Cale Young Rice (December 7, 1872 – January 24, 1943) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and dramatist. He was professor of English at

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

. His opera, ''Yolanda of Cyprus,'' was widely received.

Life and career

Rice was born in

Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, Indi ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a Confederate veteran and tobacco merchant, and his wife Martha Lacy. He was a younger brother of

Laban Lacy Rice Dr. Laban Lacy Rice (October 14, 1870 – February 13, 1973) was an educator, author, and president of Cumberland University. He was an international authority on relativity. Early life He was born in Dixon, Kentucky, to Laban Marchbanks Rice ...

, a noted educator, author, and president of

. Cale Rice grew up in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, and

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. He was educated at

where he was a member of the Theta chapter of

Kappa Sigma Fraternity Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraterniti ...

and at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, 1895; A.M., 1896). On December 18, 1902, Rice was married to the popular author Alice Hegan Rice; they worked together on several books. The marriage was childless. In 1910, they built a house at 1444 St. James Court, where they lived for 40 years. Cale Rice's poems were collected and published in a single volume, ''The best poetic work of Cale Young Rice,'' by his brother,

(1870-1973). His birthplace in Dixon is designated by Kentucky State Historical Marker 1508, which reads: Rice adapted his play ''Yolanda of Cyprus'' into an opera libretto for

Clarence Loomis Clarence Loomis (December 13, 1889 July 3, 1965), an American composer, pianist, and teacher, was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Biography He studied piano and composition at the American Conservatory in Chicago and also privately in Vienn ...

; the resulting work was premiered on September 25, 1929 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, under the baton of Isaac Van Grove, and featured Charles Kullman. The production was directed by

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

. The opera later received the

Bispham Memorial Medal Award The Bispham Memorial Medal Award was an award for operas written in English language, English which was named for baritone David Bispham, who was a great proponent of performing opera in English in the United States. It was traditionally awarded to ...

Death

Rice committed suicide by gunshot during the night of January 24, 1943, at his home in Louisville a year after his wife's death due to his sorrow at losing her.

Works

Verse

* ''From Dusk to Dusk'' (1898) * ''With Omar'' (1900) * ''Song Surf'' (1900) * ''Nirvana Days'' (1908) * ''Many Gods'' (1910) * ''At the World's Heart'' (1914)

Plays

* ''Charles di Tocca'' (1903) * ''Yolanda of Cyprus'' (1906) * ''A Night in Avignon'' (1907) * ''The Immortal Lure'' (1911) * ''Porzia'' (1913)

Collection

* ''Collected Plays and Poems'' (two volumes, 1915)

Other works

* ''Youth's Way.'' New York, The Century Co., 1923. * ''A New Approach to Philosophy.'' Lebanon, Tenn: The Cumberland University Press, 1943.

References

External links

* * * *
Guide to the Cale Young Rice papers, 1927–1939
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center

Rice family home on Dixon, KY site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Cale Young 1872 births 1943 suicides 1943 deaths American male poets Harvard University alumni Writers from Louisville, Kentucky People from Webster County, Kentucky Writers from Evansville, Indiana Suicides by firearm in Kentucky Cumberland University alumni American male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Poets from Kentucky Poets from Indiana 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century male writers 20th-century American male writers