William Haines Lytle was born in Cincinnati, November 2, 1826. He served in the Mexican war as captain; became a member of the Ohio legislature; ran for lieutenaut-governor in 1857; was major-general of the Ohio militia; commanded the Fourth Ohio Regiment in General O.M. Mitchel's brigade in the civil war; was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga [Georgia], September 20, 1863. Illustrious in arms, this well-loved Ohio hero is also admired in the field of letters. His best poem, 'Anthony and Cleopatra,' seems to be booked for immortality. Periodically, it goes the rounds of the newspaper press as an 'old favorite,' having about it that indescribable quality of sustained excellence which marks it as permanently acceptable to the muse. Both the imagination and the ear of the critic must grant that there is melody, verve, dramatic vividness, and bold imagery in every stanza of the six which make up this fine lyric which reaches its climax in the words:

'And for thee, star-eyed Egyptian!
    Glorious sorceress of the Nile,
Light the path of Stygean horrors
    With the splendor of thy smile;
Give the Caesar crowns and arches,
    Let his brow the laurel twine,
I can scorn the Senate's triumphs,
    Triumphing in love like thine.' "

Pheron the king of ancient Egypt is moving an unthinkable amount of soldiers and supplies across the Nile.

[Jacob Abbott, The History of Xerxes the Great (New York: Harper & Brothers)] [Used with permission of the Florida Center for Instructional Technology]

"Anthony and Cleopatra" was written at the Lytle Homestead, Lawrence street, Cincinnati, in July, 1858. The author dashed it off in a glow of poetic excitement, and left the manuscript lying upon the writing-table, in his private room, where it was found by his friend, Wm. W. Fosdick, the poet. 'Who wrote that, Lytle?' inquired Fodsick. 'Why, I did,' answered Lytle, 'How do you like it?' Fosdick expressed admiration for the poem, and taking the liberty of a literary comrade, he carried the manuscript away, and sent it to the edition of the Cincinnati Commercial. . . . [Id., fn. at p. 284]

WILLIAM H. LYTLE was born in Cincinnati, about the year 1828, of an old and much respected American family. His great grandfather, William Lytle, held a captain's commission in the Pennsylvania line during the old French war, and emigrated to Kentucky in the year 1779. His grandfather, William Lytle, was famous in the early border warfare of the West, and one of the earliest and most distinguished
pioneers of Ohio. He was the intimate, personal friend of Andrew Jackson, under whom, when President, he held the office of Surveyor General of Public Lands.

Robert T. Lytle, the father of the subject of this sketch, was, for many years, a very influential politician. He represented the Cincinnati district in Congress, and was long the favorite orator of the Democracy of south-western Ohio. His only son, William, was educated in the West, and his fine abilities as a thinker, speaker and writer, were early the subject of remark. After the completion of his scholastic education, he studied law in the office of his uncle, E. S. Haines. Upon the breaking out of the Mexican war, the military spirit which had distinguished his family, showed itself in him. He volunteered, was elected captain of company L, second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Irvin of Lancaster, and served with distinction during the war. While in Mexico, he wrote some letters which were much admired for their poetic tone and beautiful description of tropical scenery. At the close of the war he returned to the practice of the law, but was soon elected a member of the first Ohio Legislature under the present Constitution of that State. He did not speak often in that body, but when he did address the House, he commanded its attention by a strain of eloquence and argument not quite so common in this country as some people suppose. In 1857 he was nominated to the office of Lieutenant
Governor by the Democratic party of Ohio. The ticket was beaten by a few hundred votes. He was afterward elected Major General of the First Division of the Ohio Militia, embracing within its limits the city of Cincinnati. This was a deserved honor, for in disposition and bearing he is the beau ideal of a citizen soldier; yet, considering the force and beauty with which he writes, his friends are constrained to think, that even in his soldierly hands "the pen is mightier than the sword."

William H. Lytle
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