American poet (1921–2017)
Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of theWorld War II generation , Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir toRobert Frost , translated theverse dramas ofMoliere ,Corneille , andRacine into rhymed English,[ 1] Leonard Bernstein as thelyricist for the operaCandide [ 2] West Chester University Poetry Conference , as a mentor to the younger poets of theNew Formalist movement .[ 3] Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987 and received thePulitzer Prize for Poetry twice, in 1957 and 1989.[ 4]
Wilbur was born inNew York City on March 1, 1921, and grew up inNorth Caldwell, New Jersey .[ 5] Montclair High School , where he worked on the school newspaper.[ 6] Amherst College , he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one of the "sharpest" reporters for the college newspaper, edited by upperclassmanRobert Morgenthau .[ 7] United States Army from 1943 to 1945 duringWorld War II . He attended graduate school atHarvard University . Wilbur taught atWellesley College , thenWesleyan University for two decades and atSmith College for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of theWesleyan University Press .[ 8] [ 9] [ 10] The Common [ 11] [ 9] [ 5] [ 12] [ 13] [ 14]
When only eight years old, Wilbur published his first poem inJohn Martin's Magazine .[ 15] The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems , appeared in 1947. Thereafter he published several volumes of poetry, includingNew and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur was also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies ofMolière and dramas ofJean Racine . His translation ofTartuffe Opposites ,More Opposites , andThe Disappearing Alphabet. In 1959 he became the general editor of The Laurel Poetry Series (Dell Publishing ).
Continuing the tradition ofRobert Frost andW. H. Auden , Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into writing theatrelyrics . He provided lyrics to several songs inLeonard Bernstein 's 1956musical Candide Glitter and Be Gay " and "Make Our Garden Grow". He also produced several unpublished works, including "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".
His honors included the 1983Drama Desk Special Award and thePEN Translation Prize for his translation ofThe Misanthrope Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and theNational Book Award forThings of This World (1956),[ 16] Edna St Vincent Millay award, theBollingen Prize , and the Chevalier,Ordre des Palmes Académiques American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.[ 17] Robert Penn Warren , to be namedU.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won theAiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for hisNew and Collected Poems. On October 14, 1994, he received theNational Medal of Arts from PresidentBill Clinton . He also received thePEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame .[ 18] Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize . In 2010 he won theNational Translation Award for the translation ofThe Theatre of Illusion byPierre Corneille . In 2012Yale University conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Wilbur. He had a literary correspondence with Catholic nun, literary critic and poetM. Bernetta Quinn .[ 19] [ 20] [ 21]
Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, at a nursing home inBelmont, Massachusetts , from natural causes aged 96.[ 5] [ 22]
During his lifetime, Wilbur received numerous awards in recognition of his work, including:
Selected poems available online [ edit ] 1976:Responses: Prose Pieces, 1953–1976 [ 43] 1997:The Catbird's Song: Prose Pieces, 1963–1995 [ 43] Translated plays from other authors [ edit ] [ edit ] From Pierre Corneille [ edit ] ^ King, Brendan D.,The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry ,St Austin Review , March/April 2020,American Literature in the Twentieth Century , pp. 15–19. ^ Music Theatre International.Candide (1973) ^ King, Brendan D.,The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry ,St Austin Review , March/April 2020,American Literature in the Twentieth Century , po. 15–19. ^ "Poet Laureate Timeline: 1981–1990" .Library of Congress . 2008. RetrievedJanuary 1, 2009 .^a b c "Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96" .The New York Times . RetrievedOctober 16, 2017 .^ Richard (Purdy) Wilbur , from theDictionary of Literary Biography ^ Meier, Andrew (2022).Morgenthau (First ed.). Random House. pp. 276, 299.ISBN 9781400068852 ^ Wilbur biography University of Illinois , archived fromthe original on July 20, 2019, retrievedMay 9, 2009 ^a b Gordon, Jane (October 16, 2005),"The University of Verse" ,The New York Times , retrievedJuly 18, 2011 ^ "Wilbur" ,Faculty staff ,Amherst College ^ "About The Common – The Common" .www.thecommononline.org . July 15, 2016.^ Ferney, Mark (October 15, 2017)."Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96" .Boston Globe the original on April 1, 2019. RetrievedOctober 15, 2017 . ^ Aizenman, Hannah (October 16, 2017)."Richard Wilbur in the New Yorker" .The New Yorker ^ "Richard Wilbur, Who Twice Won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Dies at 96" .Los Angeles Times . RetrievedSeptember 28, 2019 .The U.S. poet laureate in 1987–88, Wilbur was often cited as an heir to Robert Frost and other New England writers and was the rare versifier to enjoy a following beyond the poetry community. He was regarded – not always favorably – as a leading "formalist," a master of old-fashioned meter and language who resisted contemporary trends. Wilbur was also known for his translations, especially of Moliere, Racine and other French playwrights. ^ "Richard Wilbur, The Art of Poetry No. 22" ,The Paris Review , retrievedDecember 24, 2014 ^ "National Book Awards – 1957" .National Book Foundation . Retrieved 2012-03-02.^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W" (PDF) .American Academy of Arts and Sciences . RetrievedApril 7, 2011 .^ "2004 Inductees of Theatre Hall of Fame Announced" . www.playbill.com. Archived fromthe original on March 31, 2014.^ Ripatrazone, Nick (2023). "Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn: Woman of Letters".The Habit of Poetry: The Literary Lives of Nuns in Mid-century America doi :10.2307/j.ctv2xkjp9p.7 .ISBN 978-1-5064-7112-9 JSTOR j.ctv2xkjp9p . ^ "Mary Bernetta Quinn Papers, 1937–1998" .Wilson Special Collections Library of UNC-Chapel Hill .^ "Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn papers" .Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University .^ Ferney, Mark (October 15, 2017)."Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96" .The Boston Globe the original on April 1, 2019. RetrievedOctober 15, 2017 . ^ "All Fellows" .John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . Archived fromthe original on July 7, 2017. RetrievedJuly 18, 2016 .^ "A Century of American Poetry" .Poetry Society of America . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "National Book Awards – 1957" .National Book Foundation . RetrievedJuly 18, 2016 .^ "Poetry" .The Pulitzer Prizes . RetrievedJuly 18, 2016 .^ "The Bollingen Prize for Poetry" .Yale University . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Shelley Winners" .Poetry Society of America . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Past Awards" .New York Drama Critics' Circle . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Awards for 1973–1974" .Outer Critics Circle . Archived fromthe original on May 3, 2016. RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Awards" .Drama Desk . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ Peter Armenti (June 10, 2015)."United States Poets Laureate: A Guide to Online Resources" .Library of Congress . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 . ^ "Olivier Winners 1988" .Olivier Awards . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Saint Louis Literary Award - Saint Louis University" .www.slu.edu . Archived fromthe original on April 27, 2019. RetrievedJuly 26, 2016 .^ Saint Louis University Library Associates."Recipients of the St. Louis Literary Award" . RetrievedJuly 25, 2016 . ^ "Gold Medal" .American Academy of Arts and Letters . Archived fromthe original on August 17, 2016. RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement" .www.achievement.org .American Academy of Achievement .^ "PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation Winners" .PEN America . April 29, 2016. RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .[dead link ^ "Frost Medalists" .Poetry Society of America . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Wallace Stevens Award" .Academy of American Poets . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize" .Poetry Foundation . RetrievedJuly 19, 2016 .^ "MacDowell Medal winners — 1960–2011" .The Telegraph . RetrievedDecember 6, 2019 .^a b c d e f g h i j "Richard Wilbur" .Poetry Foundation . October 18, 2017.^a b c Carlson, Michael (October 17, 2017)."Richard Wilbur obituary" .The Guardian ^ "Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Poetics" .Library of America .^ The Misanthrope ISBN 978-0-8222-1389-5 ^ Tartuffe ISBN 978-0-8222-1111-2 ^ The School for Wives ISBN 978-0-8222-0999-7 ^ The Learned Ladies ISBN 978-0-8222-0648-4 ^ School for Husbands ISBN 978-0-8222-0998-0 ^ The Imaginary Cuckold, or Sganarelle ISBN 978-0-8222-1331-4 ^ Amphitryon ISBN 978-0-8222-1439-7 ^ The Bungler ISBN 978-0-8222-1747-3 ^ Don Juan ISBN 978-0-8222-1657-5 ^ Lovers' Quarrels ISBN 978-0-8222-2159-3 ^ "Forthcoming: Summer and Fall 2021" .Library of America . RetrievedApril 23, 2023 .^ Andromache ISBN 978-0-8222-0048-2 ^ Phædra ISBN 978-0-8222-0890-7 ^ The Suitors ISBN 978-0-8222-1804-3 ^ Corneille, Pierre (April 2, 2007),The Theatre of Illusion ISBN 978-0-15-603231-5 ^ Le Cid ISBN 978-0-8222-2501-0 ^ The Liar ISBN 978-0-8222-2502-7 Bagg, Robert; Bagg, Mary (2017).Let Us Watch Richard Wilbur: A Biographical Study . Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.ISBN 978-1625342249 Brodsky, Joseph. On Richard Wilbur.The American Poetry Review , Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan./ Feb. 1973), p. 52.https://www.jstor.org/stable/40742806 King, Brendan D. The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry.St Austin Review Richard Wilbur and the Things of This World , a documentary film by Ralph Hammann, 2017, Film Odysseys, Ltd. To be released.
Awards for Richard Wilbur
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
1922–1950 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001–2025
1922–1950 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001–2025
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