The invitation sparked controversy because Paulin had told an Egyptian newspaper that he believed Jewish settlers in the West Bank “should be shot.”

The English department’s decision to cancel Paulin’s lecture came less than two months after Summers had given a speech in Memorial Church warning about the rise of global anti-Semitism.

She is the author of a 1993 book, “The Regenerate Lyric,” in which she challenged the widespread notion that Ralph Waldo Emerson is the source of the American poetic tradition. Her 1999 book, “The Line’s Eye,” traces the trajectory of American literature from early-18th century preacher Jonathan Edwards to Robert Frost.

“Both [books] show an exceptional command both of critical analysis of individual poets and texts and of the range of the entire history of American poetry from the colonial period to the present,” according to former English Deparment Chair Lawrence Buell, who is the Cabot professor of American literature.

There was no official announcement of the wedding, but Summers and his spokesman confirmed the nuptials yesterday after inquiries by reporters.

Summers said last night that he did not know whether the wedding would take place on Harvard’s campus.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Zachary M. Seward can be reached at seward@fas.harvard.edu.