Charlotte Endymion Porter (January 6, 1857 – January 16, 1942) was an American poet, translator, and literary critic and the cofounder and coeditor of the journal ''

Poet Lore ''Poet Lore'' is an English-language literary magazine based in Bethesda, Maryland. Established in 1889 by Charlotte Porter and Helen Archibald Clarke, two progressive young Shakespeare scholars who believed in the evolutionary nature of literatur ...

''. As the editor or coeditor of editions of the complete works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, and

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...

, and as a translator of major writers from around the world for ''Poet Lore'', she was influential in shaping the American literary taste of her day.

Education

Helen Charlotte Porter was born in

Towanda, Pennsylvania Towanda is a borough and the county seat of Bradford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located northwest of Wilkes-Barre, on the Susquehanna River. The name means "burial ground" in the Algon ...

, in 1857, one of three children of Henry Clinton Porter, a physician, and Elisa Eleanor (Betts) Porter. She later changed her name to Charlotte

Endymion Endymion primarily refers to: * Endymion (mythology), an Ancient Greek shepherd * ''Endymion'' (poem), by John Keats Endymion may also refer to: Fictional characters * Prince Endymion, a character in the ''Sailor Moon'' anime franchise * Raul ...

Porter, taking her middle name from a poem by

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

. She attended

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

in New York, graduating in 1875 and extending her studies in Shakespeare and French drama at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris.

Journal editor and founder

In 1883, having moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she became the editor of the journal ''Shakespeariana''. Through her work with this journal, she met her life partner, the writer

Helen Archibald Clarke Helen Archibald Clarke (November 13, 1860 – February 8, 1926) was an American literary critic, book editor, composer and lyricist, and the co-founder of the journal '' Poet Lore''. She was influential in shaping the American literary taste of ...

(1860–1926), with whom she afterwards collaborated on many projects. Porter resigned from the journal in 1887 after a dispute over her plans for expansion, following which she became for a short time the editor of the journal ''Ethical Record''. In 1889, Porter and Clarke founded the quarterly journal ''Poet Lore'' in Philadelphia, later moving it to Boston. Its stated aim was to champion the "comparative study of literature" and the work of Shakespeare and Robert Browning. After the first few years, the journal's focus on writing about Shakespeare and Browning shifted to encompass a broader view of world literature. In keeping with its mission, the magazine published few American writers but many from around the world, often in translation. ''Poet Lore'' helped introduce American readers to the work of such early modern writers as

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

, Gabriele D’Annunzio,

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

, and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. Many of these translations were by Porter, who developed a reputation as a good translator. Porter and Clarke sold ''Poet Lore'' in 1903 but continued for many years as editors. ''

'' is still in print, the oldest continuing poetry magazine in the United States.

Authorship

In tandem with her work on the journals, Porter edited a 40-volume edition of Shakespeare and co-edited with Clarke editions of the British poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Together with Clarke, she published ''Clever Tales'' (1897), a book of translations of European authors like

Villiers de L'Isle Adam Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (7 November 1838 – 19 August 1889) was a French symbolist writer. His family called him Mathias while his friends called him Villiers; he would also use the name Auguste wh ...

Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in P ...

Vsevolod Garshin Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin (russian: Всеволод Михайлович Гаршин; 14 February 1855 — 5 April 1888) was a Russian author of short stories. Life Garshin was the son of an officer, from a family tracing its roots back ...

Jakub Arbes Jakub Arbes (12 June 1840, Prague (Smíchov) – 8 April 1914) was a Czech writer and intellectual. He is best known as the creator of the literary genre called ''romanetto'' and spent much of his professional life in France. Life and Politics ...

, and Strindberg. Along with her work on ''Poet Lore'', these efforts are credited with helping to shape American literary taste of the day. Porter was also a poet, publishing in magazines such as ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

'', and ''

Ainslee's Magazine ''Ainslee's Magazine'' was an American literary periodical published from 1897 to December 1926. It was originally published as a humor magazine called ''The Yellow Kid'', based on the popular comic strip character. It was renamed ''Ainslee's'' ...

'' and producing a volume of poems entitled ''Lips of Music'' in 1910. She published some of her poems under the pseudonym 'Robert Iphys Everett', and some of her poems were set to music by Clarke, Margaret Ruthven Lang, and Mabel Hill. Porter was a member and longtime vice-president (1903–1936) of the Boston Browning Society. The society sponsored Porter's 1902 stage adaptation of Robert Browning's tragedy ''Return of the Druses'' (which was published the following year). Porter was also a member of

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

's Boston Authors Club.

Later life

Towards the end of her life, Porter lived on the

Isle au Haut Isle au Haut () is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States, on an island of the same name in Penobscot Bay. The population was 92 at the 2020 census. Home to portions of Acadia National Park, Isle au Haut is accessible by ferry from Stoningt ...

in Maine in the summers and the remainder of the year in Massachusetts. She died in 1942 in

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population, per the 2020 United States Census, is 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. I ...

. Porter's niece,

Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter (June 15, 1876 – April 26, 1963) was an American translator and writer, best known for translating almost all of the works of Thomas Mann for their first publication in English. Personal life Helen Tracy Porter was the ...

, would follow in her footsteps and become a noted translator. Through her niece, Porter is the great-great-aunt of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, former prime minister of the UK.

Books

;As author *''Lips of Music''. New York: Thos. Y. Crowell, 1910 (poems) *''Return of the Druses''. New York: Crowell, 1903 (stage version of Robert Browning's tragedy) *''Shakespeare Studies: Macbeth''. Cincinnati: American Book Company, 1901 (with Clarke) *''Shakespeare Study Programs: The Tragedies''. Boston: RG Badger, 1914 ;As translator *''Clever Tales'' (1897, with Clarke) ;As editor * Browning, Robert. ''The Complete Works of Robert Browning''. New York: Kelmscott Society and Thos. Y. Crowell, 1898 (with Clarke; 12 volumes) * Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. ''Works: The Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning''. New York: Thos. Y. Crowell, 1900 (with Clarke; 6 volumes) * Shakespeare, William. ''First Folio Edition of Shakespeare''. New York: Thos. Y. Crowell, 1903–13 (40 volumes)

Notes and references

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Charlotte Endymion 1857 births 1942 deaths Writers from Pennsylvania American magazine founders American magazine editors American translators American women poets Shakespearean scholars 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers Women magazine editors