Bert Leston Taylor - A Man of Letters

A Man of Letters

Apart from journalism, Taylor was an accomplished and recognized humorist, librettist, author, and poet. Taylor was celebrated in his day as one of great American humorists and critics likened him to Josh Billings, Eli Perkins, and Mark Twain. At the height of his celebrity, Taylor was one of the invited guests at Mark Twain’s seventy-fifth birthday held at Monico’s in New York City on December 5, 1905. Novelist Henry Kitchell Webster considered Taylor to be among one of the great letter-writers of the world and classed him with Thomas Gray and British author Edward FitzGerald.

Above all, however, Taylor loved poetry and possessed a remarkable talent for composing it. He wrote predominantly light verse, considered a sub-genre of traditional poetry. Light verse is traditionally intended to be humorous, although humor is often a way to approach serious subjects. The use of wordplay, puns, and alliteration are common conventions, and light poetry is typically considered structured form poetry with rhyme schemes. It has been said that writing light verse successfully is the most difficult of all intellectual accomplishments in order for the poet to be taken seriously. Taylor’s wit was not a savage but it often had a bite, and he possessed a keen sense of language and technical skill using rhythmical structures to frame his thought. His verse was often compared to that of Charles Stuart Calverley and William S. Gilbert. In her eulogy at Taylor’s memorial service, Harriet Monroe, founder of Poetry, considered Taylor to be in the same league as British poets Frederick Locker-Lampson and Austin Dobson, and American poets Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Taylor was well read and knew the classics intimately. Horace was a major influence, and Taylor was adept in capturing the essence of his work. Taylor’s love of poetry extended beyond humorous verse, however, as he also enjoyed the work of the more “serious” contemporary poets. In particular, he was fond of Yeats and attended his readings whenever he was in Chicago. In his book of poetry, A Penny Whistle, Taylor dedicates several poems to Yeats. Taylor’s poetry influenced on all levels of society. His poem, “Battle Song” (from Motley Measures), was presented to Edith Carow Roosevelt, which greatly inspired her husband, former president Theodore Roosevelt.

Taylor was a member of several literary groups. One such group referred to themselves as “The Little Room”, the name borrowed from a short story by Madeline Wynne in which a room magically disappears and reappears. The group mimicked the story in that it disappeared and reappeared on Friday afternoons at such places as Chicago’s Auditorium Hotel (now occupied by Roosevelt University) and Fine Arts Building. The group was composed of an eclectic range of distinguished members including reformer Jane Addams, sculptor Lorado Taft, architects Allen Bartlit Pond and Irving Kane Pond, dramatist Anna Morgan, painter Ralph Clarkson, and poet Harriet Monroe. Taylor was also a member of “The Cliff Dwellers,” a club established by novelist Hamlin Garland that consisted of Chicago artists and literary men. The club’s name originated from a novel written by Henry Blake Fuller. Fuller was a close friend of Taylor’s, and played an instrumental role in getting Taylor published.

Taylor not only loved the arts, but mountains, stars, streams, and the north woods. Taylor was an outdoor enthusiast, and his favorite track of wilderness was the Grand Marais area of northern Minnesota, located north of Duluth on the Canadian border, where he enjoyed going on expeditions with his wife and close friends. He was also an avid golfer, and loved spending his leisure time out on the greens.