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Donne, John

(Encyclopedia)Donne, John dŭn, dŏn [key], 1572–1631, English poet and divine. He is considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets. All of Donne's verse—his love sonnets and his religious and philosophic...

Hermetic books

(Encyclopedia)Hermetic books, ancient metaphysical works dealing essentially with the idea of the complete community of all beings and objects. Authorship of the books was attributed to the Egyptian god of wisdom, ...

occasionalism

(Encyclopedia)occasionalism, metaphysical doctrine that denies that finite things have any active power and asserts that God is the only cause, whereas physical events and mental states are only occasions for God's...

Casorati, Felice

(Encyclopedia)Casorati, Felice fālēˈchā käsōräˈtē [key], 1886–1963, Italian painter. Influenced by Beardsley and other English engravers, Casorati, together with Carrà, was involved in the symbolist mov...

Taggard, Genevieve

(Encyclopedia)Taggard, Genevieve, 1894–1948, American poet, b. Waitsburg, Wash. Her early years were spent in Hawaii. She returned to the United States in 1914, graduated from the Univ. of California in 1919, and...

elegy

(Encyclopedia)elegy, in Greek and Roman poetry, a poem written in elegiac verse (i.e., couplets consisting of a hexameter line followed by a pentameter line). The form dates back to 7th cent. b.c. in Greece and poe...

Frankel, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Frankel, Charles, 1917–79, American philosopher, b. New York City, grad. Columbia 1937, Ph.D., 1946. A teacher at Columbia since 1939, he became Old Dominion professor of philosophy and public affai...

Euphorion

(Encyclopedia)Euphorion yo͞ofôrˈēən [key], c.275–187? b.c., Greek poet, b. Chalcis. He was made (c.223 b.c.) librarian at Antioch by Antiochus the Great and held the position until his death. Highly regarded...

canzone, in literature

(Encyclopedia)canzone –nä [key], in literature, Italian term meaning lyric or song. It is used to designate such various literary forms as Provençal troubadour poems and the lyrics of Dante, Petrarch, and other...

O'Hara, Frank

(Encyclopedia)O'Hara, Frank 1926–66, American poet, b. Baltimore, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1950), Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (M.A., 1951). His poetry is spontaneous, vernacular, witty, personal, and very much of it...