Edward Rowland Sill (April 29, 1841February 27, 1887) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and educator.

Biography

Born in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

, he graduated from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

in 1861, where he was Class Poet and a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

. He engaged in business in California, and entered the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

in 1867 but soon left for a position on the staff of the ''

New York Evening Mail The ''New York Evening Mail'' (1867–1924) was an American daily newspaper published in New York City. For a time the paper was the only evening newspaper to have a franchise in the Associated Press. History Names The paper was founded as the ' ...

''. After teaching at

Wadsworth Wadsworth may refer to: People * Wadsworth (given name) * Wadsworth (surname) Places * Wadsworth, Illinois, United States, a village * Wadsworth, Kansas, United States * Wadsworth, Nevada, United States, a census-designated place * Wadswort ...

and

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 51,114 at the 2020 census. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb in the Akron metropolitan ar ...

(1868–1871), he became principal of Oakland High School in Oakland, California. From 1874 to 1882, Sill was professor of English literature at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. His health failing, he returned to Cuyahoga Falls in 1883. He devoted himself to literary work, abundant and largely anonymous, until his death in 1887 in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. In 1904 Mount Sill, a peak in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountain range in California and the state's sixth-highest mountain, was named for him by noted mountaineer

Joseph LeConte Joseph Le Conte (alternative spelling: Joseph LeConte) (February 26, 1823 – July 6, 1901) was a physician, geologist, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, early California conservationist, and eugenicist. Early life Of Huguen ...

Works

Much of his poetry was contributed to ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'', the ''Century Magazine'', and the ''

Overland Monthly The ''Overland Monthly'' was a monthly literary magazine, literary and cultural magazine, based in California, United States. It was founded in 1868 and published between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th centu ...

''. Many of his prose essays appeared in ''The Contributors Club'', and others appeared in the main body of the ''Atlantic''. Among his works are: * A translation of Rau's ''Mozart'' (1868). * ''The Hermitage and Other Poems'' (1868).
''Opportunity''
(1880)
''The Venus of Milo and Other Poems''
(1883), a farewell tribute to his California friends. * ''Poems'' (1887). * ''The Hermitage and Later Poems'' (1889)
1892 reprint

''Hermione and Other Poems''
(1899).
"The prose of Edward Rowland Sill"
(1900).
''The Poems of Edward Rowland Sill''
(1902). A memorial volume was privately printed by his friends in 1887. A biographical sketch in ''The Poetical Works of Edward Rowland Sill'', edited by

William Belmont Parker William Belmont Parker (born Hasbury, England, 19 September 1871; died 1934) was a United States editor. Biography He came to the United States in early youth, graduated from Harvard in 1897, and in 1898-1902 was assistant editor of the ''Atlantic ...

with Mrs Sill's assistance was printed in 1906, and his poem "The Fool's Prayer" (1879) was selected for inclusion in the ''Yale Book of American Verse'' in 1912. Sill was the subject of biographies by William Belmont Parker in 1915 and by Alfred Riggs Ferguson in 1955. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, "He was a modest and charming man, a graceful essayist, a sure critic. His contribution to American poetry is small but of fine quality. His best poems, such as ''The Venus of Milo'', ''The Fool's Prayer'' and ''Opportunity'', gave him a high place among the minor poets of America, which might have been higher but for his early death."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sill, Edward Rowland 1841 births 1887 deaths Songwriters from Ohio Writers from Cleveland People from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Yale University alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni 19th-century American poets American male poets 19th-century American musicians 19th-century American male writers Members of Skull and Bones