Elinor Morton Wylie (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American

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 novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry."

Life

Family and childhood

Elinor Wylie was born Elinor Morton Hoyt in

Somerville, New Jersey Somerville is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in and the county seat of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Henry M. Hoyt, was a

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Her parents were Henry Martyn Hoyt, Jr., who would be

United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

from 1903 to 1909; and Anne Morton McMichael (born July 31, 1861, in Pa.). Their other children were: * Henry Martyn Hoyt III (1887–1920), an artist who married Alice Gordon Parker. * Constance Hoyt (1889–1923) who married Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg on March 30, 1910, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

* Morton McMichael Hoyt (1899-1949), three times married and divorced Eugenia Bankhead, known as "Sister" and sister of

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

* Nancy McMichael Hoyt (1902-1949), a

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

ist who wrote ''Elinor Wylie: The Portrait of an Unknown Woman'' (1935). She married Edward Davison Curtis; they divorced in 1932. In 1887, the Hoyt family moved to Rosemont, a suburb of Philadelphia. Because of her father's political aspirations, Elinor spent much of her youth in Washington, DC. She was educated at Miss Baldwin's School (1893–97), Mrs. Flint's School (1897–1901), and finally Holton-Arms School (1901–04).Selected Poetry of Elinor Wylie: Notes on Life and Works
," Representative Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, Apr. 7, 2011. In particular, from age 12 to 20, she lived in Washington again where she made her debut in the midst of the "city's most prominent social élite," being "trained for the life of a debutante and a society wife".

Marriages and scandal

The future Elinor Wylie became notorious, during her lifetime, for her multiple affairs and marriages. On the rebound from an earlier romance she met her first husband,

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

graduate Philip Simmons Hichborn (1882–1912), the son of a

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. She eloped with him and they were married on December 13, 1906, when she was 20. She had a son by him, Philip Simmons Hichborn, Jr., born September 22, 1907, in

However, "Hichborn, a would-be poet, was emotionally unstable", and Elinor found herself in an unhappy marriage. She also found herself being stalked by Horace Wylie, "a Washington lawyer with a wife and three children", who "was 17 years older than Elinor. He stalked her for years, appearing wherever she was."Elinor Wylie
AllPoetry.com, March 15, 2011. Following the death in November 1910 of Elinor's father, and unable to secure a divorce from Hichborn, she left her husband and son, and eloped with Wylie. "After being

ostracized Ostracism (, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often us ...

by their families and friends and mistreated in the press, the couple moved to England"Elinor Wylie 1885-1928
" eNotes.com, Web, Apr. 7, 2011 where they lived "under the assumed name of Waring; this event caused a

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

in the

, social circles Elinor Wylie had frequented". Philip Simmons Hichborn Sr. died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in 1912. With Horace Wylie's encouragement, in 1912 Elinor anonymously published ''Incidental Number'', a small book of poems she had written in the previous decade.Elinor Wylie 1885-1928
" Poetry Foundation, Web, Apr. 7, 2011. Between 1914 and 1916, Elinor tried to have a second child, but "suffered several

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

s ... as well as a

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetus, fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without vital signs, signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt (emotio ...

and ... a premature child who died after one week." After Horace Wylie's wife agreed to a divorce, the couple returned to the United States and lived in three different states "under the stress of social ostracism and Elinor's illness." Elinor and Horace Wylie officially married in 1916, after Elinor's first husband had died by suicide and Horace's first wife had divorced him. By then, however, the couple were drawing apart." Elinor began spending time in literary circles in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

—"her friends there numbered

John Peale Bishop John Peale Bishop (May 21, 1892 – April 4, 1944) was an American poet and man of letters. Biography Bishop was born in Charles Town, West Virginia, to a family from New England, and attended school in Hagerstown, Maryland and Mercersburg Acade ...

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer, literary critic, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary critics of the 20th century. Wilson began his career as a journalist, writing ...

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

Carl Van Vechten Carl Van Vechten (; June 17, 1880December 21, 1964) was an American writer and Fine-art photography, artistic photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary estate, literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame ...

, and ...

William Rose Benét William Rose Benét (February 2, 1886 – May 4, 1950) was an American poet, writer, and editor. He was the older brother of Stephen Vincent Benét. Early life and education He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Col. James Walker Benét ...

." Her last marriage (in 1923) was to

(February 2, 1886 – May 4, 1950), who was part of her literary circle and brother of

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét ( ; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'', published in 1928, for which he receive ...

