Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier (February 3, 1842 – September 7, 1881) was an American musician and poet.

Later life

Putting these theories into practice, he developed a unique style of poetry written in logaoedic dactyls, which was strongly influenced by the works of his beloved Anglo-Saxon poets. He wrote several of his greatest poem in this meter, including "The Revenge of Hamish" (1878), "The Marshes of Glynn" and "Sunrise." In Lanier's hands, the logaoedic dactylic meter led to a free-form, almost prose-like style of poetry that was greatly admired by Longfellow, Bayard Taylor, Charlotte Cushman and other leading poets and critics of the day. A similar poetical meter was independently developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins at about the same time (there is no evidence that they knew each other or that either of them had read any of the other's works).

Related Topics:
Logaoedic dactyl - 1878 - Longfellow - Bayard Taylor - Charlotte Cushman - Gerard Manley Hopkins

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Lanier also published essays on other literary and musical topics and a notable series of four redactions of literary works about knightly combat and chivalry in modernized language more appealing to the boys of his day.

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• The Boy's Froissart (1878), a retelling of Jean Froissart's Froissart's Chronicles, which tell of adventure, battle and custom in medieval England, France and Spain
• The Boy's King Arthur (1880), based on Sir Thomas Malory's compilation of the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
• The Boy's Mabinogion (1881), based on the early Welsh legends of King Arthur, as retold in the Red Book of Hergest.
• The Boy's Percy (published posthumously in 1882), consisting of old ballads of war, adventure and love based on Bishop Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

He also wrote two travelogues that were widely read at the time, entitled Florida: Its Scenery, Climate and History 1875 and Sketches of India 1876 (although he never visited India).

Related Topics:
Florida - 1875 - India - 1876

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Lanier finally succumbed to complications caused by his tuberculosis on September 7, 1881, while convalescing with his family near Tryon, North Carolina. He was only 39. He is buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Related Topics:
Tuberculosis - September 7 - 1881 - Tryon, North Carolina - Greenmount Cemetery - Baltimore, Maryland

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Lanier's poem "The Marshes of Glynn" is the inspiration for a cantata by the same name that was created by the modern English composer Andrew Downes to celebrate the Royal Opening of the Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham, England in 1986.

Related Topics:
Cantata - Andrew Downes - Adrian Boult Hall - Birmingham, England - 1986

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Lake Lanier, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers northeast of Atlanta, is named in his honor as is Lanier County, Georgia.

Related Topics:
Lake Lanier - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Atlanta - Lanier County, Georgia

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