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Paul Hamilton Hayne (January 1, 1830 – July 6, 1886) was a nineteenth century Southern American poet, critic, and editor of minor but historical distinction.

Hayne was born in Charleston, South Carolina. After losing his father as a young child, Hayne was reared by his mother in the home of his prosperous and prominent uncle, Robert Y. Hayne, who was an orator and politician who served in the United States Senate.

Hayne was educated in Charleston city schools and graduated from the College of Charleston in 1852. He began the practice of law but soon abandoned it in order to pursue his literary interests and ambitions. Hayne served in the Confederate army in 1861 and remained in the army until his health failed. He lost all of his possessions — including his house and an extensive library — when Charleston was bombarded in 1862. In 1863, Hayne moved his family to Grovetown, Georgia, a wooded area about 16 miles from Augusta, Georgia. Here Hayne lived and worked until his death in 1886. Grovetown was also where his career as a literary critic and magazine editor began. He contributed to important magazines of the South during his era, including the Charleston Literary Gazette, the Southern Literary Messenger, the Home Journal, and Southern Bivouac. Hayne was also instrumental with Southern novelist William Gilmore Simms in the founding of Russell's Magazine, which Hayne edited.

Hayne was an emerging poet and published various collections of poems, including a complete..