American poet and geologist, born at Kensington, Connecticut; took his degree at Yale in 1815, and qualified as a medical practitioner; he was for a few months professor of Chemistry at West Point, but retired and gave himself to literature and geology; his scientific works are valuable; "Prometheus and Clio" appeared in 1822, "Dream of a Day" in 1843; he died at Hazel Green, Wisconsin (1795-1856).