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| | James Russell Lowell was born to the Reverend Charles Lowell and Harriet Spence on February 22, 1819, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/james-russell-lowell</ref> He was a troublemaker in his childhood, but graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, though he would not return until 1854, when he became a professor of language there.<ref>https://www.poemhunter.com/james-russell-lowell/biography/</ref> He was the Class Poet of his senior class, but was suspended before he read his poem about the class, and so the poem was instead published so that it would fail like the unamusing satire it was.<ref>https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/james-russell-lowell</ref> | | James Russell Lowell was born to the Reverend Charles Lowell and Harriet Spence on February 22, 1819, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/james-russell-lowell</ref> He was a troublemaker in his childhood, but graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, though he would not return until 1854, when he became a professor of language there.<ref>https://www.poemhunter.com/james-russell-lowell/biography/</ref> He was the Class Poet of his senior class, but was suspended before he read his poem about the class, and so the poem was instead published so that it would fail like the unamusing satire it was.<ref>https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/james-russell-lowell</ref> |
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| − | In 1841, he published ''A Year's Life'', his first volume of poetry, and chose to dedicate his life to the arts, marrying poet and liberal Maria White in 1844 and writing a second volume, ''Poems''.<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/james-russell-lowell</ref> She would encourage his to write abolitionist poetry, which helped his influence, and his ''A Fable for Critics'', ''The Vision of Sir Launfal'', and ''The Bigelow Papers'' would enhance his reputation as a critic, ''The Bigelow Papers'' being the best American dialect work until Harriet Beecher Stowe or Mark Twain.<ref>https://allpoetry.com/James-Russell-Lowell</ref> Those 1848 works had some effects: ''A Fable for Critics'' made an effort to insult nearly every living poet, and ''The Bigelow Papers'' introduced a the world of Ezekiel and Hosea Bigelow, a satiric world making antislavery seem patriotic.<ref>http://www.historycentral.com/Bio/ant/lowell.html</ref> | + | In 1841, he published ''A Year's Life'', his first volume of poetry, and chose to dedicate his life to the arts, marrying the abolitionist poet Maria White in 1844 and writing a second volume, ''Poems''.<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/james-russell-lowell</ref> She would encourage his to write abolitionist poetry, which helped his influence, and his ''A Fable for Critics'', ''The Vision of Sir Launfal'', and ''The Bigelow Papers'' would enhance his reputation as a critic, ''The Bigelow Papers'' being the best American dialect work until Harriet Beecher Stowe or Mark Twain.<ref>https://allpoetry.com/James-Russell-Lowell</ref> Those 1848 works had some effects: ''A Fable for Critics'' was a satire of modern poetry and poets, and the first volume''The Bigelow Papers'' was a satiric piece criticising slavery and the Mexican War.<ref>http://www.historycentral.com/Bio/ant/lowell.html</ref> |
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| | After the death of his three sons and wife, however, he ceased to write satire and turned to prose essays on politics and literature, particularly criticizing dead poets and warring science and religion, as is the custom of an aging liberal.<ref>"Lowell, James Russell." ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.</ref> He married once again to a Frances Dunlap, edited newspapers, worked as minister to Spain and later to England, and withdrew himself upon the death of his second wife, dying August 12, 1891. | | After the death of his three sons and wife, however, he ceased to write satire and turned to prose essays on politics and literature, particularly criticizing dead poets and warring science and religion, as is the custom of an aging liberal.<ref>"Lowell, James Russell." ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.</ref> He married once again to a Frances Dunlap, edited newspapers, worked as minister to Spain and later to England, and withdrew himself upon the death of his second wife, dying August 12, 1891. |