Edgar Bowers (; March 2, 1924 – February 4, 2000) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who won the Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1989 and two Guggenheim fellowships. In selecting Mr. Bowers, the judges cited his 1973 work, ''Living Together: New and Selected Poems'', saying that it "cemented Mr. Bowers's reputation as a poet of enduring work."

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...

declared Bowers one of the 20th century’s masters.

Biography

Bowers was born in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

, in 1924. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the military and worked in

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting ac ...

against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, which would later inform much of his writing. He was stationed for a year at Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s retreat in the Alps. He graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1950 and after the war, he earned his MA and PhD in English literature from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He wrote five collections of poetry, including ''For Louis Pasteur'' (1990), ''The Astronomers'' (1965) and ''The Form of Loss'' (1956). He taught English at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

for most of his career. In Bowers's obituary, the English poet Clive Wilmer wrote, "The title poem of his 1990 collection, ''For Louis Pasteur'', announces his key loyalties. He confessed to celebrating every year the birthdays of three heroes: Pasteur,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...

, all of whom suggest admiration for the life of the mind lived at its highest pitch—a concern for science and its social uses, and a love of art that is elegant, cerebral and orderly." Another aspect of Bowers is highlighted by

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with Movement (literature), The Movement, and his later poetry in America, where he adop ...

on the back of Bowers's ''Collected Poems'': "Bowers started with youthful stoicism, but the feeling is now governed by an increasing acceptance of the physical world." That 'physical world' encompasses sex and love which are refracted through his restrained and lapidary lines. The effect of this contrast is striking: at once balanced and engaged; detached but acutely aware of sensual satisfactions." Bowers's style owes much to the artistic ethos of

Yvor Winters Arthur Yvor Winters (October 17, 1900 – January 25, 1968) was an American poet and literary critic. Life Winters was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there until 1919 except for brief stays in Seattle and Pasadena, where his grandparents ...

, under whom Bowers studied at Stanford. The poetry of his first two volumes reflects the austere dedication to formal precision that marked the thinking of Winters and J. V. Cunningham. He often wrote in rhyme, but also produced

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metre (poetry), metrical but rhyme, unrhymed lines, usually in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th cen ...

in the English language. He wrote very little (his ''Collected Poems'' weighs in at 168 pages). Bowers retired in 1991 and died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma at his home in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on February 4, 2000, the day after his companion, James Davis, died. In 2003, UCLA hosted a conference and exhibit in Bowers’s honor.

References

Publications

* ''The Form of Loss'' (Alan Swallow, 1956) * ''The Astronomers'' (Alan Swallow, 1965) * ''Living Together'' ( David R. Godine, 1973) * ''For Louis Pasteur'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 1989) * ''Collected Poems'' (

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

, 1997)

External links

Bowers's page at poets.org

Clive Wilmer's Guardian obituary

Edgar Bowers Collection
at Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers, Edgar 1924 births 2000 deaths People from Rome, Georgia University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Poets from Georgia (U.S. state) Stanford University alumni Duke University faculty University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Bollingen Prize recipients 20th-century American poets American military personnel of World War II