Two Lives: A Poem

Viking Press, 1930. Hardcover. Very Good. 8x5x0. 1930 Viking Press printing. Bound in publisher's blue cloth. Paper spine label. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Shelf wear. Edge rubbed. Peabody Book Shop, Baltimore sticker on verso. Contents: Part 1. The White House by the Lake; Part 2. Man and Wife; Part 3. The Green Cottage by the Brook. 109 p., 21 cm. <br> "William Ellery Leonard was an American poet and translator of epic works such as Beowulf and classical pieces by Lucretius and Aesop. He also served time as assistant professor of English at Wisconsin university and was well-known as a literary scholar. Leonard's most famous work was a cycle of 250 sonnets called Two Lives which was a poignant but detailed view of his own tragic first marriage. This had begun in 1909 but ended a year later when his wife Charlotte committed suicide. It was described by fellow poet Stephen Vincent Benet as 'the best American poem of the 20th century.' Understandably, after such an event, Leonard was a troubled man and his well-being was further hampered by the condition of agoraphobia which had been a burden for most of his life, and continued to be so." - My Poetic Side