My Science School

 

            ‘Howl’, was Allen Ginsberg’s masterpiece. ‘Howl’ was a poetic outburst against the violence and exploitation of society. This work of verse appears in ‘Howl and Other Poems’ published in 1956. A long lined poem, in the style popularized by Walt Whitman, ‘Howl’, made Ginsberg famous.

               Ginsberg was born in 1926 in New Jersey, US and grew up in Paterson. Ginsberg graduated from Columbia University. His mother, who was Russian by birth, suffered several nervous breakdowns. In ‘Kaddish’, his great confessional poem, Ginsberg re-creates the gloom caused by his mother’s illness and his relationship with her.

               ‘Empty Mirror’ and ‘Reality Sandwiches’ are important collections of his poetry. ‘The Fall of America: Poems of These States’, won him the National Book Award. ‘Collected Poems’ is an omnibus of Ginsberg’s published poetry. Ginsberg was a Buddhist who participated in non-violent protests. Ginsberg passed away in 1997.

 

 

               Philip Larkin was known as ‘England’s other poet laureate’. He was the popular and critical choice for the position when it became available in 1984. However, a publicity-shy Larkin refused the honour.

               Larkin was born on August 9th, 1922. ‘Jill’, was his first novel. The novel is based on his experiences at Oxford during his student days. He self published ‘The North Ship’, his first book of poetry. ‘The Less Deceived’, a collection of poetry, brought him fame. ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘High Windows’ are his other important works of verse.

               He was also a famous essayist. ‘Required Writing’ is his well known book of essays. Philip Larkin was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. Larkin died on 2nd December 1985.

               A memorial for Philip Larkin at Westminster Abbey reminds visitors of his contributions to post war poetry. 

 

 

          Charles Bukowski was a postman who became a man of letters.

            Bukowski was born in Germany on August 16th, 1920. He was taken to America as a two year old. He joined, and then dropped out of the Los Angeles City College.

            Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels. His first collection of poems, ‘Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail’ was published in 1960. From then on, a poetry collection of Bukowski appeared nearly every year. By 1963, Bukowski had a legion of diehard fans.

            ‘Mockingbird Wish Me Luck’, ‘Love Is a Dog from Hell’, ‘War All the Time’, and ‘You Get So Alone at Times that It Just Makes Sense’, are some of his popular poetry collections.

            Bukowski wrote several collections of short stories. ‘Notes of a Dirty Old Man’ was published in 1969. ‘Factotum’ and ‘Ham on Rye’ are among his well known novels. Bukowski’s life came to an end on March 9th, 1994. Several collections of his unpublished poetry including ‘Slouching Toward Nirvana’ and ‘The People Look Like Flowers At Last’ appeared posthumously. 

            William Bronk was an army man and a modern poet.  Bronk was first a draftee, and then an officer in the American army. He was discharged from the army following the end of World War II in October 1945.

            Bronk was born on February 17th, 1918 in New York. He entered Dartmouth College as a sixteen year old, and earned his graduate degree.

           ‘Light and Dark’, published in 1975, was his first collection of poetry. ‘The World, the Worldless’ was another great work. The angst and anxiety of modern life are featured in his poems. However the poet does not fall prey to hopelessness.

            Bronk explored time and space, as well as the nature of consciousness in his poems. His poems resemble those of Wallace Stevens.

            Bronk was also a known essayist. ‘Vectors and Smoothable Curves’ is a famous collection of essays written over a period of 40 years. Diverse subjects were also dealt with in his essays. William Bronk died on February 22nd, 1999.

 

 

            The poetry of John Berryman was, in many ways, a response to a childhood tragedy. When John Berryman was twelve, his father shot himself dead.

            Berryman was born in Oklahoma, US on October 25th, 1914. The young man graduated from Columbia University in 1936, after which he studied in Cambridge University for two years. ‘The Dispossessed’, published in 1948, was his first major collection of poetry. ‘Homage to Mistress Bradstreet’ was Berryman’s first poem to garner critical and public appreciation. John Berryman wrote some sonnets also.

            Berryman’s masterpiece was ‘77 Dream Songs’. This great book of intensely personal poems was published in 1964. The book won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, as well as the National Book Award. ‘Love & Fame’ was another well known work.

            Berryman was also famous for his confessional poetry. Berryman was one of the greatest American poets of the second half of the twentieth century.

            John Berryman passed away on January 7th, 1972. 

            Robert Lowell was born on March 1st, 1917. Lowell spent his childhood in Boston. He studied at Harvard before being transferred to Kenyon College in Gambier, from where he graduated in 1940.

            He wrote a variety of poems. ‘Land of Unlikeness’ published in 1944, is his first collection of poetry. A yearning for spiritual security, and the depiction of a world in crisis, are features of these poems. ‘The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket’, an elegy to his cousin Warren Winslow, who was lost at sea during World War II, and ‘Colloquy in Black Rock’, celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi, are two famous poems in this collection.

