page_title: John Addington Symonds
hierarchical_section_title: John Addington Symonds
caption_attribution_description: John Addington Symonds, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right. Autographed to Walt Whitman.
context_page_description: John Addington Symonds, Jr. was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although he married and had a family and could possibly have passed as straight, he put his personal well-being on the line by advocating for male love, which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships, referring to it as l'amour de l'impossible. He also wrote much poetry inspired by his same-sex affairs.
context_section_description: John Addington Symonds, Jr. (/ˈsɪməndz/; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although he married and had a family and could possibly have passed as straight, he put his personal well-being on the line by advocating for male love (homosexuality), which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships, referring to it as l'amour de l'impossible (love of the impossible). He also wrote much poetry inspired by his same-sex affairs.
caption: Symonds, picture for Walt Whitman, dated 1889
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