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Ai Ch'ing

(Encyclopedia)Ai Ch'ing or Ai Qing both: īˈ chĭngˈ [key], pseud. of Chiang Hai-ch'eng or Jiang Haicheng, 1910–96, Chinese poet. After studying painting in France (1929–32), where he discovered realist liter...

Hogg, James

(Encyclopedia)Hogg, James, 1770–1835, Scottish poet, called the Ettrick Shepherd. Sir Walter Scott established Hogg's literary reputation by including some of his poems in Border Minstrelsy. Hogg's verse, notable...

Grossi, Tommaso

(Encyclopedia)Grossi, Tommaso tôm-mäˈzō grôsˈsē [key], 1791–1853, Italian novelist and poet. Imitating his friend Manzoni, he wrote romantic historical novels, among them Marco Visconti (1834, tr. 1836). O...

Mimnermus

(Encyclopedia)Mimnermus mĭmnûrˈməs [key], fl. late 7th cent. b.c., Greek elegiac poet of Colophon in Ionia. Only fragments of his poetry survive. Although he mainly wrote love poetry, he did write some martial ...

Walther von der Vogelweide

(Encyclopedia)Walther von der Vogelweide välˈtər fən dĕr fōˈgəlvīˌdə [key], c.1170–c.1230, German minnesinger of noble birth, probably the finest lyric poet of medieval Germany. He wandered from court ...

Wither, George

(Encyclopedia)Wither, George, 1588–1667, English poet, b. Hampshire, studied at Oxford. While in prison for having written the satires Abuses Stript and Whipt (1613), he wrote five pastorals under the title The S...

Rodenbach, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Rodenbach, Georges zhôrzh rôdĕnbäkˈ [key], 1855–98, Belgian symbolist poet and novelist. Living in Paris from 1887, he wrote about Flemish life. His works include the poems Le Foyer et les cham...

Old Testament

(Encyclopedia)Old Testament, Christian name for the Hebrew Bible, which serves as the first division of the Christian Bible (see New Testament). The designations “Old” and “New” seem to have been adopted af...

Szymborska, Wisława

(Encyclopedia)Szymborska, Wisława wēswäˈvä shĭmbôrˈskä [key], 1923–2012, Polish poet, b. Bnin, studied Jagiellonian Univ., Kraków (1945–48). Although highly acclaimed in her homeland, Szymborska was l...

Polish literature

(Encyclopedia)Polish literature, the literary works of Poland. The regaining of Polish independence in 1919 after generations of partition inspired new literary activity. The Skamander group of urban poets, inclu...