Max Michelson (1880–1953) was an American,
imagist
Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...
poet closely associated with
Harriet Monroe
Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, which she established in 1912 ...
and
Poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
magazine.
Life and career
Michelson was a childhood immigrant to America from
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and settled in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, working as a
furrier
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item ...
. Later, in 1920 he moved to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, 'soon after his arrival there, a mental hospital had to be his refuge' and there he was to stay until he died, in obscurity, in 1953.
Michelson, in addition to becoming an
Imagist
Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...
poet, reviewed poetry for the noted
Poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
magazine.
Harriet Monroe
Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, which she established in 1912 ...
, the editor thereof said of Michelson 'he was a fine poet, a fine artist, offering deep searching in the beauty and mystery of life, always with a sure touch upon his finely tuned instrument, poetic rhythms of accurately responsive beauty, ' a furrier whose exquisite sensibility transcended the demands of his trade, and finding Michelson's delicate talent, quiet presence, helpful in the office routine and his judgement of new poets, suggestive'. Monroe, later, included five of Michelson's early poems in her 1918 'New Poetry - an anthology' and published in
Poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
his 'The Tired Woman' - a ' present day myth play. Michelson's
Imagist
Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...
poem 'Midnight' was included in William Pratt's acclaimed anthology of Imagist poetry, ' The Imagist Poem - Modern Poetry in Miniature, 1963.
See also
*The Extant Poetry and Prose of Max Michelson, Imagist
[Michelson, Peter ed.' The Extant Poetry and Prose of Max Michelson, Imagist' Edwin Mellen Press, 2000 -]
*'The Tired Woman' a present-day myth play. (1918)
References
External links
*
Michelson poetryMichelson -Poetry Review of 'Cadences' by
F. S. Flint
Frank Stuart Flint (19 December 1885 – 28 February 1960) was an English poet and translator who was a prominent member of the Imagist group. Ford Madox Ford called him "one of the greatest men and one of the beautiful spirits of the country".
L ...
Poems in Monroe's 1918 anthology
American poets
1880 births
1953 deaths
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