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Müller, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlmˌ mŭlˈər [key], 1794–1827, German lyric poet; father of Max Müller. His Lieder der Griechen (5 vol., 1821–24) was inspired by the Greek struggle for independence. ...

Melba, Dame Nellie

(Encyclopedia)Melba, Dame Nellie, 1861–1931, Australian soprano, whose name originally was Helen Porter Mitchell. After study with Mathilde Marchesi in Paris, she made her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887. Famo...

Maerlant, Jacob van

(Encyclopedia)Maerlant, Jacob van yäˈkōp vän märˈlänt [key], c.1235–c.1300, Flemish poet, earliest important figure of Dutch literature. He wrote lyric poems and chivalric verse romances after the French a...

Lenz, Jakob Michael Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Lenz, Jakob Michael Reinhold yäˈkôp mĭkhˈäĕl rīnˈhôlt lĕnts [key], 1751–92, German writer. He was a friend of Goethe, whom he first imitated, then lampooned. A gifted poet, he wrote lyric...

Jochumsson, Matthías

(Encyclopedia)Jochumsson, Matthías mätˈtēäs yŏkˈküms-sŏn [key], 1835–1920, Icelandic playwright, poet, and translator. Although Jochumsson was the founder of the modern drama in Iceland, with poetic play...

Vrchlický, Jaroslav

(Encyclopedia)Vrchlický, Jaroslav yäˈrôsläf vŭrkhˈlĭtskē [key], pseud. of Emil Bohuslav Frída, 1853–1912, Czech writer. Vrchlický, a poetic virtuoso, produced nearly 85 volumes of lyric verse, much of ...

Sondheim, Stephen Joshua

(Encyclopedia)Sondheim, Stephen Joshua sôndˈhīm [key], 1930–2021, American composer and lyricist, b. New York City. ...

Stesichorus

(Encyclopedia)Stesichorus stēsĭkˈərəs [key], fl. c.600 b.c., Greek lyric poet. He lived at Himera, Sicily, and seems to have been originally named Tisias or Teisias. Legend says he invented the choral “heroi...

Straparola, Giovanni Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Straparola, Giovanni Francesco jōvänˈnē fränchāsˈkō sträpärôˈlä [key], d. c.1557, Italian writer. His lyric verse was not of lasting merit, but he excelled as a storyteller. He was perhap...

Aleixandre, Vicente

(Encyclopedia)Aleixandre, Vicente vēthĕnˈtā älāhänˈdrā [key], 1898–1984, Spanish lyric poet. He won the national prize for literature for La destrucción o el amor (1935, tr. 1976) and the Nobel Prize in...