MCCRAE, HUGH (RAYMOND)

born Oct. 4, 1876, Melbourne, Vic., Australia died Feb. 17, 1958, Sydney Australian poet, actor, and journalist best known for his sophisticated, romantic, highly polished lyrics. McCrae studied art and was apprenticed to an architect, but he soon left this profession for free-lance journalism, selling his work in Melbourne and New York City. In the United States in 1914 he tried unsuccessfully to make his way as a free-lance journalist and actor and later returned to Australia, where he became a successful author and occasional actor. His first book of verse, Satyrs and Sunlight: Sylvarum Libri (1909), appeared in a revised edition in 1928, which contains much of his best work. Colombine (1920) was followed by Idyllia (1922). Other works include The Mimshi Maiden (1938), Poems (1939), Forests of Pan (1944), and Voice of the Forest (1945).