Po Chu-i See Bo Juyi Po Hai See Bo Hai
Po River ancient Padus River, northern Italy. The country’s longest river, it is about 405 mi (652 km) long. It rises in the Cottian Alps on the western frontier and flows northeast to Turin, then east across Piedmont and Lombardy into the Adriatic Sea. Its delta is one of the most complex of any European river, with at least 14 mouths. It is navigable from its mouth to Pavia. Industrial cities in its valley include Milan, Padua, and Verona. It has suffered devastating autumn floods, including those in 589, 1438, 1951, and 1966.
Pobedonostsev Vpo-byi-do-'nost-syiA, Konstantin (Petrovich)
(b. May 21, 1827, Moscow, Russia—d. March 23, 1907, St. Petersburg)
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1516 I Pocahontas ► pogrom
Russian government administrator. He wrote and lectured on civil law at Moscow University (1859-65), tutored the sons of Tsar Alexander II, and later became a close adviser to Alexander III. influencing him to adopt reactionary policies. As director general of the Holy Synod of the Rus¬ sian Orthodox church (1880-1905), he assumed great power over domes¬ tic policy in education, religion, and censorship. Nicknamed “the Grand Inquisitor,” he became the symbol of Russian monarchical absolutism.
Pocahontas \,po-k3-'han-t3s\ (b. c. Va. [U.S.]—d. March 1617, Grave¬ send, Kent, Eng.) Powhatan Indian woman. Daughter of the powerful chief Powhatan, Pocahontas helped maintain peace between English colonists and Native Americans by befriending the settlers at Jamestown, Va. By the account of colonial leader John Smith, Pocahon¬ tas intervened to save his life after he had been taken prisoner by her father’s men. She subsequently con¬ verted to Christianity and wedded the colonist John Rolfe, which fur¬ thered efforts toward peace. She traveled to England, where she was received at court, but soon afterward she died, probably of lung disease.
pocket billiards See pool pocket gopher See gopher
1596, near present-day Jamestown,
Pocahontas, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist, 1616.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
pocket mouse Any of about 30 species of nocturnal North American rodents constituting the genus Perognathus (family Heteromyidae), hav¬ ing fur-lined, external cheek pouches that open alongside the mouth. Pocket mice are yellowish brown to dark gray and are 2.5-5 in. (6-13 cm) long, excluding a tail of about the same length. They are usually soli¬ tary and inhabit dry and desert regions. They carry food (mainly seeds) in their pouches and store it in their burrows. Spiny pocket mice (most in the genera Liomys and Heteromys\ family Heteromyidae), found from Mexico through Central America, are gray, brown, or black nocturnal burrowers that inhabit wet, forested regions as well as dry country.
podesta \,po-d3-'sta\ (Italian: “power”) In medieval Italian communes, the highest judicial and military magistrate. The office was instituted by Frederick I Barbarossa in an attempt to govern rebellious Lombard cities. From the late 12th century the communes usually elected their own pod¬ esta, often a nobleman with legal training. Serving for six months or a year, the podesta summoned councils, led the communal army, and admin¬ istered civil and criminal jurisdiction.
Podgorica Vpod-.gor-et-sa \ formerly (1946-92) Titograd City (pop., 1999 est.: 130,875), capital of Montenegro, southern Serbia and Montene¬ gro. As a feudal state capital in the early Middle Ages, it was known as Ribnica; it was called Podgorica from 1326. It fell to the Turks in 1474 but was restored to Montenegro in 1878. It was occupied in 1916 by Austria, in 1941 by Italy, and in 1943 by Germany. In 1946 it became Titograd in honour of Marshal Tito, but its former name was restored in 1992 after the collapse of communism. It is the site of a university (founded 1974).
Podgorny \p6d-'g6r-ne\, Nikolay (Viktorovich) (b. Feb. 18,1903, Karlovka, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. Jan. 12, 1983, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet politician. He worked in engineering jobs in the sugar industry, then was appointed deputy commissar of the Soviet food¬ processing industry in 1940. He rose through the Communist Party hier¬ archy to become chair of the Ukraine party committee (1957-63), a full member of the Politburo (1960), and head of the party’s Central Com¬ mittee (1963-65). In a power struggle with Leonid Brezhnev, Podgorny was demoted to the ceremonial post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1965-77).
podiatry \p3-'dI-3-tre\ or chiropody \,k3-'rap-3d-e\ Medical specialty dealing with the foot. Podiatrists diagnose and treat foot diseases, disabili¬ ties, and deformities by means of physical medicine and rehabilitation, special shoes and other mechanical devices, drugs, and minor surgery.
podium In architecture, a pedestal on a large scale. It may be any of various elements that form the base of a structure, such as the platform
forming the floor and substructure of a Classical temple, a low wall sup¬ porting columns, or the structurally or decoratively emphasized lowest portion of a wall. The term is also applied to other types of raised plat¬ form, such as an orchestra conductor’s dais.
Poe, Edgar Allan (b. Jan. 19, 1809, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Oct. 7, 1849, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. poet, critic, and short-story writer. Poe was raised by foster parents in Richmond, Va., following his mother’s death in 1811. He briefly attended the University of Virginia and then returned to Boston, where in 1827 he published a pamphlet of youthful, Byronic poems. By 1835 he was in Richmond as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, the first of several periodicals he was to edit or write for. There he married a 13-year-old cousin, who died in 1847. At various times he lived in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. Alcohol, the bane of his irregular and eccentric life, caused his death at age 40. His works are famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. Among his tales are “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter” initiated the modern detective story. His poems (less highly regarded now than for¬ merly) are musical and sensuous, as in “The Bells,” a showcase of sound effects; they include touching lyrics inspired by women (e.g., “Annabel Lee”) and the uncanny (e.g., “The Raven”).
poet laureate Title first granted in England for poetic excellence. Begun in 1616, the office was formally established in 1668 and has been continuous since then. Its holder, a salaried member of the British royal household, was formerly expected to compose poems for court or national occasions, but since the appointment of William Wordsworth in 1843 the office has been a reward for eminence in poetry and has carried no spe¬ cific duties. In 1985 the U.S. government created the title of poet laure¬ ate, to be held by the consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress.
poetry Writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through its meaning, sound, and rhythm. It may be distinguished from prose by its compression, frequent use of conventions of metre and rhyme, use of the line as a formal unit, heightened vocabulary, and free¬ dom of syntax. Its emotional content is expressed through a variety of techniques, from direct description to symbolism, including the use of metaphor and simile. See also prose poem; prosody.