Educated at the College of Charleston, Hayne graduated in 1852. He practised law in Charleston for a time before abandoning it in favour of his literary pursuits. In 1855, Hayne published his first book of verse, Poems, which won critical acclaim. He was a member of the Russell's Bookstore Group and edited Russell's Magazine from 1857 to 1860. Although he enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, his health was poor and he saw no action. Unfortunately, his home and all of his possessions were destroyed in the 1862 bombardment of Charleston, and Hayne lived in poverty for a number of years. He moved to Georgia in 1863 and became close friends with the poet Henry Timrod, later helping him financially and promoting his poetry. Following Timrod's early death from tuberculosis in 1867, Hayne collected his poems and published them in 1873. Hayne's own reputation grew in the latter years and he was known as the 'last literary cavalier'. His other works include Sonnets and Other Poems (1857), Avolio (1860), Legends and Lyrics (1872), H. S. Legare (1878), Collected Poems (1882) and The Broken Battalions (1885). |
