William Cullen Bryant, American poet and editor, was born November 3, 1794, in Cummington, Massachusetts. His father was a physician who played the violin and wrote verse. It was he who had Cullen's poem "The Embargo" published when Cullen was 13, and he who gave "Thanatopsis," written when Cullen was 17, to the North American Review.
Cullen attended school in Cummington and was tutored in Latin by his uncle, Reverend Thomas Snell, and in Greek by Reverend Moses Hallock. He entered Williams College as a sophomore in 1810. He planned to go to Yale the next year, but lack of funds forced him to give up college. In 1811 he was apprenticed to a lawyer. He passed his bar exams before he was 20 and began practicing in 1815. After moving to Great Barrington in 1816, he became very successful. He married Frances Fairchild in 1821.
He continued to write poetry and literary criticism. He was invited in 1821 by the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College to compose a poem for commencement. This led to publication of a collection of his poems. He contributed regularly to the United States Literary Gazette in 1824, and in 1825 accepted a position in New York City as co-editor of the New York Review and Athenaeum Magazine. A little over a year later he stepped in as sub-editor of the New York Evening Post when the editor was injured. In 1829 he became editor.
In 1832 a visit to his brothers in Illinois inspired "The Prairies." In 1834 he went with his wife and two daughters to Europe. There Bryant became a friend of the poet Henry W. Longfellow. In the spring of 1836 he was called home suddenly to take the personal charge of the Post.
His editorials in the Post set a high standard for journalistic writing. He campaigned for a public park in New York City (land for Central Park was set aside in 1853, and later, in 1884, Bryant Park was named after him). During the Civil War he took a strong stand against slavery. Following his wife's death in July, 1865, he worked on a popular translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey, published in 1870 and 1872. He died June 12, 1878, from injuries received in a fall.
Cullen attended school in Cummington and was tutored in Latin by his uncle, Reverend Thomas Snell, and in Greek by Reverend Moses Hallock. He entered Williams College as a sophomore in 1810. He planned to go to Yale the next year, but lack of funds forced him to give up college. In 1811 he was apprenticed to a lawyer. He passed his bar exams before he was 20 and began practicing in 1815. After moving to Great Barrington in 1816, he became very successful. He married Frances Fairchild in 1821.
He continued to write poetry and literary criticism. He was invited in 1821 by the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College to compose a poem for commencement. This led to publication of a collection of his poems. He contributed regularly to the United States Literary Gazette in 1824, and in 1825 accepted a position in New York City as co-editor of the New York Review and Athenaeum Magazine. A little over a year later he stepped in as sub-editor of the New York Evening Post when the editor was injured. In 1829 he became editor.
In 1832 a visit to his brothers in Illinois inspired "The Prairies." In 1834 he went with his wife and two daughters to Europe. There Bryant became a friend of the poet Henry W. Longfellow. In the spring of 1836 he was called home suddenly to take the personal charge of the Post.
His editorials in the Post set a high standard for journalistic writing. He campaigned for a public park in New York City (land for Central Park was set aside in 1853, and later, in 1884, Bryant Park was named after him). During the Civil War he took a strong stand against slavery. Following his wife's death in July, 1865, he worked on a popular translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey, published in 1870 and 1872. He died June 12, 1878, from injuries received in a fall.
