Wylie, Elinor (1885-1928), was an American poet. Her style is noted for its rich, exact vocabulary and its brilliant word pictures. Wylie experimented widely in traditional verse forms, and was equally skilled using such forms as blank verse and the sonnet. Her goal as a poet was the refinement of verse technique.
Wylie had a short but brilliant literary career. She became known in 1921 with the publication of her first major collection, Net to Catch the Wind. She wrote three more volumes of poetry: Black Armour (1923), Trivial Breath (1928), and Angels and Earthly Creatures (published in 1929, after her death). Wylie also wrote four novels, all with historical backgrounds. The best known is Jennifer Lorn (1923).
Wylie was born on Sept. 7, 1885, in Somerville, New Jersey. Her maiden name was Elinor Hoyt. She wrote under the name of her second husband, Horace Wylie. In 1923, she married her third husband, William Rose Benét. After her death on Dec. 16, 1928, Benét edited Wylie’s Collected Poems (1932) and Collected Prose (1933).
