Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Bryant, William Cullen

BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN, an American poet, born in Cummington, Mass., Nov. 3, 1794. After two years in Williams College, he turned his attention to law. But in early youth he produced “Thanatopsis,” and some of his best lyrics—“To a Waterfowl,” “The Yellow Violet,” etc. In 1829 he became editor-in-chief of the New York “Evening Post.” His books include “Letters of a Traveler” (1855); “Letters from Spain” (1859); “Letters from the East” (1869); and a “Popular History of the United States,” with S. H. Gay (4 vols., 1878- 1882). His “Poems” appeared in New York in 1832. This was followed by “The Fountain and Other Poems” (1842), and “The White-Footed Deer and Other Poems” (1844). His first complete edition was issued in Philadelphia in 1846. In his old age Bryant began a translation of the “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” in blank verse; and his last great poem was “The Flood of Years,” a noble pendant to “Thanatopsis.” He died in New York, June 12, 1878.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT