Lanier, the “poet laureate of Georgia,” earned his degree from Oglethorpe College. In 1879, he was appointed lecturer on English literature at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. One of his best known poems is “Song of the Chattahoochee.” His other works include:

• Tiger Lilies, 1867
• “Centennial Ode,” 1876
• “Science of English Verse,” 1881
• “The English Novel and Its Development,” 1883.
• “Boys’ Froissart,” 1879
• “Boys’ King Arthur,” 1880
• “Boys’ Mabinogion,” 1881

Lanier was also an accomplished concert flutist.