Francis S. Saltus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francis Saltus Saltus (1849-1889) was an American poet of the late nineteenth century. Born in 1849 in New York, he was the elder brother of once popular but now relatively obscure novelist Edgar Saltus. His verse reflects a refined and decadent temperament similar to that of his brother, inspired primarily by Poe and Baudelaire. Among his volumes of poetry, many of which were published posthumously, are 1873's Honey and Gall, 1890's Shadows and Ideals, 1891's the Witch of En-dor and Other Poems and 1892's Dreams after Sunset. Able to converse in ten languages, Saltus also wrote poems in Italian, German and French. He was a frequent contributor to American and international periodicals. A talented musician, he wrote four comic operas and much musical criticism. Much of his humorous, commercial work was written under the pseudonym Cupid Jones. He died on June 25th of 1889, aged thirty-nine.
