Elinor Wylie

**Elinor Morton Wylie** (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American poet and novelist.  She was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. She was also famous for her beauty and personality.   She "was called the reigning queen of American poetry" in the 1920s.

### Family and childhood

Elinor Wylie was born Elinor Morton Hoyt on September 7, 1885 in Somerville, New Jersey. She came from a prominent New Jersey family. Her parents were Henry Martyn Hoyt, Jr. and Anne Morton McMichael. Elinor was the oldest of five children.

When Elinor was twelve, the family moved to Washington, D.C.. This was when her father was appointed Assistant Attorney General. Elinor went to Miss Baldwin's School near Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She next went to Mrs. Flint's School, and Holton-Arms School, both in Washington. She graduated in 1904. At the Corcoran gallery she studied drawing. As a girl, she liked reading books.

### Adult life

Little more than a year after she finished school, she married Philip Hichborn, Jr. Together they had a son, Philip Hichborn, III. But she left her husband and son in 1910. She went to England with Horace Wylie. He was a Washington lawyer, was married and was 17 years older than Elinor. The scandal was widely publicized.

Horace's wife finally agreed to a divorce, and Hichborn committed suicide. in 1916, Elinor and Wylie returned to America and got married. In 1919, the couple moved to Washington. There she met with famous writers. They said she should publish her poetry.

First she sent poems to _Poetry_, the leading American poetry magazine. The magazine accepted her poems. In 1921, she produced a book of poems called _Nets to Catch the Wind._ It was popular with both critics and the public. Now Wylie became a celebrity.  People liked her poetry, her charming personality, and her beauty.

Elinor Wylie left her second husband and moved to live in New York. In 1923, she divorced Wylie and married the critic, novelist and poet William Rose Benét. Although they stayed married, she separated from him, too. But she would visit him after the separation.

In 1928, Elinor had a heart attack which left her in poor health. On December 16, 1928, she suddenly died of Bright's disease in New York.

## Literary style

According to Evelyn Hively, Elinor Wylie "subscribed fully to the theory that a poet's work, as Wallace Stevens says, lies in trying to wrestle experience into meaning."

She admired poetry from the past. These included the Metaphysical poets and the Romantic poets. Her favorite poet was Percy Bysshe Shelley. He had a strong influence on Elinor's style. Her poetry often followed strict rules and traditions. For example, many of her poems were sonnets. She also used a lot of imagery.

All of Elinor's long works of fiction were allegories. They dealt with the supernatural or the strange and unusual. She called these fantasies "fairytales".

## Works

Elinor Wylie was primarily a poet, but she also wrote four successful novels, or fantasies, as well as short stories and essays.

### Volumes of poetry

- _Incidental Numbers_ (1912): Published anonymously by Elinor's mother
- _Nets to Catch the Wind_ (1921): The work that made her famous
- _Black Armour_ (1923)
- _Angels and Earthly Creatures: A Sequence of Sonnets_ (1928): Elinor completed the draft of this collection while visiting her husband.  She had her fatal stroke just after she finished it.
- _Trivial Breath_ (1928)
- _Collected Poems of Elinor Wylie_ (1932): Published after her death
- _Last Poems of Elinor Wylie_ (1943): Published after her death

### Works of long fiction

- _Jennifer Lorn: A Sedate Extravaganza_. New York: Doran, 1923. London: Richards, 1924.
- _The Venetian Glass Nephew_. New York: Doran, 1925. Chicago: Academy, 1984.
- _The Orphan Angel_. New York: Knopf, 1926. Also published as Mortal Image. London: Heinemann, 1927.
- _Mr. Hodge & Mr. Hazard_. New York. Knopf, 1928. London: Heinemann, 1928. Chicago: Academy, 1984.

## Related pages

- List of poets from North America

## Books and other websites

- Nancy Hoyt: _Elinor Wylie: The Portrait of an Unknown Lady_, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1935
    - Thomas A. Gray: _Elinor Wylie_. Twayne, New York, 1969
    - Stanley Olson: _Elinor Wylie: A Life Apart: A Biography_. Dial Press, New York, 1979
    - Judith Farr: _The Life and Art of Elinor Wylie_. Louisiana State University Press, 1983
    - Evelyn Helmick Hively: _A Private Madness: The Genius of Elinor Wylie_. Kent State University Press, 2002
    - Nancy Kuhl: _Intimate Circles. American Women in the Arts._ Katalogbuch mit Essays. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2007
    - _Chambers Biographical Dictionary_. Edinburgh 2002, p. 1629
- Recording of Elinor Wylie's works at LibriVox