            Lowell’s ‘Life Studies’, won the National Book Award for poetry. ‘Revere Street’, an autobiographical essay and a series of 15 confessional poems were included in ‘Life Studies’.

            Of these, ‘Waking in the Blue’, and ‘Skunk Hour’, deal with Lowell’s traumatic experience of mental illness. Lowell passed away on September 12th, 1977 

               ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ is the most famous poem of Dylan Thomas. The poems of Dylan Thomas remain popular to this day, and he is regarded as the greatest Welsh poet of the twentieth century.

               Dylan Thomas was born on October 27th, 1914, in the United Kingdom.

               As he was not interested in any other subject other than English language, Dylan Thomas dropped out of school at the age of sixteen. Then he moved to London in 1941, and became a junior reporter.

               Thomas had jotted down poems in notebooks years ago, and in London, these poems were published by the Fortune Press as a book titled ‘18 Poems’. This book brought Dylan Thomas name and fame.

               Unlike Eliot and Auden, Dylan Thomas steered clear of social and intellectual issues. A travelling scholarship from the Society of Authors enabled Dylan Thomas to take his family to Italy. ‘In Country Sleep: And Other Poems’ was published while he was in Florence. ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ his masterpiece, appears in this collection. His other notable works are ‘And Death Shall Have no Dominion’ and ‘Under Milk Wood’. Thomas was a popular poet during his lifetime. The poet died at the age of thirty nine. 

          The title of a long poem penned by W.H. Auden became a catch phrase for describing modern times.

          ‘The Age of Anxiety’ was the poem. Published in 1947, ‘The Age of Anxiety’, won Auden the Pulitzer Prize. This was a poem with a psychological theme. Auden caught the attention of the reading public with ‘Poems’, his first book, published in 1930. ‘The Orators’ followed in 1932. Auden is acclaimed for his love poems like ‘Funeral Blues’.

          As a result Auden’s popularity surged. A pamphlet edition of fifteen of his poems, ‘Tell Me the Truth about Love’, sold more than 275,000 copies.

          Auden’s poems with political and sociological themes include ‘September 1, 1939’ and ‘The Shield of Achilles’.

          ‘For the Time Being’ and ‘Horae Canonicae’ are among his well known religious poems. ‘Paid on Both Sides’, subtitled ‘A Charade’ is Auden’s first drama.

          ‘Hearing of Harvests’, ‘Out on the Lawn I lie in Bed’, ‘O What is That Sound’, ‘Look, Stranger’, and ‘Our Hunting Fathers’, are W.H. Auden’s famous poems.

          His poem, ‘September 1, 1939’ was first published in 1939. The poem was frequently on air in the US, following the terrorist attacks on 11th September, 2001.

           W.H. Auden was born on 21st February, 1907 in England. He grew up in and around Birmingham in a middle class family.

          W.H. Auden passed away on 29th September, 1973. 

               Pablo Neruda is idolized by poetry lovers round the world. At the age of twenty, Neruda wrote ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’. Neruda’s poems are highly original, and marked by fantastic leaps of thought.

               Neruda was born in Chile to Jose Del Carmen Reyes and Rosa Basoalto on July 12, 1904. The baby was named Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto by his family.

               His father tried to dissuade Neruda from taking up writing. His father’s disapproval possibly prompted him to write under the pen name of Pablo Neruda. He legally changed his name to Pablo Neruda in 1946. Neruda published his first poems in the newspapers and magazines of Santiago.

               ‘Crepusculario’, his first book of poems, was published in 1923. ‘Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada’, Neruda’s subsequent book, was a bestseller. This book was inspired by Neruda’s experiences, and remains popular to this day. In honour of his literary feats,

               Neruda was a diplomat. He passed away on September 23rd, 1973. 

            Wallace Stevens and Mahatma Gandhi share the same birthday.

            Wallace Stevens was born on October 2nd, 1879, in Pennsylvania. He passed out of New York Law School in1903. A poet of ideas, Stevens began writing poetry in his teenage years. However, he was thirty four when his first poetry appeared in magazines. He took the pen name of Peter Parasol. Later, he wrote in his own name. ‘Harmonium’, his first collection of poems, was published when the poet was forty four years of age.

            Steven’s poems were meditative and philosophical. ‘The Idea of Order at Key West’ was his next book. ‘Collected Poems’ appeared in 1954. Stevens also wrote nonfiction.

            ‘Anecdote of the Jar’, ‘Disillusionment of Ten O’clock’, ‘The Emperor of Ice-Cream’, and ‘The Idea of Order at Key West’ and ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’ are some of his famous poems.

            Wallace Stevens was fond of the long poem, and metrical patterns. The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry was awarded to Wallace Stevens for his ‘Collected Poems’, in 1955.

