Cale Young Rice

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Cale Young Rice
Portrait of Cale Young Rice
Born(1872-12-07)December 7, 1872
DiedJanuary 24, 1943(1943-01-24) (aged 70)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)poet and dramatist
SpouseAlice Hegan Rice

Cale Young Rice (December 7, 1872 – January 24, 1943) was an American poet and dramatist. He was professor of English at Cumberland University. His opera, Yolanda of Cyprus, was widely received.

Life and career[edit]

Rice was born in Dixon, Kentucky, to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a Confederate veteran and tobacco merchant, and his wife Martha Lacy. He was a younger brother of Laban Lacy Rice, a noted educator, author, and president of Cumberland University. Cale Rice grew up in Evansville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. He was educated at Cumberland University where he was a member of the Theta chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and at Harvard (A.B., 1895; A.M., 1896).[1]

On December 18, 1902, Rice was married to the popular author Alice Hegan Rice; they worked together on several books. The marriage was childless. In 1910, they built a house at 1444 St. James Court, where they lived for 40 years.[2][3]

Cale Rice's poems were collected and published in a single volume, The best poetic work of Cale Young Rice, by his brother, Laban Lacy Rice (1870–1973).[4]

His birthplace in Dixon is designated by Kentucky State Historical Marker 1508, which reads:

Birthplace of Rice brothers, Cale Young, 1872–1943, noted poet and author; Laban Lacy, 1870–1973, well-known educator and author. Lacy published The Best Poetic Works of Cale Young Rice after Cale's death. Included in famous collection is poem, "The Mystic." Cale married Alice Hegan, also a distinguished Kentucky writer. Home overlooks Memorial Garden.[5]

Rice adapted his play Yolanda of Cyprus into an opera libretto for Clarence Loomis; the resulting work was premiered on September 25, 1929, in London, Ontario, under the baton of Isaac Van Grove, and featured Charles Kullman. The production was directed by Vladimir Rosing.[6] The opera later received the Bispham Memorial Medal Award.[7]

Death[edit]

Rice committed suicide by gunshot during the night of January 24, 1943, at his home in Louisville a year after his wife's death due to his sorrow at losing her.[2][1]

Works[edit]

Verse[edit]

  • From Dusk to Dusk (1898)
  • With Omar (1900)
  • Song Surf (1900)
  • Nirvana Days (1908)
  • Many Gods (1910)
  • At the World's Heart (1914)

Plays[edit]

  • Charles di Tocca (1903)
  • Yolanda of Cyprus (1906)[8]
  • A Night in Avignon (1907)
  • The Immortal Lure (1911)
  • Porzia (1913)

Collection[edit]

  • Collected Plays and Poems (two volumes, 1915)

Other works[edit]

  • Youth's Way. New York, The Century Co., 1923.
  • A New Approach to Philosophy. Lebanon, Tenn: The Cumberland University Press, 1943.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Cale Y. Rice Is Found Dead". Messenger-Inquirer. Owensboro, Kentucky. 25 Jan 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  2. ^ a b Harrison, Lowell H.; Klotter, James C. (1997). A new history of Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky. p. 324. ISBN 9780813120089. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  3. ^ Kleber, John E. (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813128838. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  4. ^ Rice, Laban Lacy (1943). The best poetic work of Cale Young Rice. Lebanon, Tenn.: Cumberland University Press. OCLC 2665467.
  5. ^ "Search For Markers". explorekyhistory.ky.gov. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  6. ^ Margaret Ross Griffel; Adrienne Fried Block (1999). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-25310-2.
  7. ^ Ken Wlaschin (2006). Encyclopedia of American Opera. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2109-1.
  8. ^ "PLAYS AND LYRICS. The Collected Poems of Cale Young Rice--His Tragedies "Yolanda of Cyprus" and "David."". The New York Times. New York, New York. August 11, 1906. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

External links[edit]