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Bryusov, Valery Yakovlevich

(Encyclopedia)Bryusov, Valery Yakovlevich vəlyĕˈrē yäˈkəvlyĭvĭch brēo͞oˈsəf [key], 1873–1924, Russian poet, novelist, and critic. He was the spearhead of the symbolist movement and wrote highly polis...

Brooke, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron fo͝olk grĕvˈĭl [key], 1554–1628, English author and statesman. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, he held many official positions during his lifetime. His Life of...

Scève, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Scève, Maurice mōrēsˈ sĕv [key], c.1510–c.1564, French poet. While studying at Avignon he discovered the tomb of Laura, to whom Petrarch directed many of his sonnets. Scève was the leader of t...

Rimbaud, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Rimbaud, Arthur ärtürˈ răNbōˈ [key], 1854–91, French poet who had a great influence on the symbolists and subsequent modern poets, b. Charleville. A defiant and precocious youth, Rimbaud at 16...

Eichendorff, Joseph, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Eichendorff, Joseph, Freiherr von yōˈzĕf frīˈhĕr fən īˈkhəndôrf [key], 1788–1857, German poet, a leader of the late romantics. He studied law, volunteered in Lützow's corps in the Napole...

Desnos, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Desnos, Robert rôbĕrˈ dĕsnôsˈ [key], 1900–1945, French poet. Among the best-known surrealist poets, he was one of the chief proponents of so-called automatic writing. He put himself in a tranc...

closet drama

(Encyclopedia)closet drama, a play that is meant to be read rather than performed. Precursors of the form existed in classical times. Plato's Apology is often regarded as tragic drama rather than philosophic dialog...

Heredia, José María

(Encyclopedia)Heredia, José María hōsāˈ märēˈä ārāˈᵺēä [key], 1803–39, Cuban journalist and poet. He is considered the most lyrical of the poets writing during the period of the wars of independen...

Fornés, María Irene

(Encyclopedia)Fornés, María Irene, 1930–2018, Cuban-American playwright and director; she emigrated from Cuba with her family after her father's death in 1945. An early experimental work, Promenade (1965), a mu...

Justus of Ghent

(Encyclopedia)Justus of Ghent, fl. c.1460–c.1480, Flemish religious and portrait painter, now generally identified with Joos van Wassenhove; also known as Jodocus or Joos of Ghent. His simple, quiet style provide...