Sumner Lincoln Fairfield

Sumner Lincoln Fairfield (June 25, 1803 – March 6, 1844) American poet born in Warwick, Massachusetts to Dr. Abner Fairfield and Lucy Lincoln. From 1818 – 1820 he studied at Brown University but he was compelled to leave after 2 years. He taught school in Georgia and South Carolina. In December 1825 he spent 4 months in England and when he returned he married Jane Frazee on September 20, 1826. Sumner had a very sensitive and melancholy personality and according to his wife Jane, "His nature was haughty, unbending, and reserved; he could not brook personal or newspaper attacks. I have seen him writhe under mental pain even upon a criticism of a poem." (Fairfield, p. 54) [Fairfield, Jane Frazee, and Sumner Lincoln Fairfield. "The Autobiography of Jane Fairfield; Embracing a Few Select Poems by Sumner Lincoln Fairfield." Boston: Bazin and Ellsworth, 1860. [http://books.google.com/books?id=vDADAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&dq=jane+Fairfield&ei=mrfcRvPEA4_g6wLC_p30Aw#PPA54,M1 googlebooks.com] ]

Principal works

* "The Battle of Borodino." 1821
* "The Siege of Constantinople A Poem." 1822
* "Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Lucy Fairfield." 1823
* "Poems." 1823
* "Lays of Melpomene." 1824
* "Mina A Dramatic Sketch, with Other Poems." 1825
* "The Sisters of St. Clara." 1825
* "The Passage of the Sea A Poem : with Other Pieces." 1826
* "The Heir of the World, And Lesser Poems." 1829
* "Abaddon, the Spirit of Destruction; And Other Poems." 1830
* "The Last Night of Pompeii A Poem, and Lays and Legends." 1832
* "The Poems and Prose Writings of Sumner Lincoln Fairfield In Two Volumes ; Vol. I." 1841

References

* "Fairfield, Sumner Lincoln" "American Authors 1600-1900", The H. W. Wilson Company, 1938

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/details/lifesummerlinc00fairrich archive.org]