Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

386 results found

Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreyevich

(Encyclopedia)Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreyevich vəsēˈlyē əndrāˈəvĭch zho͞okôfˈskē [key], 1783–1852, Russian poet and translator. Zhukovsky wrote fine lyrics and odes, including the patriotic poem “The ...

free verse

(Encyclopedia)free verse, term loosely used for rhymed or unrhymed verse made free of conventional and traditional limitations and restrictions in regard to metrical structure. Cadence, especially that of common sp...

alliteration

(Encyclopedia)alliteration əlĭtˌərāˈshən [key], the repetition of the same starting sound in several words of a sentence. Probably the most powerful rhythmic and thematic uses of alliteration are contained i...

Westminster Abbey

(Encyclopedia)Westminster Abbey, originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery (closed in 1539) in London. One of England's most important Gothic structures, it is also a national shrine. The first church ...

Maimonides

(Encyclopedia)Maimonides mīˈmən [key], 1135–1204, Jewish scholar, physician, and philosopher, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, b. Córdoba, Spain, d. Cairo. He is sometimes called Rambam...

Lotze, Rudolf Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Lotze, Rudolf Hermann ro͞oˈdôlf hĕrˈmän lōˈtsə [key], 1817–81, German philosopher and psychologist. After studying medicine and philosophy at Leipzig, he was lecturer in both departments an...

Chapman, George

(Encyclopedia)Chapman, George, 1559?–1634, English dramatist, translator, and poet. He is as famous for his plays as for his poetic translations of Homer's Iliad (1612) and Odyssey (1614–15). Chapman was a clas...

Ludwigsburg

(Encyclopedia)Ludwigsburg lo͞otˈvĭkhsbo͝orkhˌ [key], city (1994 pop. 86,220), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, near the Neckar River. It is a transportation and industrial center. Manufactures include machine t...

Heidenstam, Verner von

(Encyclopedia)Heidenstam, Verner von vĕrˈnər fən hāˈdənstäm [key], 1859–1940, Swedish lyric poet, novelist, and essayist. His first volume of poetry, Pilgrimage and Wanderyears (1888), challenged the cont...

Gippius, Zinaida Nikolayevna

(Encyclopedia)Gippius, Zinaida Nikolayevna zēnīēˈdə nyĭkəlīˈəvnə gēˈpēo͝os [key], pseud. Anton Krainy, 1869–1945, Russian writer. Her St. Petersburg salon was a meeting place (1905–17) for young ...