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Koch, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Koch, Kenneth (Kenneth Jay Koch) kōk [key], 1925–2002, American poet, novelist, and playwright, b. Cincinnati. After studying at Harvard and Columbia he was associated with the Artist's Theatre, Lo...

Cavafy, Constantine

(Encyclopedia)Cavafy, Constantine kônˌstäntēˈnôs pāˈtro͞o käväˈfēs [key], 1863–1933, Greek poet. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he spent most of his life there, but lived for about five years in England....

bard

(Encyclopedia)bard, in Wales, term originally used to refer to the order of minstrel-poets who composed and recited the poems that celebrated the feats of Celtic chieftains and warriors. The term bard in present-da...

Sappho

(Encyclopedia)Sappho săfˈō [key], fl. early 6th cent. b.c., greatest of the early Greek lyric poets (Plato calls her “the tenth Muse”), b. Mytilene on Lesbos. Facts about her life are scant. She was an arist...

Ryle, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Ryle, Gilbert, 1900–1976, British philosopher. A graduate of Oxford, he became a tutor at Christ Church, Oxford, and later was Waynflete professor of metaphysical philosophy (1945–68) there. From ...

Bogan, Louise

(Encyclopedia)Bogan, Louise bōˈgən [key], 1897–1970, American poet and critic, b. Livermore, Maine. She spent much of her life in New York City and was for many years poetry editor for the New Yorker. Her vers...

Cory, William Johnson

(Encyclopedia)Cory, William Johnson, 1823–92, English poet and classicist. He was assistant master at Eton from 1845 to 1872. His verse, of which Ionica (1858) is the best known, consists primarily of imitations ...

Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of, 1561–1621; sister of Sir Philip Sidney. His Arcadia was written for her, and after his death she prepared it and his other works for publication. Patron of a num...

Callinus

(Encyclopedia)Callinus kəlīˈnəs [key], fl. 7th cent. b.c., Greek poet. He is the earliest of the known elegiac poets. An excerpt from a patriotic exhortation to his fellow Ephesians is the longest of the few fr...

Hungarian literature

(Encyclopedia)Hungarian literature. Until the 19th cent. Latin was Hungary's literary language. The Funeral Oration (c.1230) is the oldest surviving work in Magyar; some 14th and 15th cent. chronicles also exist. T...