Peabody, Josephine Preston

Peabody, Josephine Preston

▪ American writer
born May 30, 1874, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.
died Dec. 4, 1922, Cambridge, Mass.

      American writer of verse dramas and of poetry that ranged from precise, ethereal verse to works of social concern.

      Peabody grew up in Brooklyn until 1884, when the death of her father and the consequent poverty of her family forced them to move to the home of her maternal grandmother in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Peabody had absorbed her parents' love of literature and the theatre, and she read and wrote constantly. Her first published work was a poem that appeared in The Woman's Journal in 1888, when she was 14 years old. Her formal schooling nearly ended with three years at the Girls' Latin School in Boston (1889–92), but, after poems of hers had been accepted by the Atlantic Monthly and Scribner's Magazine in 1894, Peabody was enabled by a patron to attend Radcliffe College in Cambridge as a special student (1894–96). Her first volume of verse, The Wayfarers (1898), was followed by Fortune and Men's Eyes (1900), a one-act play built on Shakespeare's sonnets, and Marlowe (1901), a verse play on Christopher Marlowe (Marlowe, Christopher). From 1901 to 1903 she lectured on poetry and literature at Wellesley (Massachusetts) College.

      After a European tour in 1902 Peabody produced The Singing Leaves (1903), a collection of poems. Her early verse shows the influences of Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and the Pre-Raphaelites, especially Christina Rossetti (Rossetti, Christina); it is marked by delicacy, clarity, and a certain otherworldliness. In 1906 Peabody married Lionel S. Marks, a Harvard engineering professor. In 1908 she published The Book of the Little Past, a collection of poems for children, and in 1909 The Piper, a verse drama on the Pied Piper legend, which won the Stratford Prize Competition and was produced at theatres in London and New York City. The Singing Man, a collection of poems exhibiting Peabody's growing concern with social injustice, appeared in 1911. Her other works include The Wings (1907), a verse drama; The Wolf of Gubbio (1913), a drama about St. Francis of Assisi (Francis of Assisi, Saint); Harvest Moon (1916), poems; The Chameleon (1917), a comedy; and Portrait of Mrs. W. (1922), a play about Mary Wollstonecraft (Wollstonecraft, Mary).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Peabody, Josephine Preston — (1874 1922)    Born in New York, the lifelong poet attended Radcliffe and, after studying with William Vaughn Moody, turned to playwriting. Her major success, The Piper (1911), was, like all of her dramatic works, written in blank verse with… …   The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater

  • Josephine Preston Peabody — (1874? December 4, 1922) was an American poet and dramatist. She was born in New York and educated at the Girls Latin School, Boston, and at Radcliffe College. From 1901 to 1903 she was instructor in English at Wellesley. In 1906 she married Prof …   Wikipedia

  • Josephine (name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Josephine imagesize= caption= pronunciation= gender = Female meaning = region = origin = related names = Joseph footnotes = Josephine is a female given name. It is the English version of the French name Joséphine …   Wikipedia

  • The Piper —    Josephine Preston Peabody s verse dramatization of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin opened at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford upon Avon, England, on 26 July 1910, having won the Stratford prize for the best play (among 315… …   The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater

  • List of poets from the United States — The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country.A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z NOTOC A*Henry Abbey (1842 ndash;1911) *Sam Abrams (born… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Radcliffe College people — The following is a list of individuals associated with Radcliffe College through attending as a student, or serving as college president.List of presidents* Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, 1894 1900 (honorary president 1900 1903) * LeBaron Russell… …   Wikipedia

  • Children's literature — For the academic journal, see Children s Literature (journal). Children s book redirects here. For the A. S. Byatt novel, see The Children s Book. Children s story redirects here. For the song, see Children s Story. Four children reading Dr.… …   Wikipedia

  • Cupid and Psyche — Cupid and Psyche, by Antonio Canova, c. 1808, in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg. Cupid and Psyche (/ˈsaɪkiː/; also known as The Tale of Amour and Psyche and The Tale of Eros and Psyche), is a legend that first appeared as a …   Wikipedia

  • Century Theatre — This article is about the former theatre in New York City. For the theatre in Detroit, see Century Theatre (Detroit). Century Theatre The New Theatre on Central Park West, New York City, 1909. Alternative names …   Wikipedia

  • Elizabeth Shippen Green — The Journey : Illustration zu Gedichten der Autorin Josephine Preston Peabody, veröffentlicht in Harper’s Magazine, Dezember 1903. Elizabeth Shippen Green (* 1871; † 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) war eine US amerikanische Illustratorin.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”