George Sterling

George Sterling (December 1, 1869 – November 17, 1926) was an American writer based in the San Francisco, California Bay Area and Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was a prominent poet, an acclaimed playwright, and a proponent of Bohemianism during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His work was admired by writers as diverse as Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, Robinson Jeffers, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, H. P. Lovecraft, H. L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, and Clark Ashton Smith. In addition, Sterling played a major role in the growth of the California cities of Oakland, Piedmont, and Carmel-by-the-Sea.

During George Sterling's thirty-year career as a writer, he wrote songs, plays, movies, short stories, essays, and more than a thousand poems. His works were published in nearly all American literary magazines, in more than a hundred newspapers, in anthologies, and in his own books. He earned several literary awards.

Although some critics of his time dismissed Sterling's poems (In Freeman magazine, poet John Gould Fletcher called him "a versifier lavishing his craft on subjects beneath the dignity of a true poet"), other media reviewers regarded Sterling's works highly (Atlanta Constitution: "There is no doubt at all about the genius of George Sterling"; New York Times: "Ambrose Bierce has been hailing Mr. Sterling for some years past as the greatest poet on this side of the Atlantic … Mr. Bierce's hail seems likely to be justified"). Sterling's works were admired by such prominent writers as Jack London ("the greatest living poet in the United States"), Upton Sinclair ("His work possess the qualities of the greatest poetry: sublimity of thought, intensity of emotion, enchanting melody, and severe and reverent workmanship"), Theodore Dreiser ("The ranking American poet, greater than any we have thus far produced"), and H. L. Mencken ("He was one of our greatest poets. … I had tremendous respect for his work and an admiration for his style").

After Sterling's death, Australian poet Sydney Elliott Napier wrote: "Sterling died only recently, leaving behind him a great name locally and an output of verse which undoubtedly contains much that must live, and some of it, indeed, worthy to be ranked among the finest expressions of the American muse."

Sterling wrote about a vast variety of topics in different poetic styles that evolved throughout his writing career.

At age 26, San Francisco business executive George Sterling became obsessed with a new passion. He wanted to write serious poetry inspired by his poetic heroes such as John Keats and Edgar Allan Poe. Sterling wrote his first poems after his February 1896 marriage. He knew eminent literary critic Ambrose Bierce and asked permission to send him poems for evaluation. Bierce replied: "Of course you may send me verses—a bellyful if you like." Sterling mailed Bierce dozens of poems and Bierce replied with detailed, precise comments.

Bierce appreciated one Sterling poem enough to include it in his February 21, 1897 San Francisco Examiner column. The poem, "Farewell," reflected on a dead friend's passing and the absence or presence of an afterlife. It was Sterling's first appearance in print. Between 1897 and 1901, Sterling wrote many poems but, usually dissatisfied, let only a handful become published. For thirteen years Bierce reviewed and commented on Sterling's poems, teaching his protégé poetic skills and shaping his artistic preferences.

On April 11, 1901, Sterling mailed a new poem titled "Memorial Day, 1901" to Bierce for criticism. His mentor responded, "It is great—great!—the loftiest note that you have struck and held." Bierce arranged for the Washington Post to publish the poem and wrote a preface explaining that though Sterling was a new poet, "he has written a considerable body of verse. Not all of it has the strength, fire, and elevation of the remarkable poem printed here, but none has been delinquent in the matter of 'that something other than the sense' which distinguishes poetry from mere verse. George Sterling is a poet, and a great one—one may safely stake on that all the reputation for literary judgment that one may hope to have." The appearance of "Memorial Day, 1901" in the Washington Post was Sterling's first publication of a major poem. It marked his entry into a new stage of development as a writer. After five years writing practice poems, Sterling at age 31 determined to become a writer of serious, elevated verse.