Sumner Lincoln Fairfield


Sumner Lincoln Fairfield was an American poet, born in Warwick, Massachusetts to Dr. Abner Fairfield and Lucy Lincoln. From 1818 to 1820, he studied at Brown University, but he was compelled to leave after 2 years. He taught school in Georgia and South Carolina. In December 1825 he spent 4 months in England and when he returned he married Jane Frazee on September 20, 1826. Sumner had a very sensitive and melancholy personality and according to his wife Jane, "His nature was haughty, unbending, and reserved; he could not brook personal or newspaper attacks. I have seen him writhe under mental pain even upon a criticism of a poem."

Principal works

The Battle of Borodino. 1821The Siege of Constantinople A Poem. 1822Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Lucy Fairfield. 1823Poems. 1823Lays of Melpomene. 1824Mina A Dramatic Sketch, with Other Poems. 1825The Sisters of St. Clara. 1825The Passage of the Sea A Poem : with Other Pieces. 1826The Heir of the World, And Lesser Poems. 1829Abaddon, the Spirit of Destruction; And Other Poems. 1830The Last Night of Pompeii A Poem, and Lays and Legends. 1832The Poems and Prose Writings of Sumner Lincoln Fairfield In Two Volumes; Vol. I. 1841