George Cabot Lodge
George Cabot "Bay" Lodge was an American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Early life
Lodge was born in Boston on October 10, 1873, and grew up at [Henry Cabot family|Cabot Lodge House|his parents' home] in Nahant, Massachusetts. A descendant of several Boston Brahmin families, he was the son of Anna Cabot Mills "Nannie" Lodge and Henry Cabot Lodge, a Republican politician who eventually represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate. His siblings were Constance Davis Lodge and art curator John Ellerton Lodge II.His maternal grandparents were Rear Admiral Henry Davis and Harriette Blake Davis. His paternal grandparents were John Ellerton Lodge and Anna Lodge, a granddaughter of U.S. Senator George Cabot, Bay's namesake and great-great-grandfather.
Lodge began studies at Harvard College, and continued them in France, at the University of Paris, and Berlin into his mid-twenties. At Harvard, he was a member of the Harvard Polo Club.
Career
In 1897, Lodge began work as a secretary to both his father and a U.S. Senate committee in Washington. He later served successfully in the Spanish–American War as a naval cadet. Lodge was a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, who penned a fond introduction for the posthumous 1911 collection Poems and Dramas of George Cabot Lodge. He was best known for his delicate sonnets, such as the Song of the Wave, Essex, and Trumbull Stickney, several of which were anthologized. His style and artistic outlook were deeply affected by the pessimism of Schopenhauer and Giacomo Leopardi, as well as French influences including Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle.After his death, his collected poems and dramas, in two volumes, were published in 1911 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Personal life
On August 19, 1900, he married Mathilda Elizabeth Frelinghuysen Davis at the Church of the Advent in Boston. She was the daughter of Judge John J. Davis and Sarah Helen. After her father's death in 1902, her mother remarried to Brig. Gen. Charles L. McCawley. Her maternal grandfather was Secretary of State Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen and her great-grandfather was Massachusetts governor John Davis. Together Mathilda and George were the parents of three children, including two sons who both became prominent politicians:- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., who became a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and was Richard Nixon's running mate in the 1960 United States presidential election.
- John Davis Lodge, an actor who became the governor of Connecticut. He married the Italian actress Francesca Braggiotti.
- Helena Constance Lodge, who married diplomat Edouard de Streel of Brussels, in 1929. He spent twenty years as equerry to Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium and was later created Baron de Streel with Helena becoming the Baroness de Streel.
Descendants
Through his eldest son Henry, he was posthumously the grandfather of two grandsons, George Cabot Lodge II and Henry S. Lodge. Through his second son John, he was posthumously the grandfather of two granddaughters, Lily Lodge of Manhattan, and Beatrice Anna Cabot Lodge.Through his daughter Helena, Baroness de Streel, he was posthumously the grandfather of three, Jacqueline de Streel ; Quentin de Streel, and Elisabeth de Wasseige.
Legacy
A biography, The Life of George Cabot Lodge, was written by his friend and confidant Henry Adams.Selected works
The Song of the Wave, and Other Poems Cain, a Drama The Great Adventure- ''Herakles''