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Gryphius, Andreas

(Encyclopedia)Gryphius, Andreas ändrāˈäs grüˈfēo͝os [key], 1616–64, German poet-dramatist, originally named Andreas Greif. He wrote in Latin, new High German, and Silesian dialect. Among his many sonnets,...

Beolco, Angelo

(Encyclopedia)Beolco, Angelo änjĕˈlō bāôlˈkō [key], 1502–42, Italian actor and playwright. While managing farms belonging to his family, Beolco had much contact with Paduan peasants, with whom he was deep...

Billings, Josh

(Encyclopedia)Billings, Josh, pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw, 1818–85, American humorist and lecturer, b. Lanesboro, Mass. After a roving life as farmer, explorer, and coal miner, he settled in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., ...

Soli

(Encyclopedia)Soli sōˈlī [key], ancient city of Cilicia, SW of Tarsus, in present-day Turkey. It was founded c.700 b.c. by colonists from Rhodes. An important port at the time of Alexander the Great, Soli was de...

Calloc'h, Jean Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Calloc'h, Jean Pierre zhäN pyĕr kälôkhˈ [key], 1888–1917, Breton poet. Important in the revival of Breton literature, he wrote in the Vannes dialect of Brittany. His lyrical verse displays a lo...

Belli, Giuseppe Gioacchino

(Encyclopedia)Belli, Giuseppe Gioacchino jo͞ozĕpˈpā jōäk-kēˈnō bĕlˈlē [key], 1791–1863, Italian poet. Born in Rome into poverty, Belli earned his living as a government clerk. He drew from his knowled...

Burns, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Burns, Robert, 1759–96, Scottish poet. Burns's art is at its best in songs such as “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton,” “My Heart's in the Highlands,” and “John Anderson My Jo.” Two collections...

Craddock, Charles Egbert

(Encyclopedia)Craddock, Charles Egbert, pseud. of Mary Noailles Murfree nō-īˈ [key], 1850–1922, American novelist, b. near Murfreesboro, Tenn. She wrote her best works about the mountain people of Tennessee, m...

Ward, Artemus

(Encyclopedia)Ward, Artemus, pseud. of Charles Farrar Browne, 1834–67, American humorist, b. Waterford, Maine. As a reporter on the Cleveland Plain Dealer, he began in 1858 a series of “Artemus Ward's Letters�...

Hernández, José

(Encyclopedia)Hernández, José hōsāˈ ārnänˈdĕs [key], 1834–86, Argentine poet, journalist, and soldier. Hernández lived in the pampas as a child. He was the author of the national classic of gaucho liter...