author
Paull F. (Paull Franklin) Baum
1886–1964
A longtime Duke University professor and respected literary scholar, he wrote clear, influential studies of Chaucer, Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, and English verse. His work helped generations of readers approach poetry with both care and confidence.
1 Audiobook
The Principles of English Versification
by Paull F. (Paull Franklin) Baum
About the author
Paull Franklin Baum (1886–1964) was an American scholar of English literature whose career was closely tied to Duke University. Duke’s archives describe him as a James B. Duke Professor of English who taught there from 1922 until his retirement in 1955.
He became especially known for work in medieval and Victorian studies. Duke’s archival guide calls him an internationally known authority on English versification and on writers including Chaucer, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold, and surviving catalogs and author pages confirm books such as The Principles of English Versification, Chaucer, Chaucer’s Verse, Tennyson Sixty Years After, and Ten Studies in the Poetry of Matthew Arnold.
His reputation rests on making difficult literary questions feel manageable. Even from the titles alone, his books suggest the kind of critic he was: patient with form, deeply interested in poetry, and committed to explaining how verse works as well as why major authors still matter.