George Sterling (December 1, 1869 – November 17, 1926) was a prominent American poet, an acclaimed playwright, and a proponent of Bohemianism during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His work was admired by writers as diverse as Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, Robinson Jeffers, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, H. P. Lovecraft, H. L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, and Clark Ashton Smith.Ambrose Bierce: Bierce, "The Passing Show: A Record of Individual Opinion and Dissent", New York American (December 27, 1903), p. 32; Bierce March 15, 1902 letter to Sterling: Ambrose Bierce, The Letters of Ambrose Bierce, Bertha Clark Pope, ed. (San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1922), reprinted (New York: Gordian Press, 1967), pp. 51–52; Bierce February 5, 1904 letter to Sterling, Letters of Ambrose Bierce, p. 86; Bierce, "A Poet and His Poem", v. 53, n. 5, Cosmopolitan (September 1907), pp. 575–577. Theodore Dreiser: December 26, 1920 letter to Edward H. Smith: Letters of Theodore Dreiser: A Selection, Robert H. Elias, ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1959), v. 1, p. 322. Robinson Jeffers: Jeffers, “A Few Memories", Overland Monthly v. 85, n. 11 (November 1927), pp. 329, 351; Jeffers, “George Sterling", The Letters of Western Authors n. 1 (San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1935); John Cusatis, “Kindred Poets of Carmel: The Philosophical and Aesthetic Affinities of George Sterling and Robinson Jeffers", Jeffers Studies, v. 13 nos. 1 and 2 (2008), pp. 1–11. Jack London: Jack and Charmian London May 2, 1908 letter to Sterling, The Letters of Jack London, Earle Labor, Robert C. Leitz, III, and I. Milo Shepard, eds. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), v. 2, pp. 799–800; London November 19, 1910 letter to Lucius C. Pease, The Letters of Jack London, v. 2, p. 944. H. P. Lovecraft: October 17, 1923 letter to Clark Ashton Smith: H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, 1922–1931, David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi, eds. (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2017), pp. 58–59. H. L. Mencken: Mencken, "Poet Found Dead in Bed in S.F. Club", Oakland Tribune (November 17, 1926), p. 1. Upton Sinclair: Sinclair, "The Poetry of George Sterling", New Age: A Weekly Review [London, England], v. 16, n. 10 (January 7, 1915), pp. 261–262; Sinclair, “My Friend, George Sterling", Overland Monthly v. 85, n. 12 (December 1927), p. 365. Clark Ashton Smith: Smith, “Praise for George Sterling", Oakland Enquirer (January 10, 1920, p. 8; Smith, “George Sterling: An Appreciation", Overland Monthly v. 85, n. 3 (March 1927), pp. 79–80. This brief list of Sterling’s contemporaries who admired his writings is not intended to be complete. Robert Frost, William Randolph Hearst, Edgar Lee Masters, John Neihardt, H. G. Wells, and additional writers could be added. Sterling worked mostly in California's San Francisco Bay Area and Carmel-by-the-Sea, but also spent time as a writer in New York City, Sag Harbor, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. He influenced many writers. In addition, Sterling played a major role in the growth of the California cities of Oakland, Piedmont, and Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Literary career and critical responses During George Sterling's thirty-year career as a writer, he wrote songs, plays, movies, short stories, essays, and more than a thousand poems. His works were published in most American literary magazines, in more than a hundred newspapers, in anthologies, and in his own books. He earned several literary awards.
Although some critics of his time dismissed Sterling's poems (In Freeman magazine, poet John Gould Fletcher called him "a versifier lavishing his craft on subjects beneath the dignity of a true poet"), other media reviewers regarded Sterling's works highly (Atlanta Constitution: "There is no doubt at all about the genius of George Sterling"; New York Times: "Ambrose Bierce has been hailing Mr. Sterling for some years past as the greatest poet on this side of the Atlantic ... Mr. Bierce's hail seems likely to be justified"). Sterling's works were admired by such prominent writers as Jack London ("the greatest living poet in the United States"), Upton Sinclair ("His work possess the qualities of the greatest poetry: sublimity of thought, intensity of emotion, enchanting melody, and severe and reverent workmanship"), Theodore Dreiser ("The ranking American poet, greater than any we have thus far produced"), and H. L. Mencken ("He was one of our greatest poets. ... I had tremendous respect for his work and an admiration for his style").John Gould Fletcher, "Books: Out Where the West Begins", Freeman, v. 7, n. 179 (August 1923), pp. 548–549. "The Poet of the Suns", Atlanta Constitution (March 16, 1904), p. 4. "A Poet Who Finds Himself", New York Times (June 25, 1911), p. 57. Jack London November 19, 1910 letter to Lucius C. Pease, The Letters of Jack London, Earle Labor, Robert C. Leitz, III, and I. Milo Shepard, eds. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), v. 2, p. 944. Upton Sinclair, "The Poetry of George Sterling", New Age: A Weekly Review [London, England], v. 16, n. 10 (January 7, 1915), pp. 261–262. Theodore Dreiser December 26, 1920 letter to Edward H. Smith: Letters of Theodore Dreiser: A Selection, Robert H. Elias, ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1959), v. 1, p. 322. H. L. Mencken: "Poet Found Dead in Bed in S.F. Club", Oakland Tribune (November 17, 1926), p. 1.
