George Sterling

George Sterling (born December 1, 1869 in Sag Harbor , Long Island , New York , † November 17, 1926 in San Francisco , California ) was an American poet and playwright .

Sterling worked as a clerk in the real estate and insurance industries in Oakland when his uncle had started a business there. This gave him time to read and write. He later came to San Francisco, where he led an unsteady bohemian life in the city .

His circle of friends included well-known personalities such as the writers Ambrose Bierce and Jack London , London in particular became his best friend and the photographer and filmmaker Francis Bruguière .

In 1892 he was able to have his first poems printed in the San Francisco Examiner ; the first volume of poetry, The testimony of the suns , was published in 1903. In total, he left around eleven volumes of poetry and four plays. He also directed some of the plays, of which Lilith is the best known. For San Francisco he was also a kind of homeland poet, as he sang about the city in many verses. Sterling also left a number of short stories . Influences on his work can be seen through Edgar Allan Poe , Charles Baudelaire and the literary symbolists . Some verses have been translated into Italian. His lyrics are sometimes dark and hermetic. It reflects the neo-romantic poetry and is based on Satanism , Black Romanticism and decadence .

Sterling was married but divorced in 1915 after a series of affairs. He experimented with opium while writing his verses . On November 17, 1926, he committed suicide with cyanide suicide , as he in depression suffered.

The city of San Francisco honored the poet with the Sterling Glade in the Russian Hills, a park area just outside the city. His black poems are best tangible in The thirst of Satan: Poems of Fantasy and Terror , published in 2003 .

Work (selection)

The testimony of the suns. 1903.
A wine of Wizardry. 1909.
The House of Orchids. 1911.
Beyond the breakers. 1914.
Lilith. 1919 (play).
Poetica erotica. 1921.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Sterling, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American lyricist and playwright
DATE OF BIRTH	December 1, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sag Harbor , New York
DATE OF DEATH	November 17, 1926
Place of death	San Francisco , California