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Stuart Merrill
(August 1, 1863 - December 1, 1915) U.S.A.

Stuart Merrill

Poet

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Born in Hampstead, New York, Merrill was born into a conservative, wealthy, Protestant family. In 1866, his father George received a diplomatic appointment to Paris, where Merrill would learn French and live for the next 19 years.

Stuart Merrill wrote in the French language. He belonged to the Symbolist school. Educated in Paris, he became a student of Old French texts and was a great admirer of Algernon Charles Swinburne. His principal books of poetry were Les Gammes (1887). Les Fastes (1891), and Petits Poèmes d'Automne (1895). He died in Versailles, France.

When George Bernard Shaw attempted to circulate a petition in London calling for the release of Oscar Wilde, imprisoned for homosexuality, Merrill made a similar attempt to get notable artists and intellectuals to sign a similar petition in the United States. Although Merrill's father disinherited him for his politics, his mother would continue to support him financially throughout his life.

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