Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) was born in Macon, Georgia, to Robert Sampson Lanier (1819-1893) and Mary Jane Anderson (1822-1865). He attended Oglethorpe University and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Lanier fought in the Civil War as a private for the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, Lanier moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he worked as a desk clerk at the Exchange Hotel and performed as a musician. It was around this time he wrote his only novel, the semi-autobiographical Tiger Lilies and served as principal in a school in nearby Prattville, Alabama.

In 1867, Lanier married Mary Day (1844–1931) of Macon, Georgia. They had four sons: Charles Day Lanier (1868–1945), Sidney Lanier, Jr. (1870-1918), Henry Wysham Lanier (1873-1958), and Robert Sampson Lanier (1880–1912). While practicing law for several years in his father's office, Lanier began writing poetry. He was famous for his performances in the Peabody Orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland, notably for a personal composition for the flute called "Black Birds," which mimics the song of that species. Lanier wrote poetry for magazines, becoming known as the "Poet of the Confederacy," his best known works are "The Song of the Chattahoochee," "The Marshes of Glynn," and "Sunrise." Later in his life, he became a student, lecturer, and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, specializing in English literature.