Richard wilbur short biography

American poet (1921–2017)

For the Leagued States Tax Court judge, glance Richard C. Wilbur.

Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet elitist literary translator.

One of probity foremost poets, along with king friend Anthony Hecht, of honesty World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, concentrate on composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its discernment, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. Pacify was acclaimed in his young manhood as the heir to Parliamentarian Frost, translated the verse dramas of Moliere, Corneille, and Dramatist into rhymed English,^[1] collaborated occur to Leonard Bernstein as the rhymer for the opera Candide,^[2] gift in his old age fascinated, particularly through his role create the annual West Chester Habit Poetry Conference, as a intellect to the younger poets a mixture of the New Formalist movement.^[3] Without fear was appointed the second Metrist Laureate Consultant in Poetry lock the Library of Congress press 1987 and received the Publisher Prize for Poetry twice, providential 1957 and 1989.^[4]

Early years

Wilbur was born in New York Megalopolis on March 1, 1921, settle down grew up in North Author, New Jersey.^[5] In 1938 pacify graduated from Montclair High Kindergarten, where he worked on greatness school newspaper.^[6] At Amherst School, he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one discern the "sharpest" reporters for rectitude college newspaper, edited by upperclassman Robert Morgenthau.^[7] After graduation throw in 1942, he served in primacy United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World Warfare II.

He attended graduate educational institution at Harvard University. Wilbur unrestrained at Wellesley College, then Methodist University for two decades tube at Smith College for regarding decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the win poetry series of the Methodist University Press.^[8][9] He received bend over Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry increase in intensity taught at Amherst College in the same way late as 2009,^[10] where good taste also served on the file board of the literary publication The Common.^{[11][9][5][12][13][14]}

Literary career

When only make a difference years old, Wilbur published fulfil first poem in John Martin's Magazine.^[15] His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947.

Thereafter blooper published several volumes of versification, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur was very a translator, specializing in character 17th century French comedies recompense Molière and dramas of Trousers Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the play's malfunctioning English version and has anachronistic presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available awareness DVD).

Wilbur also published a handful children's books, including Opposites, More Opposites, and The Disappearing Alphabet. In 1959 he became goodness general editor of The Ornamentation Poetry Series (Dell Publishing).

Continuing the tradition of Robert Jack frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in familiar experiences.

Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into writing theatre angry speech. He provided lyrics to a number of songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musicalCandide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow". He further produced several unpublished works, inclusive of "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".

His honors included the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award submit the PEN Translation Prize execute his translation of The Misanthrope, the Pulitzer Prize for Ode and the National Book Present for Things of This World (1956),^[16] the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Trophy, and the Chevalier, Ordre nonsteroidal Palmes Académiques.

He was vote for a Fellow of the Dweller Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.^[17] In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, aft Robert Penn Warren, to continue named U.S. Poet Laureate puzzle out the position's title was denatured from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won the Aiken Actress Award for Modern American Verse and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for fillet New and Collected Poems. Tool October 14, 1994, he usual the National Medal of Covered entrance from President Bill Clinton.

Sharp-tasting also received the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into the American Theater Passageway of Fame.^[18] In 2006 filth won the Ruth Lilly Poesy Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award call upon the translation of The Coliseum of Illusion by Pierre Poet.

In 2012 Yale University presented an honorary Doctor of Copy on Wilbur.

Wilbur died eyesight October 14, 2017, at expert nursing home in Belmont, Colony, from natural causes aged 96.^[5][19]

Awards and honors

During his lifetime, Wilbur received numerous awards in carry out of his work, including:

Bibliography

Poetry collections

Editor

Selected poems available online

Prose collections

Translated plays from other authors

Translated escape Molière

From Jean Racine

From Pierre Corneille

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

• Bagg, Robert; Bagg, Mary (2017).

  Let Us Take in Richard Wilbur: A Biographical Study. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Overcome. ISBN .

• King, Brendan D., The Rhymer and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, standing the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Ordinal Century, pages 15-19.
• Richard Wilbur add-on the Things of This World, a documentary film by Ralph Hammann, 2017, Film Odysseys, Ltd.

  To be released.

External links