Joseph Trumbull Stickney (June 20, 1874 – October 11, 1904) was an American

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and spent much of his early life in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. His father was Austin Stickney, A.B. Harvard 1852, professor of Latin at Trinity College, Hartford, and his mother was Harriet Champion Trumbull Stickney, of a Connecticut family descended from Gov.

Jonathan Trumbull Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (October 12, 1710August 17, 1785) was an American politician and statesman who served as Governor of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Trumbull and Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island were the only men to serve as go ...

. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1891, when he became editor of the ''Harvard Monthly'' and a member of Signet Society, to 1895, when he graduated magna cum laude. He then studied for seven years in Paris, taking a doctorate at the Sorbonne. He wrote there two dissertations, a Latin one on the Venetian humanist

Ermolao Barbaro Ermolao Barbaro, in Latin Hermolaus Barbarus (21 May 145414 June 1493), was a Venetian Renaissance humanist, diplomat and churchman. From 1491, he was the patriarch of Aquileia. He is often called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his cous ...

, and the other on ''Les Sentences dans la Poésie Grecque d'Homère à Euripide''. The latter is openly indebted to ''

The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' () is an 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or: Hellenism and Pessimism'' (). The later edition contai ...

'' and to Stickney's study of the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

'' under the tutelage of

Sylvain Lévi Sylvain Lévi (; March 28, 1863 – October 30, 1935) was an influential French intellectual and author whose specialities were oriental studies and India. He taught Sanskrit and Indian religions at the École pratique des hautes études in ...

. Stickney's was the first American

docteur ès lettres Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

. He then published a first book of verse ''Dramatic Verses'' (1902) and took a position as Instructor in Classics at Harvard (1903), but died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

of a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

a year later. Stickney belongs to the number of Harvard poets (or the Harvard Pessimists) who died young, such as Thomas Parker Sanborn,

George Cabot Lodge George Cabot "Bay" Lodge (October 10, 1873 – August 21, 1909) was an American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Lodge was born in Boston on October 10, 1873, and grew up at his parents' home in Nahant, Massachusetts ...

, Philip Henry Savage and

Hugh McCulloch Hugh McCulloch (December 7, 1808 – May 24, 1895) was an American financier who played a central role in financing the American Civil War. He served two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Treasury Secretary under three presidents. He was originally ...

. Stickney's poem "Song" (which describes the earth ebullient in late spring, and the cuckoo singing "not yet") is plagiarized in the

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

2006 film '' The Good Shepherd'' by a

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 ...

professor of English, acted by

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...

as Dr. Fredericks, in a failed attempt to seduce the protagonist, portrayed by

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

. Two of the poems of Stickney – "Mnemosyne", and "Eride, V" are included in the volume of ''The Best Poems of the English Language'' compiled by Professor

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...

and published in 2004, 100 years after the death of the poet.

Works

*'' Dramatic Verses'' (1902) *
Les Sentences dans la Poésie Grècque d'Homère à Euripide
' (1903) *'' The Poems of Trumbull Stickney'' (1905) edited by

; William Vaughn Moody, and John Ellerton Lodge *''Trumbull Stickney'' (1973) edited by Amberys R. Whittle *Poem "Mnemosyne"

References

*''Homage to Trumbull Stickney: Poems'' (1968) edited by James Reeves and Seán Haldane *''The fright of time: Joseph Trumbull Stickney 1874–1904'' (1970) by Seán Haldane *''The Country I Remember'' (1940) by

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 ...

in The New Republic

External links

* *
"Trumbull Stickney,"
poem by

Jared Carter Jared Carter may refer to: * Jared Carter (Latter Day Saints) (1801–1849), an early missionary in the Latter Day Saint movement *Jared Carter (poet) Jared Carter (born January 10, 1939) is an American poet and editor. Life Carter was born in a ...

Poems by Trumbull Stickney
at English Poetry {{DEFAULTSORT:Stickney, Trumbull American classical scholars 20th-century American poets 1874 births 1904 deaths Harvard University alumni University of Paris alumni Sonneteers 19th-century American poets American male poets 19th-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers Writers from Geneva American expatriates in Switzerland American expatriates in France