Samuel Foster Damon (February 12, 1893 – December 25, 1971) was an American academic, a specialist in William Blake, a

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

and a poet. When remembered as a Blake scholar, he is often compared in importance to Northrop Frye and

David V. Erdman David V. Erdman (November 4, 1911 in Omaha, NE – October 14, 2001) was an American literary critic, editor, and Professor Emeritus of English at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Professor Erdman established his reputation as ...

Early life

He was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1914, returning there after World War I as an instructor in the English Department. He was one of the

Harvard Aesthetes The ''Harvard Aesthetes'' was a group of poets attending Harvard University in a period roughly between 1912 and 1919. It includes: *Malcolm Cowley (1898–1989) *E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) *Arthur William Wilson - AKA Winslow Wilson. Pico Mira ...

, and married Louise Wheelwright, sister of

John Brooks Wheelwright John Brooks Wheelwright (sometimes Wheelright) (9 September 1897 – 13 September 1940) was an American poet from a Boston Brahmin background. He belonged to the poetic ''avant garde'' of the 1930s and was a Marxist, a founder-member of the T ...

, another active Harvard Aesthete.

Scholarly career

His book ''William Blake, His Philosophy and Symbols'' from 1924 was later followed by ''A Blake Dictionary'' (1965), the work for which he is perhaps best known. Their encyclopedic scope expanded Blake studies into the examination of the mystical and occult elements of Blake's work.Bentley 19 In the foreword to a revised edition of the ''Dictionary'', Morris Eaves says that when Damon's first book on Blake came out, he was the "Young Turk" of Blake studies, and when the ''Dictionary'' appeared, he was the "patriarch" of the field. His later academic career was at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where he had positions from 1927. His other writings include a biography of Amy Lowell, and the long poem ''The Moulton Tragedy, a heroic poem with lyrics'' (1971). He also published poetry under the pseudonym Samuel Nomad.

References

Works cited

External links

His Biography
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Damon, S. Foster 1893 births 1971 deaths American male poets Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Brown University faculty William Blake scholars