author
Richard Henry Stoddard
1825–1903
A self-taught poet and influential literary critic, this 19th-century writer became a familiar figure in New York’s literary world. He is remembered both for his own verse and for the company he kept, helping shape the culture around American letters in his era.
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About the author
Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, on July 2, 1825, Richard Henry Stoddard became an American poet, critic, and editor. Reliable reference sources agree that he spent much of his career in New York and became an important presence in the city’s literary circles during the second half of the 19th century.
His reputation rests not only on his poems but also on his role as a man of letters: writing criticism, editing, and taking part in the wider conversation of American literature. Britannica notes that he was especially significant as a literary figure in New York, while later readers have continued to remember works such as Songs of Summer, The Book of the East, and Abraham Lincoln: An Horatian Ode.
He was married to the novelist and poet Elizabeth Stoddard, and together they were part of a lively literary household. Richard Henry Stoddard died in New York on May 12, 1903.