Arguably one of the first real modern poets of the twentieth century, T.S. Eliot’s poetry came to define the both the restlessness of the Jazz Age and the disillusionment of the “lost generation” that followed the First World War.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in Missouri in 1888. He lived in St. Louis until he left [...]

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry made him the first African-American poet to reach national prominence while also assuring him a place in American literature.
Born in 1872 to former slaves, Paul Laurence Dunbar overcame a childhood marked by poverty and discrimination. Dunbar’s mother, Matilda, had no formal education but instilled an appreciation for education and literature, [...]

Perhaps better known by her pseudonym “H.D.,” the poet Hilda Doolittle’s spare, emotionally-disconnected poetry helped to usher in the modern aesthetic in poetry, despite the fact that her work was little read or appreciated in its day. However, she became a feminist icon when rediscovered by scholars during the 1970s women’s movement.
Hilda Doolittle was [...]

John Donne’s poetry has transcended both time and language, speaking to readers across ages and continents, as fresh and meaningful today as it was when written.
John Donne’s life was as interesting and controversial as his poetry. Born in London in 1572 to a well-to-do Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was unpopular in [...]

Almost unknown as a poet in her own lifetime in the Victorian era, Emily Dickinson came to be known as one of the foremost of American poets after her work was rediscovered in the 20th century. Modern readers were able to appreciate what 19th century readers were not; Dickinson’s short, often untitled poems, with [...]