Biography

__**Biography of George Henry Boker**__

The skillful American playwright of historical dramas, George Henry Boker, lived a full and colorful life. He was born the son of a Philadelphia banker, Charles Boker, on October 6, 1823. He graduated from the College of New Jersey, (later called Princeton University), where he was one of the founders of Nassau Monthly, in 1842. Two years later he married Julia Mandeville Riggs in 1844, the same year he abandoned plans to become a lawyer and started writing, which had been his true love since childhood. His first book of verse, //The Lessons of Life, and other Poems,// was published in 1848, and though the work was promising, it was overshadowed by other works published that same year in Europe. Despite this, he continued to write his sonnets, poems and plays, which were eventually collected and published in two volumes, //Plays and Poems//. He thrived in the area of drama, becoming one of the most successful American playwrights, his most famous play being //Francesca da Rimini//. (CivilWarPoetry.com).

Though George Henry Boker did not take up arms during the Civil War, he served by writing patriotic poems to inspire the people of the Union. His book //Poems of the War,// was published in 1864. Most of his poems had some sort of rhyming to them and many of them ended with exclamation marks. Because of his work with plays, hymns, sonnets, and songs, his poems were greatly influenced by music. A good number of his poems had short choruses that repeated throughout the poem. For example, in “A Hymn for the Fourth of July, 1863,”the line “Help us, Lord, our only trust!/We are helpless, we are dust!” is repeated after each stanza, and ends the poem with an exclamation mark (Boker 156).

In addition to his patriotic poetry, Boker also established the Union Club (Union League of Philadelphia) in November 1862. The goals of the group, which was the first of its kind in the country, were to raise money for the war effort and encourage enlistment in the army. Their efforts swelled the ranks of state militias. Boker served as the secretary for the organization until 1871. (MechanicsNationalBank.com).

Boker was appointed minister of Turkey in November 1871 by President Ulysses S. Grant. His dignity and eloquence and political skill helped reestablish diplomatic relations with the Ottoman government and he was instrumental in the negotiation of several important treaties. Though he did great things in Turkey, Boker tired of his work there and was happy to accept a new appointment as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia. He had great successes in St. Petersburg as well, and even had a personal friendship with the czar. (CivilWarPoetry.com).

Unfortunately, despite support from Emperor Alexander II of Russia, when the administration in Washington changed in 1878, Boker was recalled and returned to Philadelphia, where he was bestowed the presidency of the Union League and given a seat on the Fairmont Park Commission. As he did with all tasks assigned to him, Boker worked hard on the Commission and remained active in the beautification of Philadelphia’s city parks until his death. (CivilWarPoetry). He also served as director of the Mechanics National Bank for several years. During this time Boker continued to write, but he suffered from depression, convinced that his career as a poet and a diplomat was a failure (MechanicsNationalBank.com).

Though some of his poetry, especially at the beginning of his career, was unremarkable, Boker excelled and thrived when writing his dramas, many of which remained popular for many, many years. He also published a book of sonnets, //A Sequence on Profane Love,// which has led to him being called one of the greatest American sonnet writers (Wikipedia.com). George Henry Boker died from heart disease on January 2, 1890, but his work lived on in his many plays and books of verse.