. By the time Wylie's third book of poetry, ''Trivial Breath'' in 1928 appeared, her marriage with Benét was also in trouble, and they had agreed to live apart. She moved to England and fell in love with the husband of a friend, Henry de Clifford Woodhouse, to whom she wrote a series of 19 sonnets which she published privately in 1928 as ''Angels and Earthly Creatures'' (also included in her 1929 book of the same name).

Career

Elinor Wylie's literary friends encouraged her to submit her verse to ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'' magazine. ''Poetry'' published four of her poems, including what became "her most widely anthologized poem”, 'Velvet Shoes', in May 1920. With Benét now acting as her informal literary agent, "Wylie left her second husband and moved to New York in 1921". ''The

Dictionary of Literary Biography The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...

(DLB)'' says: "She captivated the literary world with her slender, tawny-haired beauty, personal elegance, acid wit, and technical virtuosity." In 1921, Wylie's first commercial book of poetry, ''Nets to Catch the Wind'', was published. The book, "which many critics still consider to contain her best poems," was an immediate success.

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...

and Louis Untermeyer praised the work. The Poetry Society awarded her its Julia Ellsworth Ford Prize. In 1923 she published ''Black Armor'', which was "another successful volume of verse". The ''New York Times'' enthused: "There is not a misplaced word or cadence in it. There is not an extra syllable." 1923 also saw the publication of Wylie's first novel, ''Jennifer Lorn'', to considerable fanfare. Van Vechten "organized a torchlight parade through

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

to celebrate its publication". According to Carl Van Doren, Wylie had "as sure and strong an intelligence" as he has ever known. Her novels were "flowers with roots reaching down into unguessed deeps of erudition." She worked as the poetry editor of '' Vanity Fair'' magazine between 1923 and 1925. She was an editor of ''Literary Guild'', and a contributing editor of ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', from 1926 through 1928. Wylie was an "admirer of the British

Romantic poets Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Neoclassical ideas of the 18th c ...

, and particularly of Shelley, to a degree that some critics have seen as abnormal". She wrote a 1926 novel, ''The Orphan Angel'', in which "the great young poet is rescued from drowning off an Italian cape and travels to America, where he encounters the dangers of the frontier." By the time of Wylie's third book of poetry, ''Trivial Breath'' in 1928, her marriage with Benét was also in trouble, and they had agreed to live apart. She moved to England and fell in love with the husband of a friend, Henry de Clifford Woodhouse, to whom she wrote a series of 19 sonnets which she published privately in 1928 as ''Angels and Earthly Creatures'' (also included in her 1929 book of the same name). Elinor Wylie's literary output is impressive, given that her writing career lasted just eight years. In that brief period, she crowded four volumes of poems, four novels, and enough magazine articles to "make up an additional volume."

Death

Wylie suffered from very high blood pressure all her adult life. As a result, she was prone to unbearable migraines and died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at Benét's New York apartment at the age of 43. At the time, they were both preparing for publication her ''Angels and Earthly Creatures''.

Writing

Poetry

Wylie's "highly polished, articulate, and deeply emotional verse shows the influence of the

metaphysical poets The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrica ...

,"
Wylie, Elinor (Hoyt)
" InfoPlease.com, Web, Apr. 7, 2011 such as

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

, and

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

. If her poetry is derivative of anyone, though, that would be "of the British Romantic poets, and particularly of Shelley," whom she admired "to a degree that some critics have seen as abnormal." In her first book, ''Nets to Catch the Wind'', "Stanzas and lines were quite short, and the effect of her images was of a highly detailed, polished surface. Often, her poems expressed a dissatisfaction with the realities of life on the part of a speaker who aspired to a more gratifying world of art and beauty." Louis Untermeyer wrote that the book "impresses immediately because of its brilliance ... which, at first, seems to sparkle without burning.... It is the brilliance of moon-light corruscating on a plain of ice. But if Mis. Wylie seldom allows her verses to grow agitated, she never permits them to remain dull.... in 'August' the sense of heat is conveyed by tropic luxuriance and contrast; in 'The Eagle and the Mole' she lifts didacticism to a proud level ... never has snow-silence been more unerringly communicated than in 'Velvet Shoes.'" Other notable poems include "Wild Peaches," "A Proud Lady," "Sanctuary," "Winter Sleep," "Madman's Song," "The Church-Bell," and "A Crowded Trolley Car." In ''Black Armor'' (1923), "the intellect has grown more fiery, the mood has grown warmer, and the craftsmanship is more dazzling than ever.... she varies the perfect modulation with rhymes that are delightfully acrid and unique departures which never fail of success ... from the nimble dexterity of a rondo like 'Peregrine' to the introspective poignance of 'Self Portrait,' from the fanciful 'Escape' to the grave mockery of 'Let No Charitable Hope.'"Louis Untermeyer
Elinor Wylie
'" ''Modern American Poetry,'' (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1930), 538-540. ''Trivial Breath'' (1928) "is the work of a poet in transition. At times the craftsman is uppermost; at times the creative genius." Wylie's biographer Stanley Olson called the sonnets that begin 1929's ''Angels and Earthly Creatures'' "perhaps, her finest achievement.... The love in these lyrics is not a private love, not a variety of confession, but an abstracted one.... The nineteen sonnets are paced with strength, energy and undeniable feeling, sustained as a group by shifting through the complexities and vicissitudes of love." Untermeyer also praised the sonnets, but added: "The other poems share this intensity. 'This Corruptible' is both visionary and philosophic; 'O Virtuous Light' deals with that piercing clarity, the intuition ... The other poems are scarcely less uplifted, finding their summit in 'Hymn to Earth, which is one of her deeper poems and one which is certain to endure."

