Joseph Trumbull Stickney (June 20, 1874 – October 11, 1904) was an American classical scholar

Classics

Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...

 and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

. His style has been characterised as fin de siècle

Fin de siècle

Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...

and he is known for his sonnet

Sonnet

A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...

s in particular.

He was born in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 and spent much of his early life in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. He attended Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 from 1891, when he became editor of the Harvard Monthly and a member of Signet society

Signet society

The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate and even theatrical productions. According to The...

, to 1895, when he graduated magna cum laude. He then studied for seven years in Paris, taking a doctorate at the Sorbonne

University of Paris

The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...

. He wrote there two dissertations, a Latin one on the Venetian humanist Ermolao Barbaro

Ermolao Barbaro

Ermolao or Hermolao Barbaro, also Hermolaus Barbarus , was an Italian Renaissance scholar.-Education:Ermolao Barbaro was born in Venice, the son of Zaccaria Barbaro, and the grandson of Francesco Barbaro...

, and the other on Les Sentences dans la Poésie Grecque. His was the first American docteur ès lettres.

He then published a first book of verse Dramatic Verses (1902) and took a position as Instructor in Classics at Harvard (1903), but died in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 of a brain tumour a year later. Stickney belongs to the number of Harvard poets (or the Harvard Pessimists) who died young, such as Thomas Parker Sanborn

Thomas Parker Sanborn

Thomas Parker Sanborn was an American poet. He was born to Franklin Benjamin Sanborn and Louisa Sanborn, née Leavitt, on February 24, 1865 in Concord, Massachusetts...

 , George Cabot Lodge

George Cabot Lodge

George Cabot "Bay" Lodge , was an American poet of the late 19th and early-20th century.-Early life:Lodge was born in in Boston. His father was Henry Cabot Lodge, a politician. His mother was Anna Cabot Mills Davis Lodge...

, Philip Henry Savage

Philip Henry Savage

Philip Henry Savage was an American poet.-Biography:Born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts on February 11, 1868, he was the son of Minot Judson Savage, a well-known Unitarian minister, and Ella A. Dodge. The family moved several times during his early life: to Framingham, then to Chicago and...

 and Hugh McCulloch

Hugh McCulloch

Hugh McCulloch was an American statesman who served two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Treasury Secretary, serving under three presidents.-Biography:...

.

Stickney's poem "Song" (which describes the earth ebullient in late spring , and the cuckoo singing "not yet") is plagiarized in the de Niro's 2006 film The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd (film)

The Good Shepherd is a 2006 spy film directed by Robert De Niro and starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, with an extensive supporting cast. Although it is a fictional film loosely based on real events, it is advertised as telling the untold story of the birth of counter-intelligence in the...

by a Yale professor of English in a failed attempt to seduce the protagonist, portrayed by Matt Damon.

Works

• Dramatic Verses (1902)
• The poems of Trumbull Stickney (1905) edited by George Cabot Lodge
  George Cabot Lodge
  George Cabot "Bay" Lodge , was an American poet of the late 19th and early-20th century.-Early life:Lodge was born in in Boston. His father was Henry Cabot Lodge, a politician. His mother was Anna Cabot Mills Davis Lodge...
  
  ; William Vaughn Moody
  William Vaughn Moody
  William Vaughn Moody was a United States dramatist and poet. Author of The Great Divide, first presented under the title of The Sabine Woman at the Garrick Theatre in Chicago on April 12, 1906...
  
  , and John Ellerton Lodge
• Trumbull Stickney (1973) edited by Amberys R. Whittle