I. A Brief Sketch of Lanier's Life

(1842-1881)



Sidney Lanier has so recently passed from us that it seems desirable
briefly to recount the chief incidents of his life. This task
is much lightened by Dr. Wm. Hayes Ward's `Memorial',* upon which,
as stated in the Preface, is based this section of my essay.
Born at Macon, Ga., February 3, 1842, Sidney Lanier came of a family
noted for their love and cultivation of the fine arts.
From the time of Queen Elizabeth to the Restoration,
several of his paternal ancestors were connected with the English court
as musical composers and as painters. The father of the poet, however,
Robert S. Lanier, was a most industrious lawyer, who,
after a lingering illness of three years, recently** answered `Adsum'
to the summons of the supreme tribunal. The poet's mother, Mary Anderson,
a Virginian of Scotch descent, likewise sprang from a family
distinguished for their love of oratory, music, and poetry.

--
* For the full title of works cited see `Bibliography'.
** October 20, 1893, at Macon, Ga.
--