            A volume of critical essays, ‘The Necessary Angel’, appeared in 1951. Stevens died on August 2nd, 1955.

 

 

               Rainer Maria Rilke was a writer par excellence. Rilke penned several great volumes of poetry, and a novel. ‘Collections of letters’, written by this Bohemian-Austrian writer was acclaimed highly by the poetry lovers. Rilke penned lyrics of great intensity.

               Rainer Maria Rilke was born on 4th December 1875. He published his first collection of poetry ‘Leben and Lieder’, even before he was admitted to the Charles University in Prague. ‘Larenopfer’ was his succeeding collection of verse. ‘Traumgekront’, came out in 1896. Rilke dropped out of university, and left for Munich that year. His collections ‘Duino Elegies’ and ‘Sonnets to Orpheus’ became famous in the English speaking world.

               Leukemia claimed Rainer Maria Rilke’s life on December 29th, 1926. He was buried in the Raron cemetery to the west of Visp. Rilke was idolized by artists and poetry lovers by the time of his death. Rilke’s fame continued to grow after he passed away. 

 

            Robert Frost was nobody in literary circles for the first forty years of his life. The brilliance of Frost came to the fore after his return from England, at the start of World War I. ‘New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes’, won Frost the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1924. Frost went on to win three more Pulitzers. ‘Collected Poems’, ‘A Further Range’, and ‘A Witness Tree’ were his other Pulitzer winning works.

            Frost was famous for his realistic portrayal of rural life, and his ability to use American spoken language in his works.

            Frost was a student at Harvard from 1897 to 1899, but his studies were cut short by illness. ‘My Butterfly, An Elegy’ was his first published poem.

            ‘A Boy’s Will’, his first volume of poetry, appeared in 1913. Robert Frost created many memorable poems such as ‘The Witch of Coos’, ‘Mending Wall’, ‘An Old Man’s Winter Night’, and ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’. Frost was born on March 26th, 1874, and died on January 29th, 1963.

          Rudyard Kipling was born in India to English parents on December 30th, 1865. Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, was an artist and scholar. ‘Barrack Room Ballads’, published in 1892, was Kipling’s first notable work as a poet.

          His popular verse was inspired by hymns, music hall songs, ballads and public poetry. ‘Mandalay’, ‘Gunga Din’, ‘The Gods of the Copybook Headings’, ‘The White Man’s Burden’, and ‘If-‘, are among his famous poems. ‘If-‘ was voted as Britain’s favourite poem in a poll conducted by the BBC.

          Kipling wrote ‘My Boy Jack’, following the death of his beloved son. Kipling refused many honours. He was offered the position of Poet Laureate, but he turned down the offer.

          However he accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.

          Rudyard Kipling’s wife, Caroline Balestier was American by birth. Kipling died on 18th January 1936. ‘The Jungle Book’,’ Kim’, and many short stories, including ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, authored by Kipling have been enjoyed by generations of readers. 

            William Butler Yeats, the great writer was the son of John Butler Yeats, the famous painter. William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 13th, 1865. He grew up in County Sligo, the homeland of his parents and in London.

            Irish legends attracted Yeats and those became features of his first phase of poetry. The first phase of his poetry came to an end by the start of the twentieth century. Edmund Spenser and Shelley inspired the early slow paced poetry of Yeats.

             ‘The Island of Statues: An Arcadian Faery Tale in Two Acts’, his first important work was written in this manner. ‘Mosada: A Dramatic Poem’, which had a print run of 100 copies, was financed by his father. ‘The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems’ appeared in1889. ‘The Secret Rose’ and ‘The Wind among the Reeds’ are his early poems. These poems were essentially meditations on love or mystical subjects.

            His friend, Althea Gyles, illustrated the covers of these books. He founded the Abbey Theatre.

            Yeats was an Irish senator for two terms. He was a great figure of English literature. William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Yeats passed away in 1939, aged seventy three. 

 

 

               From his childhood days, Arthur Rimbaud was fascinated by poetry. He played with words and rhymes. Rimbaud found his poetic voice at the age of sixteen. A love for freedom and adventure powered his poems. Rimbaud learned the rules of verse. Then he violated these rules. He was among the first modern poets to do so.

               Arthur Rimbaud was born in Charleville, in Northeastern France on 20th October, 1854.

               ‘Le Bateau ivre’, his greatest poem shows the strength of this method. Another work, ‘Derniers Vers’, translated as ‘Last Verses’ was inspired by his personal life. Illumination is one of his many works of prose poetry. ‘Une Saison en Enfer’, was a masterpiece of self-confession and psychological examination. ‘Adieu’, the final section of this book is regarded as his farewell to creative writing. The poet passed away on November 10th, 1891.

               This poet and adventurer was a great influence on modern poetry.