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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... seemed cathartic . Halleck returned a serious poet . Interna- tional topics wooed a larger audience . " Alnwick Castle , " " Burns , " and " Marco Bozzaris " were written on the heels of this literal and psychologi- cal journey . These ...
... seemed for a time to be caught between his puritanical past and a promising cos- mopolitan future . Reviewers also noticed that Halleck's twist on American romance was not attained without considerable internal conflict leading to " the ...
... seemed homesick for Halleck . On May 1 , 1818 , the second day after his arrival , Drake wrote “ To Fitz- Greene Halleck in Dumphries , " mimicking Scottish dialects . " To Fitz- Greene Halleck from Irvine " was composed on May 10 at 10 ...