Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) 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 published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. "Richard Eberhart emerged out of the 1930s as a modern stylist with romantic sensibilities." He won the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

for ''Selected Poems, 1930–1965'' and the 1977 National Book Award for Poetry for ''Collected Poems, 1930–1976''. He was the grandfather of

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general manager Ben Cherington.

Biography

Early years

Eberhart was born in 1904 in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, a small city in southeast

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. He grew up on an estate of called Burr Oaks, since partitioned into hundreds of

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

lots. He published a volume of

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 ...

called ''Burr Oaks'' in 1947, and many of his poems reflect his youth in rural America. Eberhart began college at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, but following his mother's death from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 1921—the event which prompted him to begin writing poetry—he transferred to

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. After graduation he worked as a

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's hand, among other jobs, then studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, where I.A. Richards encouraged him to continue writing poetry, and where he took a further degree. After serving as private tutor to the son of King Prajadhipok of

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in 1931–1932, Eberhart pursued graduate study for a year at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. During his time at Harvard, Eberhart met and spoke with

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

. His first book of poetry, ''A Bravery of Earth'', was published in London in 1930. It reflected his experiences in Cambridge and his experience as a ship's hand. ''Reading the Spirit'', published in 1937, contains one of his best-known poems, "The Groundhog". He taught for eight years at the St. Mark's School (1933–1941), where

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

was one of his students. In 1941 he married Helen Butcher. They had two children. During World War II he held the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve; this experience led him to write another of his most celebrated poems, "The Fury of Aerial Bombardment", the first three stanzas of which, are in effect a prayer: ::''Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity?'' ::''Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all?'' ::''Is the eternal truth man's fighting soul'' ::''Wherein the Beast ravens in its own avidity?''

Career

In 1945, Eberhart published ''Poems: New and Selected'', containing "The Fury of Aerial Bombardment" and other poems written during his service including "Dam Neck, Virginia" and "World War". He also edited ''War and the Poet: An Anthology of Poetry Expressing Man's Reactions to the Present'' claiming to be the first collection of poems based on war. After the war, Eberhart worked for six years for his wife's family's floor wax company, the Butcher Polish Company. ''Burr Oaks'' was his first work published after the war in 1947 followed by ''Brotherhood of Men'' in 1949. In 1950 he was a founder of the Poets' Theatre in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. From the early 1950s until his retirement, he dedicated himself to writing poems and teaching at institutions of higher education, including the

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Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

, Trinity College,

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, Wheaton College, St. Marks School,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and

. He taught for 30 years at Dartmouth as professor of English and poet-in-residence, where he was known for his encouragement of young poets. Eberhart published ''Undercliff: Poems 1946–1953'' containing ''Fragment of New York'' in 1953. Eberhart wrote a number of dramatic works in the 1950s and early 1960s which were performed regionally. These works included ''The Apparition'', ''The Visionary Farms'', ''Triptych'', ''The Mad Musicians'' and ''Devils and Angels''. In 1962, these works were published as ''Collected Verse Plays''. Eberhart was sent to

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 ...

by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' to report on the Beat poetry scene. Eberhart wrote a piece published in the September 2, 1956, ''New York Times Book Review'' entitled "West Coast Rhythms" that helped call national attention to the

Beat generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

, and especially to

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

as the author of ''

Howl Howl most often refers to: * Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species * "Howl" (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl or The Howl may also refer to: Film * '' The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 Am ...

'', which he called "the most remarkable poem of the young group." Ginsberg credited Eberhart's article with "breaking the ice" for the Beats in regard to getting them published."I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness ..."
(blog) December 2, 2011. Rauner Special Collections Library. President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

appointed Eberhart a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the National Cultural Centre in 1959. Also, Eberhart was Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress for 1959–61 and was awarded a Bollingen Prize in 1962. In her memoir
Poetic License
Eberhart's daughter Gretchen Cherington accused him of sexual abuse. ''The Quarry: New Poems'' (1964) contained letters in verse to W. H. Auden and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

as well as elegies, lyrics, character sketches, and monologues. ''Selected Poems, 1930–1965'' (1965) won the Pulitzer Prize. ''Collected Poems, 1930–1976'' (1976) won the National Book Award in 1977. Eberhart was

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

's Poet Laureate from 1979 to 1984 and was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

in 1982. He also won the Shelley Memorial Award, the Harriet Monroe Memorial Award, and the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America.

Bibliography

* ''A Bravery of Earth'' 1930 * ''Reading the Spirit'' 1937 * ''Song and Idea'' 1942 * ''War and the Poet: An Anthology of Poetry Expressing Man's Attitudes to War from Ancient Times to the Present'' 1945 * ''Poems: New and Selected'' 1945 * ''Burr Oaks'' 1947 * ''Brotherhood of Men'' 1949 * ''Undercliff: Poems 1946–1953'' 1953 * ''Great Praises'' 1957 * ''Collected Verse Plays'' 1962 * ''The Quarry: New Poems'' 1964 * ''Selected Poems, 1930–1965'' (1965) winner of the Pulitzer Prize"Poetry"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-04-07. * ''Thirty One Sonnets'' 1967 * ''Shifts of Being'' 1968 *''Fields of Grace'' 1972 * ''Collected Poems, 1930–1976: including 43 new poems'' (1976) winner of the National Book Award"National Book Awards – 1977"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
(With acceptance speech by Eberhart and essay by Kiki Petrosino from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) * ''The Long Reach: New and Uncollected Works 1948–1984'' 1984 * ''New and Selected Poems: 1930–1990'' 1990

References

* Jahan Ramazani,

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American Literary criticism, literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats. ...

, and Robert O'Clair, ''The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry'', 3rd ed., vol. 1: ''Modern Poetry'' (New York & London: W.W. Norton, 2003), pp. 740–42.

External links