Springfield in Sangamon County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Robert Stuart Fitzgerald Boyhood Home
Photographed By James Hulse, October 26, 2021
1. Robert Stuart Fitzgerald Boyhood Home Marker
Inscription.
Robert Stuart Fitzgerald Boyhood Home. . Poet, translator, writer, educator, Robert Stuart Fitzgerald (1910-1985) lived in his family's home on this site (215 E. Jackson) for 20 years. While a student at Springfield High School, his talent for poetry came to the attention of poet Vachel Lindsay who lived just three blocks away. Fitzgerald was the author of three books of poems. His translations of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid remain standard works for American scholars and students, and his other memoirs and writings have enduring value. From 1965-1981 he was Boylston Professor at Harvard. He was a close friend of James Agee, Flannery O'Connor, William Maxwell, and other significant writers of his generation. Among his many honors were election to the American Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the last year of his life he was named Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position later renamed Poet Laureate of the United States. For the 50th Anniversary of the Harvard Class of '33, he offered this observation: "So hard at best is the lot of man, and so great is the beauty he can apprehend, that only a religious conception of things can take in the extremes and meet the case. Our lifetimes have seen the opening of abysses before which the mind quails. But it seems to me there are a few things everyone can humbly try to hold onto: love and mercy (and humor) in everyday living; the quest for exact truth in language and affairs of the intellect; self-recollection or prayer; and the peace, the composed energy of art."
Poet, translator, writer, educator, Robert Stuart Fitzgerald (1910-1985) lived in his family's home on this site (215 E. Jackson) for 20 years. While a student at Springfield High School, his talent for poetry came to the attention of poet Vachel Lindsay who lived just three blocks away. Fitzgerald was the author of three books of poems. His translations of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid remain standard works for American scholars and students, and his other memoirs and writings have enduring value. From 1965-1981 he was Boylston Professor at Harvard. He was a close friend of James Agee, Flannery O'Connor, William Maxwell, and other significant writers of his generation. Among his many honors were election to the American Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the last year of his life he was named Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position later renamed Poet Laureate of the United States. For the 50th Anniversary of the Harvard Class of '33, he offered this observation: "So hard at best is the lot of man, and so great is the beauty he can apprehend, that only a religious conception of things can take in the extremes and meet the case. Our lifetimes have seen the opening of abysses before which the mind quails. But it seems to me there are a
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few things everyone can humbly try to hold onto: love and mercy (and humor) in everyday living; the quest for exact truth in language and affairs of the intellect; self-recollection or prayer; and the peace, the composed energy of art."
Erected 2010 by Springfield High School, the Vachel Lindsay Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois State Historical Society.
Location. 39° 47.84′ N, 89° 39.148′ W. Marker is in Springfield, Illinois, in Sangamon County. Marker is at the intersection of East Jackson Street and South 2nd Street, on the left when traveling east on East Jackson Street. The marker is located along the street in front of a parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 215 East Jackson Street, Springfield IL 62701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Robert Stuart Fitzgerald; 12 October 1910 – 16 January 1985) was an American poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students". He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin. He also composed several books of his own poetry. Source: Wikipedia
(Submitted on October 26, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Photographed By James Hulse, October 26, 2021
3. The view of the Robert Stuart Fitzgerald Boyhood Home Marker from the street
Credits. This page was last revised on October 26, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 26, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 144 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 26, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.
