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Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah ĭˈbən gäbēˈrôl [key], c.1021–1058, Jewish poet and philosopher, known also as Avicebron, b. Malaga. His secular poetry deals partly with nature and love, but mo...

allegory

(Encyclopedia)allegory, in literature, symbolic story that serves as a disguised representation for meanings other than those indicated on the surface. The characters in an allegory often have no individual persona...

Patterson, Floyd

(Encyclopedia)Patterson, Floyd, 1935–2006, American boxer, b. Waco, N.C. He was brought up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was sent to the Wiltwyck School at Esopus, N.Y., an institution for emotionally disturbed boys, wh...

Quasimodo, Salvatore

(Encyclopedia)Quasimodo, Salvatore sälvätôˈrā kwäzēˈmōdō [key], 1901–68, Italian poet and translator, b. Sicily. Quasimodo worked first as a technical designer and civil engineer. His five volumes of ve...

Zhang Xianliang

(Encyclopedia)Zhang Xianliang jäng shyän-lyäng [key], 1936–, Chinese writer. During the 1957 antirightist campaign, the Chinese Communists judged his poetry deviant and sentenced him to prison in Ningxia. He w...

Pascal, Blaise

(Encyclopedia)Pascal, Blaise blĕz päskälˈ [key], 1623–62, French scientist and religious philosopher. Studying under the direction of his father, a civil servant, Pascal showed great precocity, especially in ...

Liverpool, University of

(Encyclopedia)Liverpool, University of, at Liverpool, England; established 1881 as University College, received royal charter in 1903. It has faculties of arts, education, engineering, law, medicine, dentistry, sci...

Dodo, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Dodo dōˈdō [key], in the Bible, father of the mighty man Eleazar. An alternate form is Dodai. ...

Priapus

(Encyclopedia)Priapus prīāˈpəs [key], in Greek religion, fertility god of gardens and herds; son of Aphrodite and Dionysus. He was represented as a grotesque little man with an enormous phallus. Priapus was imp...

Voiture, Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Voiture, Vincent văNsäNˈ vwätürˈ [key], 1597–1648, French man of letters and poet. He wrote in the precious manner of the salon of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, in which he was a leading figure. ...