Douglas Hyde was born on 17 January 1860, near Castlerea in County Roscommon, into an Ireland whose languages, loyalties, and social memories were deeply divided. He died on 12 July 1949, having lived long enough to see the cultural cause that had occupied his youth become central to the public identity of an independent state. He was a poet, translator, folklorist, editor, scholar, teacher, cultural organizer, and,…
“My aim was to save the Irish language from death - it was dying then as fast as ever it could died - and that ambition did not lend itself to English writing except for propaganda purposes”
Neighbourhood:
Folk & Ballad Poets, Irish Poets, Social Justice Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sensuality, Irony
The Victorian era produced many remarkable figures who straddled the worlds of literature and public service, but few navigated this dual existence with quite the complexity of Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831-1891), better known to the literary world by his pen name Owen Meredith. Born into literary aristocracy and destined for diplomatic greatness, Lytton embodied the tensions and contradiction…
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Neighbourhood:
Decadent Poets, Symbolist Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Wonder, Spirituality, Longing
