1842 – 1881

Sidney Lanier

American musician and poet (1842–1881)

hymnwriterflautistprose writermusicianorganist

Born

1842-02-03, Macon

Died

1881-09-07

Birthplace state

Georgia

Biography

Sidney Clopton Lanier was an American musician, poet and author. He served in the Confederate States Army as a private, worked on a blockade-running ship for which he was imprisoned, taught, worked at a hotel where he gave musical performances, was a church organist, and worked as a lawyer. As a poet he sometimes used dialects. Many of his poems are written in heightened, but often archaic, American English. He became a flautist and sold poems to publications. He eventually became a professor of literature at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and is known for his adaptation of musical meter to poetry. Many schools, other structures and two lakes are named for him, and he became hailed in the South as the "poet of the Confederacy". A 1972 US postage stamp honored him as an "American poet".

Occupation

Sidney Lanier is recorded as a hymnwriter, a flautist, a prose writer, a musician, a organist, a poet and a writer, born in Georgia (1842–1881).

Connections to Georgia

Sidney Lanier was born in Macon, Georgia in 1842. Explore other notable figures from Georgia, historic sites connected to this era, and the full colonial and statehood history of the state using the links below.

Other notable figures from Georgia›Georgiahistory ›Historic sites in Georgia›

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Conflict & War

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The Civil War

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The Soldiers

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Native Heritage

The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.

Settlement

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The Community

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Notable People

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Literature

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Frequently asked about Sidney Lanier

Who was Sidney Lanier?

Sidney Lanier was American musician and poet (1842–1881), born in Georgia (1842 – 1881).

When and where was Sidney Lanier born?

Sidney Lanier was born on 1842-02-03 in Macon.

When did Sidney Lanier die?

Sidney died on 1881-09-07.

What was Sidney Lanier known for?

Sidney Lanier is recorded as a hymnwriter, a flautist, a prose writer, a musician, a organist, a poet and a writer.

Source

Biographical content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source: Wikipedia.

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