Fiction

Wylie's four novels "are delicately wrought and filled with ironic fancy".

Cultural references

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

dedicated his 1903 novel '' The Jewel of Seven Stars'' to Wylie and her sister Constance, whom he had met when they were visiting London. The title of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

' play, '' In Masks Outrageous and Austere'', is taken from the last stanza of Wylie's poem "Let No Charitable Hope:" "''In masks outrageous and austere /'' ''The years go by in single file;'' ''/'' ''But none has merited my fear,'' ''/'' ''And none has quite escaped my smile."''

Publications

Poetry

* nonymous ''Incidental Numbers''. London: private, 1912. * ''Nets to Catch the Wind''. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1921. * ''Black Armour''. New York: Doran, 1923. * ''Trivial Breath''. New York, London: Knopf, 1928. * ''Angels and Earthly Creatures: A Sequence of Sonnets'' Henley on Thames, UK: Borough Press, 1928. (also known as ''One Person''). * ''Angels and Earthly Creatures''. New York, London: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929. (includes ''Angels and Earthly Creatures: A Sequence of Sonnets''). * ''Birthday Sonnet''. New York: Random House, 1929. * ''Collected Poems of Elinor Wylie''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1932. * ''Last Poems of Elinor Wylie'', transcribed by Jane D. Wise, foreword by William Rose Benet, tribute by Edith Olivier. New York: Knopf, 1943. Chicago: Academy, 1982. * ''Selected Works of Elinor Wylie''. Evelyn Helmick Hively ed. Kent State U Press, 2005.

Novels

* ''Jennifer Lorn: A Sedate Extravaganza''. New York: Doran, 1923. London: Richards, 1924. * ''The Venetian Glass Nephew''. New York: Doran, 1925. Chicago: Academy, 1984. * ''The Orphan Angel''. New York: Knopf, 1926. Also published as ''Mortal Image''. London: Heinemann, 1927. * ''Mr. Hodge & Mr. Hazard''. New York. Knopf, 1928. London: Heinemann, 1928. Chicago: Academy, 1984. * ''Collected Prose of Elinor Wylie''. New York: Knopf, 1933.

Personal papers

* Her personal papers reside in the Elinor Wylie Archive, Beinecke Rare Book Room and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT, and in the Berg Collection, New York Public Library.Elinor Wylie: Bibliography
" The Poetry Foundation, Web, Aug. 6, 2011.

References

* Olson, Stanley. ''Elinor Wylie: A Biography''. New York: Dial, 1979. * Hively, Evelyn Helmick. "Elinor Wylie," ''Twentieth Century Criticism. Vol 8''. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. * Hively, Evelyn Helmick. ''A Private Madness: The Genius of Elinor Wylie''. Kent State U P, 2003.

Notes

External links

Elinor Wylie at the Poetry Foundation
- Biography and 8 poems (A Crowded Trolley Car, Cold Blooded Creatures, Epitaph, Full Moon, Little Elegy, Speed the Parting, Valentine, Wild Peaches) * * *

at Poemtree.com

at Poets' Corner *
A Guide to the Papers of Elinor Wylie, 1921-1928
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia {{DEFAULTSORT:Wylie, Elinor 1885 births 1928 deaths Writers from Somerville, New Jersey 20th-century American poets 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American women poets Sonneteers Novelists from New Jersey 20th-century American women writers Poets from New Jersey