Wilmon Brewer (1895–1998) was an American literary scholar, poet, writer and philanthropist.

Early life

Brewer was born in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in metropolitan Greater Boston on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, t ...

, and lived there for most of his life on his family's estate, Great Hill. When he was a young man, the family of his future wife, Katharine Hay More, purchased the property from Brewer's parents. During this time period, he and More fell in love. In the summer of 1922 they married, and then lived there, so even though the estate changed hands he lived on it essentially all his life. Graduating from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1917, ''magna cum laude,'' he volunteered for service in World War I. He served as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

in the trench warfare in France and was awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. After the war, he returned to Harvard, taught English, and earned his master's degree and doctorate in English there. The Brewer family has been prominent for two centuries, including James Brewer (1742-1806), who was an early American patriot leader,

Thomas Mayo Brewer Thomas Mayo Brewer (November 21, 1814 – January 24, 1880) was an American naturalist, specializing in ornithology and oology. Biography Thomas Mayo Brewer was born in Boston, the younger brother of noted Boston merchant Gardner Brewer. He ...

, who was a companion of naturalist

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictori ...

, and Gen. Wilmon Blackmar, a Civil War medal of honor winner.

Poet and author

A good example of Brewer's skill as a classical scholar is his book ''

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

in European Culture.'' This study provides commentary on the Brookes More (Brewer's father-in-law) translation of Ovid's work, which is recognized as one of the masterpieces of the golden age of Latin literature (written in AD 8, by this famous

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

poet). Brewer's book traces the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and Roman origins of the epic poem, as well as the subsequent influence on later European writers, such as

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Brewer provides a comprehensive analysis of how the 15-book ''Metamorphoses'' influenced the entire history of Western culture. World's End, Hingham, MA - IMG 6230

Brewer was a prolific poet himself, publishing a number of books of poetry. He was also a biographer, writing a biography of Brookes More, and also of Maurice W. Parker, Sr. Parker was much admired by Brewer and his wife, and served as their voice coach (for poetry readings and lectures). Parker was highly regarded in the Boston area as a teacher of voice and music, and considered by Brewer to be the best dramatic coach in Boston and invaluable at bringing out the best in his students. He was also a landscape painter, violin maker, and a champion rifle shot and billiard player. Professor Kenneth Murdock, head of American literature at Harvard, ordered a number of copies of Brewer's book on Parker as an excellent example for his students on how to write a biography. World's End, Hingham, MA - IMG 6206

At the age of 90, Brewer published his autobiography, ''Looking Backwards.'' Brewer and his wife were adventurous world travelers throughout their lives and an extensive diary of their trips is included in the autobiography. Brewer's books include: * ''Shakespeare's Influence on Sir Walter Scott,'' 1925 * ''Dante's Eclogues,'' 1927 * ''Sonnets and Sestinas,'' 1937 * ''Life and Poems of Brookes More,'' 1940, 2nd edition 1980 * ''About Poetry and Other Matters,'' 1943 * ''Adventures in Verse,'' 1945, 2nd edition 2005 * ''Talks About Poetry,'' 1948 * ''New Adventures,'' 1950 * ''A Life of Maurice Parker,'' 1954 * ''Adventures Further,'' 1958 * ''Still More Adventures,'' 1966 * ''Ovid's Metamorphoses in European Culture,'' 1978 * ''Concerning the Art of Poetry,'' 1979 * ''Latest Adventures,'' 1981 * ''Looking Backwards,'' 1985

Philanthropy

Brewer and his wife were generous philanthropists. An early example of this is that at the age of 25, Brewer gave "The Old Ordinary," (a historic tavern and home, built in 1686), to the Hingham Historical Society in memory of his father. The Society has held seasonal tours of the building since 1922. They also donated 300 acres of their Great Hill estate to the town of Hingham, which is now More-Brewer Park. Their generosity made the purchase of World's End possible for use as a public park. World's End is a 251-acre wooded peninsula in Boston Harbor, which had been in the Brewer family since the 1880s. Wilmon Brewer was a dedicated supporter of the Hingham Public Library and served as a trustee from 1938 until 1985.Sherman, Marjorie W., "Society: Hingham to Revive Old New England Next Week," ''Daily Boston Globe,'' 7-14-1951.

References

External links

Hingham Website

Hingham Historical Society Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Wilmon People from Hingham, Massachusetts American literary historians 20th-century American poets Harvard University alumni 1895 births 1998 deaths American male poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American essayists American male non-fiction writers Historians from Massachusetts 20th-century American philanthropists American centenarians Men centenarians