|
Source: The South in the Building of the Nation.
Richmond, Va.: The Southern Historical Publication Society, 1909.
Volume XI, page 228
COOKE, Philip Pendleton, poet, son of John Rogers Cooke: b. Martinsburg, Va.
(now W. Va.), Oct. 26, 1816; d. Clarke county, Va., Jan. 20, 1850. He
graduated
at Princeton in 1834, studied law, began practice, and married before he was
twenty-one. He had no great love for his profession, and, removing to a fine
estate in Clarke county, he devoted himself to literature and field sports,
becoming known as the greatest huntsman in the Shenadoah Valley. He is best
known for short lyrics, the most popular of which is Floence Vane, praised by
Lowell, translated into many languages, and set to music by celebrated
composers.
His genius was much admired by Poe, who recognized in his poetry the genuine
sense for beauty and the charming freshness and sincerity of poetic
inspiration.
Even his popular novels are characterized by vivid picturesqueness and
coloring.
No doubt his devotion to out-door life accounts in part for the freshness
of his
style. His early death was caused by pnemonia contracted through exposure
in the
chase. His works embrace: Froissart Ballads, and Other Poems (1847); John
Carpe;
The Crime of Andrew Blair; The Gregories of Hackwood; and Chevalier Merlin
(unfinished).
Submitted by: Valerie <vfcrook@trellis.net>
|
