James Oppenheim, born on 24 May 1882 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and dead on 4 August 1932 in New York City, belonged to that fervent generation of American writers who wanted literature to enter the streets. He was a poet, novelist, editor, social observer, and eventually an interpreter of the psyche. His name is most often remembered through “Bread and Roses,” the ringing labor poem that gave memorable language to the…
“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.”
Neighbourhood:
American Poets, Modernist Poets, Political Poets, Social Justice Poets, Transcendentalists
Emotional landscape: Anger, Longing, Sorrow
The Woodberrys—or Woodburys, as various spellings of the name exist—were an old New England family who had immigrated early in the colonial period and established deep roots along Massachusetts's North Shore. Since settlement took hold in Beverly and neighboring seaport towns, the family had been native to this maritime region, and many of Woodberry's forebears were sea captains and sailors. This ancestral connection…
“The poet is the interpreter of the world to men, and the interpreter of men to themselves.”
Neighbourhood:
American Poets, Edwardian Poets, Nature Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Despair, Sorrow, Longing
