I have always liked the idea that there is a poet laureate. The government (or at least some part of it) believes in poetry enough to create an official post for it. This Poetry Tuesday is thus dedicated to the poets laureate of the United States of America and of Great Britain.
First up, the Britains.
The job description:
- The realm’s official poet
- Member of the royal household
- Charged with writing verses for court and national occasions (such as for a Royal Wedding or the New Year)
- Awarded the position for life (more recently, the term of office has changed to 10 years)
- Chosen by the British reigning monarch, from a list of nominees that the Prime Minister compiles after a poet laureate dies
- The salary has varied, but traditionally includes some alcohol
The Poets Laureate of Great Britain:
- 1599: Samuel Daniel
- 1619: Ben Jonson
- 1637: Sir William Davenant (a godson of William Shakespeare)
- 1668: John Dryden
- 1688: Thomas Shadwell
- 1692: Nahum Tate
- 1715: Nicholas Rowe
- 1718: Reverend Laurence Eusden
- 1730: Colley Cibber
- 1757: William Whitehead, on the refusal of Thomas Gray
- 1785: Reverend Thomas Warton, on the refusal of William Mason
- 1790: Henry James Pye
- 1813: Robert Southey, on the refusal of Sir Walter Scott
- 1843: William Wordsworth
- 1850: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, on the refusal of Samuel Russell
- 1896: Alfred Austin, on the refusal of William Morris
- 1913: Robert Bridges
- 1930: John Masefield, OM
- 1967: Cecil Day-Lewis, CBE
- 1972: Sir John Betjeman, CBE
- 1984: Ted Hughes, OM, on the refusal of Philip Larkin
- 1999: Andrew Motion (for a ten year period)
Next, the Yankees:
The job description:
- Serves as the nation’s official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans
- Seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry
- Appointed annually by the Librarian of Congress and serves from October to May
- In making the appointment, the Librarian consults with former appointees, the current Laureate, and distinguished poetry critics
- The position has existed under two separate titles: from 1937 to 1986 as “Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress” and from 1986 forward as “Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.” The name was changed by an act of Congress in 1985
- The Laureate receives a $35,000 annual stipend funded by a gift from Archer M. Huntington
- Minimal specific duties in order to afford incumbents maximum freedom to work on their own projects while at the Library
- Gives an annual lecture and reading of his or her poetry
- Introduces poets in the Library’s annual poetry series
- Not necessarily expected to compose works for recitation at government events or in praise of government officials
The Poets Laureate of the United States of America:
- 1937-1941 Joseph Auslander
- 1943-1944 Allen Tate
- 1944-1945 Robert Penn Warren
- 1945-1946 Louise Bogan
- 1946-1947 Karl Shapiro
- 1947-1948 Robert Lowell
- 1948-1949 Leonie Adams
- 1949-1950 Elizabeth Bishop
- 1950-1952 Conrad Aiken (First to serve two terms)
- 1952 William Carlos Williams (appointed but did not serve)
- 1956-1958 Randall Jarrell
- 1958-1959 Robert Frost
- 1959-1961 Richard Eberhart
- 1961-1963 Louis Untermeyer
- 1963-1964 Howard Nemerov
- 1964-1965 Reed Whittemore
- 1965-1966 Stephen Spender
- 1966-1968 James Dickey
- 1968-1970 William Jay Smith
- 1970-1971 William Stafford
- 1971-1973 Josephine Jacobsen
- 1973-1974 Daniel Hoffman
- 1974-1976 Stanley Kunitz
- 1976-1978 Robert Hayden
- 1978-1980 William Meredith
- 1981-1982 Maxine Kumin
- 1982-1984 Anthony Hecht
- 1984-1985 Reed Whittemore (Interim Consultant in Poetry)
- 1984-1985 Robert Fitzgerald (Appointed and served in a health-limited capacity, but did not come to the Library of Congress)
- 1985-1986 Gwendolyn Brooks
- 1986-1987 Robert Penn Warren
- 1987-1988 Richard Wilbur
- 1988-1990 Howard Nemerov
- 1990-1991 Mark Strand
- 1991-1992 Joseph Brodsky
- 1992-1993 Mona Van Duyn
- 1993-1995 Rita Dove
- 1995-1997 Robert Hass
- 1997-2000 Robert Pinsky
- 1999-2000 Special Bicentennial Consultants: Rita Dove, Louise Glück and W.S. Merwin
- 2000-2001 Stanley Kunitz
- 2001-2003 Billy Collins
- 2003-2004 Louise Glück
- 2004-2006 Ted Kooser
- 2006-2007 Donald Hall
- 2007-Present Charles Simic
And, to wrap things up here is a poem from the current U.S. poet laureate, Charles Simic:
In the Library
for Octavio
There’s a book called
“A Dictionary of Angels.”
No one has opened it in fifty years,
I know, because when I did,
The covers creaked, the pages
Crumbled. There I discovered
The angels were once as plentiful
As species of flies.
The sky at dusk
Used to be thick with them.
You had to wave both arms
Just to keep them away.
Now the sun is shining
Through the tall windows.
The library is a quiet place.
Angels and gods
huddled
In dark unopened books.
The great secret lies
On some shelf Miss Jones
Passes every day on her rounds.
She’s very tall, so she keeps
Her head tipped as if listening.
The books are whispering.
I hear nothing, but she does.
—Charles Simic
Buy Sixty Poems
Related posts:
Comments on this entry are closed.