S. Foster Damon
S. Foster Damon (
February 12 1893 â€"
December 25 1971) was an American academic, a specialist in
William Blake, a
critic and a
poet. He was born in
Newton, Massachusetts. He was one of the
Harvard Aesthetes, and married Louise Wheelwright, sister of
John Wheelwright who was another poet identified with that grouping. He graduated from
Harvard University in 1914, returning there after
World War I as an instructor in the English Department.
His book
William Blake, His Philosophy and Symbols from 1924 was later followed by
A Blake Dictionary (1965), the work for which he is perhaps best known.
His later academic career was at
Brown University, where he had positions from 1927. His other writings include a biography of
Amy Lowell, and the long poem
The Moulton Tragedy, a heroic poem with lyrics (1971). He also published poetry under the
pseudonym Samuel Nomad.