The American Byron: Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene HalleckHailed in the mid-nineteenth century as the most important American poet of the period, Fitz-Greene Halleck was a close friend of William C. Bryant, an associate of Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, and a celebrity sought out by John Jacob Astor and American presidents. Halleck, an attractive man of wit and charm, was dubbed "the American Byron" because he both employed similar poetic strategies and challenged the most sacred institutions of his day. A large general readership enjoyed his verse, though it was infused with homosexual themes. Indeed, Halleck's love for another man would be fictionalized in Bayard Taylor's novel Joseph and His Friend a century before the Stonewall riots. |
From inside the book
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... physically and emotionally drawn to Drake , but the powerful attraction was not completely mutual . The two men did collaborate , however , on a series of comic social commentaries . An over- night sensation , their Croaker poems ...
... addition to corresponding to his physical disability , sound- less symbols were perfectly suited to the suppressed existence of American homosexuals driven underground . The resulting nuance of poetry which 9 Introduction.
... physical desire for male companionship had to be balanced with a prudent respect for the social limits of homoerotic expression . Perhaps less self - aware ( or more careful ) than his contemporaries , he still faced serious opposition ...
... physical sex acts of an earlier subject . Given the general divisiveness , the very use of the word " homosexual " in this cultural biography may be convenient but illegitimate . How , then , can one answer the critical question : Was ...
... physical preference for anal intercourse in that classical culture , which depicted anal rather than oral pederasty , was more influential in earlier American literature . Fellatio , like mutual masturbation , implies consent ...
Contents
Shepherds of Sodomy | 17 |
Love and War | 42 |
The Widow Halleck | 67 |
Conquer and Divide | 92 |
A Return to Ganymede | 121 |
Halleck and His Friend | 151 |
Notes | 177 |
196 | |
217 | |