Egbert Martin ( 1861June 23, 1890), writing under the alias Leo, was a 19th-century Guyanese poet. His poetry deal mostly with spiritual topics, while also focusing on the themes of African-Guianese history. Recurring themes of his works include change, disintegration, and death, which have been frequently associated with his frail health condition. Martin was highly regarded by contemporary critics and is considered as Guyana's first major poet, despite his death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at the age of 29. He is regarded as the founder of modern

Guyanese literature Guyanese literature covers works including novels, poetry, plays and others written by people born or strongly-affiliated with Guyana. Formerly British Guiana, British language and style has an enduring impact on the writings from Guyana, which a ...

Life

Martin was born in Georgetown, British Guiana, to a journeyman tailor. Guyanese poet and essayist A. J. Seymour described him as "a fair

Mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

" (implying a mixture of

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

Afro-Guyanese Afro-Guyanese, also known as Black Guyanese, are generally descended from the enslaved African people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide arr ...

ancestry) who from his early youth was "confined to an invalid's bed, as a result of illness." He had a cousin named Edwin Heyliger, suggesting German ancestry. When he was 19, Martin's poetry was published in Guianese journal ''The Colonist'', and he contributed to other publications such as ''The Argosy'' and ''Echo'' between 1881 and 1890. In 1887, he won a kingdom-wide competition at an event organised by the ''

London Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'' to commemorate

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

, for appending two verses to the British national anthem. Despite being bed-ridden, he was sponsored by the editor of ''The Argosy'' newspaper, James Thompson, and the mayor of Georgetown, George Anderson Forshaw. Martin was the first poet to write about the landscape of Guyana. He died aged 29 from

Reception and legacy

During his time, Martin was lauded by contemporary critics. ''The Daily Chronicle'' hailed him as "the ablest of poetical writers of whom British Guiana can boast". Similarly, ''The Berbice Gazette'' considered Martin a poet "whose works plainly bespeak talent and ability of a high order", while the ''Guiana Herald'' pointed out "the name and merits of Leo are so well known that comments are scarcely requisite". However, Martin's works have also been viewed as a "weak imitation of

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...

, mixed with

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

, with a flavouring of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

". Arthur Schomburg called Martin "one of the greatest Negro poets in history". ''Scriptology'', his collection of short stories, was missing for 100 years until a copy was located at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. Martin is regarded as the founder of modern Guyanese literature.

Works

* ''Leo's Poetical Works'' (1883) (OCLC 59536839) * ''Leo's Local Lyrics'' (1886) (OCLC 990705298) * ''Scriptology'' (1885), short stories ()
''Selected Poems of Egbert Martin''
(2010), The Caribbean Press, The Guyana Classics Library – Government of Guyana ()

References

External links

''The Swallow'', ''Themes of Song'' and ''Twilight''
at the Golden

Kyk-Over-Al Fort Kyk-Over-Al was a Dutch fort in the colony of Essequibo, in what is now Guyana. It was constructed in 1616 at the intersection of the Essequibo, Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers. It once served as the centre for the Dutch administration of the co ...

(1986) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Egbert 1860s births 1890 deaths Guyanese poets 19th-century poets British Guiana people Writers from Georgetown, Guyana 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in the United Kingdom