author

George W. Sands

d. 1874

A little-known 19th-century American poet, he left behind a single surviving book that mixes long narrative verse with shorter lyrical pieces. The record is fragmentary, but what remains suggests a writer working out personal sorrow and literary ambition in public.

1 Audiobook

Mazelli, and Other Poems

Mazelli, and Other Poems

by George W. Sands

About the author

George W. Sands was an American poet active in the mid-19th century. Reliable catalog records identify him as having lived approximately from 1824 to 1874, and his known surviving book is Mazelli, and Other Poems, published in 1849.

That volume appears to be his only widely documented work. It includes the title poem Mazelli, the drama The Misanthrope Reclaimed, and a group of shorter poems. In the book's preface, written from Frederick City and dated September 7, 1849, he presents it as his first offering and speaks candidly about writing out of hardship, which gives the collection a personal, earnest tone.

Very little else about his life can be confirmed from easily available sources. A burial record for a George W. Sands who died on July 28, 1874, in Frederick, Maryland, may refer to the poet, but because biographical information is sparse, that connection should be treated with caution.