WILLEM VAN HAREN
\wˈɪləm vˈan hˈaɹən], \wˈɪləm vˈan hˈaɹən], \w_ˈɪ_l_ə_m v_ˈa_n h_ˈa_ɹ_ə_n]\
Sort: Oldest first
-
A Dutch poet and statesman, brother of Onno; born at Leeuwarden, Feb. 21, 1710; committed suicide in North Brabant, July 4, 1768. He held important governmental posts but was ruined by speculation. His celebrated poem "Leonidas" (1742) was written to inspire the Hollanders with his own enthusiasm for liberty and the war of the Austrian succession. Even more meritorious are his odes on human happiness and the vicissitudes of life; but his epic poem "Friso", despite imperfections, won him his greatest fame.
By Charles Dudley Warner
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.