Born at Lawrence, Massachusetts, September 8, 1869, and graduated at Wesleyan University in 1894 and Harvard University in 1896. He was connected for a short time with the editorial department of Houghton Mifflin Company and with the staff of L. C. Page and Company as literary adviser. In 1900 he accepted a similar position with Dana Estes and Company where he remained until his death in September, 1905. Mr. Knowles was the author of two volumes of verse: "On Life's Stairway", 1900, and "Love Triumphant", 1904. In addition to his own work in poetry he was the editor of several excellent anthologies, such as "The Golden Treasury of American Lyrics", 1897; "A Treasury of Humorous Poetry", 1902; and "A Year-Book of Famous Lyrics". Mr. Knowles was a poet of fine gifts and his early death was a loss to American poetry.
Helen's lips are drifting dust;
Ilion is consumed with rust;
All the galleons of Greece
Drink the ocean's dreamless peace;
...
These are the best of him,
Pathos and jest of him;
Earth holds the rest of him.
...
ROUGH pasture where the blackberries grow!—
It bears upon its churlish face
No sign of beauty, art, or grace;
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Thou dreamer with the million moods,
Of restless heart like me,
Lay thy white hands against my breast
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SUCH hints as untaught Nature yields!
The calm disorder of the sea,
The straggling splendor of the fields,
The wind’s gay incivility.
...