Richard Hovey
Richard Hovey was an American poet and writer born in Normal, Illinois, in 1864. As the son of an influential educator and a supportive mother, he developed a passion for literature and philosophy early on, publishing his first book of poems at just sixteen. Hovey attended Dartmouth College, where he graduated cum laude and engaged actively in campus literary life, though he often felt like an outsider due to his unconventional appearance. Following his graduation, he struggled to find stable employment as a teacher or journalist, leading him to pursue a writing career, during which he created a series of book-length poems about Launcelot and Guinevere.
His notable works include "Songs from Vagabondia," which explored themes of alienation, and "Seaward," an elegy published in 1893. Hovey also contributed as an English translator for playwright Maurice Maeterlinck and was influenced by Symbolist poets during his time in Europe. His poetry often reflected contemporary social issues, such as in his 1898 piece that defended American involvement in the Spanish-American War. Hovey passed away in 1900, with many of his works published posthumously, solidifying his legacy in American literature.
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Richard Hovey
Poet
- Born: May 4, 1864
- Birthplace: Normal, Illinois
- Died: February 24, 1900
Biography
Richard Hovey was born in Normal, Illinois, in 1864, the son of Charles Edward Hovey, the president of the Illinois Normal School in Bloomington, and Harriet Spofford Hovey, who homeschooled Hovey and his brother Albert. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hovey’s father organized a regiment and became a general by the end of the war. When the war was over, his father practiced law in Washington, D.C., while his wife took her two sons to Andover, Massachusetts. The family was not reunited for a few more years. During this separation, Hovey’s absentee father was skeptical about his seemingly impractical and romantic son, while his doting mother supported his interest in literature and philosophy.
Hovey published his first book, Poems (1860), when he was only sixteen years old. Before he enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1881, the youngest in his class, Hovey received two years of formal training in Latin, Greek, and mathematics to supplement his mother’s instruction. While at Dartmouth he excelled, becoming the only student in his class to graduate cum laude. He also edited the yearbook and wrote poetry and essays for the college newspaper. Despite his activities and membership in the Psi Upsilon fraternity, he was a bit of an outsider, partly because of his beard and Bohemian clothes.
After graduating from Dartmouth, he could not find a job as a teacher or journalist in Boston or New York and went to Washington, D.C., for a brief time before spending a year at an Episcopalian seminary in New York. He then went on a walking tour of New England with poet Bliss Carman. Still unable to find a job, Hovey turned to writing, deciding to write a series of book-length poems about Launcelot and Guinevere. The first volume, Launcelot and Guenevere: A Poem in Dramas, appeared in 1891, the same year he traveled to Europe with Mrs. Henrietta Russell, an older woman he had met in 1890. Their son, Julian, was born in 1892, and after Russell got her divorce, she married Hovey in 1894.
Seaward, an Elegy on the Death of Thomas William Parsons, one of Hovey’s most recognized poems, was originally published in the journal Independent before it appeared in book form in 1893. In 1894, Hovey and Carman published Songs from Vagabondia, a collection of poems about outcasts and the alienated; the subject matter differed from more conventional poetry of the time. A second volume, More Songs from Vagabondia, was published in 1896, and Last Songs from Vagabondia appeared in 1900, the year of Hovey’s death.
Hovey and his family moved to England, where he met playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, who made Hovey the official English translator of his plays. Hovey published two volumes of translations in 1894 and 1896. From England, the Hoveys traveled to France, where Hovey became familiar with the Symbolist poets. In 1896, low on funds, he persuaded the Psi Upsilon national fraternity to pay his way back to the United States in exchange for an original poem to be read at the fraternity’s annual meeting. In 1898, he published Along the Trail: A Book of Lyrics, which included the famous “Remember the Maine” poem that defended American involvement in the Spanish-American War. In 1899, he taught at Bard College and published Taliesen: A Masque. At the time of his death on February 24, 1900, many of his poems were unpublished, and several volumes of his poetry were published posthumously.