Trumbull, John. (1750 - 1831).
L i f e
- born in Connectitut
- received university education (Yale)
- became a tutor at Yale >> later a lawyer in Hartford
- his cousin of the same name was a painter famous for his paintings from American history
W o r k
- articulate and erudite
- associated with T. Dwight and D. Humphreys: their Yale curricular reform made way for the study of modern literature
- wrote essays, poetry, and satire
“The Progress of Dullness” (1772 – 73):
- a satirical poem criticising the American education
- wrote as a tutor at Yale
M’Fingal: A Modern Epos (1775 – 82):
- a long Hudibrastic poem satirising the Tory-Loyalist arguments
- comic-heroic in form, celebrating the Revolution in content
The Anarchiad: A New England Poem (1786 - 7):
- in collaboration with T. Dwight & other Connectitut Wits
- satirises the disorganisation of the post-war America
- expresses a scepticism about the democratic theory and practice
The Echo (1791 – 1805):
- a verse satire attacking the Jeffersonian democracy in favour of the Federalism
Quote
"But optics sharp it needs, I ween, "No man e’er felt the halter draw,
To see what is not to be seen". With good opinion of the law".
Both from M'Fingal (1775 - 1782).
Basics
(Painting: John Trumbull, the poet's cousin. Source: Wikimedia Commons).
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Author
John Trumbull. (1750 - 1831). American. -
Work
Poet. Figure of the Connecticut Wits. -
Genre
Poetry. Political satire.
Literature
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.
Bercovitch, Sacvan, ed. The Cambridge History of American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Cunliffe, Marcus. The Literature of the United States. London: Penguin, 1991.
Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lexington: D. C. Heath, 1994.
McQuade, Donald, gen.ed. The Harper American Literature. New York: Harper & Collins, 1996.
Ruland, Richard, Malcolm Bradbury. Od puritanismu k postmodernismu. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1997.
Vančura, Zdeněk, ed. Slovník spisovatelů: Spojené státy americké. Praha: Odeon, 1979.