Poet Lore

American periodical

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July 1, 2026

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Poet Lore was an American literary magazine launched in 1889 by editors Helen Archibald Clarke and Charlotte Endymion Porter. It was dedicated to the study of William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and comparative literature. The magazine gained popularity among literary clubs and societies, reflecting the Victorian literary standards of its editors.1

While Poet Lore primarily featured Shakespeare and Browning, it also introduced American audiences to translated works by European authors such as Henrik Ibsen and Maxim Gorky. Little original American writing was published in its pages. Clarke and Porter also edited several volumes of Browning's and Shakespeare's works. They sold Poet Lore in 1903 but continued as editors for some time.1

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Helen Archibald Clarke and Charlotte Endymion Porter
…Porter launched a new monthly, Poet Lore, “devoted to Shakespeare, Browning, and the Comparative Study of Literature.” The magazine found an immediate and growing audience among the proliferating literary clubs and societies across the nation, most if not all of them sharing the Victorian literary standards and interests of the…
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…Porter launched a new monthly, Poet Lore, “devoted to Shakespeare, Browning, and the Comparative Study of Literature.” The magazine found an immediate and growing audience among the proliferating literary clubs and societies across the nation, most if not all of them sharing the Victorian literary standards and interests of the…
Read More