composer, b. Paris. Casadesus was born into a family remarkable for its numerous celebrated musicians. After study at the Paris...

Straparola, Giovanni Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Straparola, Giovanni Francesco jōvänˈnē fränchāsˈkō sträpärôˈlä [key], d. c.1557, Italian writer. His lyric verse was not of lasting merit, but he excelled as a storyteller. He was perhap...

Tyutchev, Feodor Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Tyutchev, Feodor Ivanovich fyôˈdər ēväˈnəvĭch tyo͞oˈchĭf [key], 1803–73, Russian lyric poet and essayist. Most of Tyutchev's adult life was spent abroad in the diplomatic service. Althoug...

Torres Naharro, Bartolomé de

(Encyclopedia)Torres Naharro, Bartolomé de bärtōlōmāˈ ᵺā tôˈrās nä-äˈrō [key], fl. 1531, Spanish dramatist and lyric poet, b. Extremadura. As a young man he went to Italy and became a priest. Greatl...

Roland Holst, Henriëtte (van der Schalk)

(Encyclopedia)Roland Holst, Henriëtte (van der Schalk) hĕnrēĕtˈə vän dĕr skhälk rōˈlänt hôlst [key], 1869–1952, Dutch writer. Her early Sonnets and Poems Written in Terza Rima (1895) won praise for o...

Stesichorus

(Encyclopedia)Stesichorus stēsĭkˈərəs [key], fl. c.600 b.c., Greek lyric poet. He lived at Himera, Sicily, and seems to have been originally named Tisias or Teisias. Legend says he invented the choral “heroi...

Angelus Silesius

(Encyclopedia)Angelus Silesius yōhänˈəs shĕfˈlər [key], 1624–77, German poet. He is best known for his pastoral lyric cycles Heilige Seelenlust (1657–68) and Cherubinischer Wandersmann (1674–75), which...