Blessington, Francis C. 1942–

(Francis Charles Blessington)

PERSONAL: Born May 21, 1942; son of Francis and Margaret Blessington; married Ann M. Taylor, October 11, 1975; children: Geoffrey, Julia. Ethnicity: "Irish-American." Education: Boston College, A.B., 1963, doctoral study, 1966–67; Northeastern University, M.A. (English), 1966; Brown University, Ph.D., 1972, A.M. (classics), 1973.

ADDRESSES: Home—Woburn, MA. Office—Department of English, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115.

CAREER: High school mathematics teacher in Scituate, MA, 1963–64; Northeastern University, Boston, MA, instructor, 1967–72, assistant professor, 1972–75, associate professor, 1975–84, professor of English, 1984–, member of Early Music Players (playing the recorder), 1976–93. American College of Greece, visiting professor, summer, 1992; speaker at colleges and universities, including Salem State College, 1978, and University of New Delhi, 1979; gives readings from his works. Conducted research at Oxford University, 1977–78, and Villa i Tatti, Florence, Italy, 1987–88.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Milton Society of America, Classical Association of New England, New England Poetry Club, Brown Renaissance Seminar, Harvard Renaissance Seminar, Phi Kappa Phi, English Lunch Club.

WRITINGS:

"Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic, Routledge & Kegan Paul (London, England), 1979.

(Editor, with Guy Rotella) The Motive for Metaphor: Essays on Modern Poetry in Honor of Samuel French Morse, Northeastern University Press (Boston, MA), 1983.

Lantskip (poetry), William Bauhan (Dublin, NH), 1987.

"Paradise Lost": Ideal and Tragic Epic, Twayne (Boston, MA), 1988.

Lorenzo de' Medici (verse play), University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1992.

(Translator) Euripides: The Bacchae and Aristophanes: The Frogs (verse translations), Crofts Classics (Arlington Heights, IL), 1993.

Wolf Howl (poetry), BkMk Press (Kansas City, MO), 2000.

The Last Witch of Dogtown (novel), Curious Traveller Press (Gloucester, MA), 2001.

Contributor to International Encyclopedia of Higher Education. Contributor of about 200 articles, poems, translations, and reviews to literature journals, literary magazines, and newspapers, including Ariel, Stone Country, Yankee, Southern Review, Thoreau Journal Quarterly, Sewanee Review, Scriblerian, Harvard, New Letters, and Harbinger. Poetry editor, National Forum, 1992–95.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

British Book News, February, 1980, review of "Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic.

Clio, fall, 1980, review of "Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic.

Modern Language Journal, spring, 1982, review of "Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic.

Renaissance Quarterly, autumn, 1980, review of "Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic.

Times Literary Supplement, November 30, 1979, review of "Paradise Lost" and the Classical Epic.