After Sterling's death, Australian poet Sydney Elliott Napier wrote: "Sterling died only recently, leaving behind him a great name locally and an output of verse which undoubtedly contains much that must live, and some of it, indeed, worthy to be ranked among the finest expressions of the American muse."S. E. N. (pseudonym of Sydney Elliott Napier), "The Library", Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser v. 93, n. 2629 (old series), (February 9, 1927), pp. 20–21.
Sterling wrote about a vast variety of topics in different poetic styles that evolved throughout his writing career.
Poet in training, 1896–1901 At age 26, San Francisco business executive George Sterling became obsessed with a new passion. He wanted to write serious poetry inspired by his poetic heroes such as John Keats and Edgar Allan Poe. Sterling wrote his first poems after his February 1896 marriage. He knew eminent literary critic Ambrose Bierce and asked permission to send him poems for evaluation. Bierce replied: "Of course you may send me verses—a bellyful if you like." Sterling mailed Bierce dozens of poems and Bierce replied with detailed, precise comments.Bierce January 13, 1897 letter to Sterling, A Splendid Poison: The Letters of Ambrose Bierce and George Sterling, David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi, eds. (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2026), p. 17; The Testimony of the Suns, Including Comments, Suggestions, and Annotations by Ambrose Bierce: A Facsimile of the Original Typewritten Manuscript with the Marginal Notes by George Sterling in Black Ink and the Comments by Ambrose Bierce in Red Ink (San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1927).
Bierce appreciated one Sterling poem enough to include it in his February 21, 1897 San Francisco Examiner column. The poem, "Farewell", reflected on a dead friend's passing and the absence or presence of an afterlife."Farewell", San Francisco Examiner (Feb. 21, 1897), p. 34. It was Sterling's first appearance in print. Between 1897 and 1901, Sterling wrote many poems but, usually dissatisfied, let only a handful become published. For thirteen years Bierce reviewed and commented on Sterling's poems, teaching his protégé poetic skills and shaping his artistic preferences.
Bierce's protégé, 1901–1910 On April 11, 1901, Sterling mailed a new poem titled "Memorial Day, 1901" to Bierce for criticism. His mentor responded: "It is great—great!—the loftiest note that you have struck and held." Bierce arranged for the Washington Post to publish the poem and wrote a preface explaining that though Sterling was a new poet, "he has written a considerable body of verse. Not all of it has the strength, fire, and elevation of the remarkable poem printed here, but none has been delinquent in the matter of 'that something other than the sense' which distinguishes poetry from mere verse. George Sterling is a poet, and a great one—one may safely stake on that all the reputation for literary judgment that one may hope to have." The appearance of "Memorial Day, 1901" in The Washington Post was Sterling's first publication of a major poem. It marked his entry into a new stage of development as a writer. After five years writing practice poems, Sterling at age 31 determined to become a writer of serious, elevated verse.Bierce, "A Poet Has Risen", and Sterling, "Memorial Day, 1901", Washington Post (May 26, 1901), p. 26. Poem reprinted in the Oakland Enquirer (unlocated date) and the Nebraska City Conservative (November 28, 1901), p. 13. "The Testimony of the Suns"
Sterling loved astronomy because "my dear dead father was greatly interested in it, and I've spent many hours on the house-top with him and his telescope". He marveled at planets, stars, and galaxies—apparently resting in peace but actually slowly and endlessly colliding with and destroying each other. Sometime after December 16, 1901, Sterling began a long poem depicting the galaxies and stars of "the stellar universe at strife, when to the eye it is a symbol of such peace and changelessness ... It surely is a war if the cosmic processes are viewed as a whole." The long poem, "The Testimony of the Suns", is a lengthy astronomical poem that combines elements of science, fantasy, science fiction, and philosophy. Literary historian S. T. Joshi called it Sterling's "longest poem and one of his greatest".Quotations from Sterling: March 22, 1902 letter to Bierce, George Sterling, Dear Master: Letters of George Sterling to Ambrose Bierce, 1900–1912, Roger K. Larson, ed. (San Francisco: Book Club of California, 2002), pp. 28–31. Quotation from Joshi: George Sterling, Complete Poetry, S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, eds. (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2013), v. 2, p. 752.
The unusual poem was too long for magazines and was rejected by book publishers, so in 1903 Sterling self-published it in his first book, The Testimony of the Suns and Other Poems. When his book was released, Sterling's poems had been published in newspapers and magazines for seven years, but "The Testimony of the Suns" marked the first time Sterling's poetry attracted nationwide attention from critics. The New York Times said Sterling's poetry has "the note of character that promises permanence". Book News Monthly said his book "in every part rings true to the nature of man. The poems are often of great lyrical beauty and always have some music to them." Impressions Quarterly began its review: "A poet of the first magnitude has risen." "There is no doubt at all about the genius of George Sterling", proclaimed The Atlanta Constitution. The nationwide critical success of "The Testimony of the Suns" established Sterling's career as a poet."The Versifiers: New Volumes of Poetry by American Writers", New York Times Saturday Review of Books (Mar. 12, 1904), p. 172. "Reviews", Book News Monthly, v. 22, n. 258 (Feb. 1904), pp. 719–720. For a second review from the same publication, see Talcott Williams, "With the New Books", Book News Monthly, v. 22, n. 259 (Mar. 1904), p. 795. "George Sterling's Poems", Impressions Quarterly v. 5 (Mar. 1904), pp. 18–21. "The Poet of the Suns", Atlanta Constitution (Mar. 16, 1904), p. 4. That review follows a prior one in the Constitution the previous day: "Mr. Sterling's High Theme", p. 4.
The Triumph of Bohemia