Louise Bogan

Born in Maine on August 11, 1897 and died February 4, 1970. The daughter of a mill worker. Her parents’ marriage was not a happy one, due largely to her mother’s mental and emotional instability. Louise herself had a limited education due to her lower-middle-class Irish background.

Louise Bogan is one of the most accomplished American poet-critics of the mid-20th century. Her subtle, restrained style was partially influenced by writers such as Rilke and Henry James, and partially by the English metaphysical poets such as George Herbert, John Donne, and Henry Vaughan, though she distanced herself from her intellectually rigorous, metaphysical contemporaries. She has six poetry collections. Some critics have placed her in a category of brilliant minor poets described as the “reactionary generation. Bogan’s poetry contains a personal quality derived from personal experience, but it is not private or confessional. Her poems, most critics agree, are economical in words, masterpieces of crossed rhythms in which the meter opposes word groupings.

Louise was the fourth poet laureate to the library of congress in 1945 and was the first woman.

Bogan and her husband separated in 1919, and he died of pneumonia a year later. She moved to Vienna, where she lived a writer’s life of solitude for three years. When she returned to live in New York in 1923, she worked in a bookstore and with cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.

May Bogan indulged in numerous extramarital affairs, which she flaunted. She also mystified her family with frequent and lengthy disappearances. Millier proposed that “the difficulties and instabilities of her childhood produced in Bogan a preoccupation with betrayal and a distrust of others, a highly romantic nature, and a preference for the arrangements of art over grim, workaday reality.”

Rita Dove specifically chooses these writers to be featured in her book because of the impact that they left on society. Each of these authors influenced American Literature one way or another. Not only having a great impact on Literature, but the time period as well. Showcasing an accurate description of life during the time period in which these authors were alive and active

Edna St Vincent Millary was an American poet and playwright  born in Rockland, Maine February 22, 1892. Edna’s parents divorced at the age of 8, and she was raised by her mother along with her younger sisters. In Millary’s family education and culture were valued as so Millary spoke six different languages along with studying the piano and theatre. Originally, Edna St Vincent Millary desire was to pursue a career as a pianist, however her music teacher discouraged her and Millary decided to be a writer. From 1906 to 1910, her works appeared in children magazine, St. Nicholas, and one of her prize poems was reprinted in a 1907 issue of Current Opinion. At the age 20, Millary entered one of her most popular works, Renascence, into a competition, in which it received no prize but was recognized when she released The Lyric year in november of 1912. Caroline B. Dow, a school director who heard Millay poetry and her music, encouraged that Millay should go to college. Millary went on to take several courses at Barnard College in spring of 1913, after that she went on to attend Vassar.

Edna St. Vincent Millary released many great works and in the year of 1923 she married Eugen Jan Boissevain in July. Although he was not familiar with the literary world, he still devoted his life to ensuring the success of his talented wife as well as full responsibility for nursing her to health. During the 1920’s Millary went on many reading tours arranged by her husband. Edna St. Vincent Millary was influenced by Robert Frost, acquainted with Ezra Pound as well, she went on to write many great sonnets. Sonnets who were inspired by her lover George Dillon, who was also an American poet, whom she was having an affair with. Inspired also by William Shakespeare, John Milton, William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, George Eliot, and Henrik Ibsen.

It is important to understand Edna St. VIncent Millary’s life because, not only eass her work very inspiring, her life helped bring about what of, what I consider to be, the most intriguing literary works, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The famous affair of Gatsby and Daisy is modeled by Millary and Dillon’s love affair. Like the character Tom in the novel, Millary’s Husband Boissevain also knew about the affair between the two lovers and as the story ends, The two never separated because of the mistresses. F. Scott Fitzgerald not only used her love affair to inspire Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, the extravagance of her lifestyle was also used to inspire Gatsby’s reputation. Millary got caught up in the court case of two men accused of murder, as does Gatsby connection in the mob makes his character look suspecious, Edna is also credited for the famous parties because as Gatsby does in the novel. 

Edna St. Vincent Millary not only heavily influenced American Literature, she also made her footprint during the times that they were wriitng and publishing. She shedded light on important issues in society which is why Rita Dove choose to put them in her poetry book. The writing styles are unique, but the works are deeper than ju

Rita Dove specifically chooses these writers to be featured in her book because of the impact that they left on society. Each of these authors influenced American Literature one way or another. Not only having a great impact on Literature, but the time period as well. Showcasing an accurate description of life during the time period in which these authors were alive and active

James Weldon Johnson was an author, civil rights activist, educator, lawyer, diplomat, and a songwriter. Born June 17, 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida. Interesting fact, June 17 is two days before Juneteeth which is the day the slavery was officially abolished in all states. It is ironic that James Weldon was born two days before then, because he would later go on to write the Black National Anthem,  Lift Every Voice and Sing in 1900. The song was originally written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, but his brother John Rosamond Johnson put the music behind it. James Weldon Johnson also was a leader in the NAACP. In 1920 he was chosen as the first black executive secretary of the NAACP, and served the role through 1930. Also noted that he has an honorary doctoral degree from Howard University. In 1933 he recieved the W.E.B Du bios prize for Negro Literature. James Weldon Johnson was a very influential writer, especially during the Harlem Renaissance.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27, 1872 to freed slaves from Kentucky. Dunbar became one of the first influential African American poets in American Literature.  He was internationally acclaimed for his analytical verses in his works such as Majors and Minors, written in 1895 and Lyrics of Lowly Life in 1896. Paul Laurence Dunbar went to Howard University as well. After relocating to the city of Chicago, Dunbar got in contact with Frederick Douglas who then helped him get a job as a clerk and also arranged him to read a selection of his poems. By 1895 Dunbar’s poems began to be featured in major national newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times. Dunbar’s work is known as an very intriguing bodies of work that accurately represented Black life in the turn of the century America. 

Each of these writers not only heavily influenced American Literature, they also made their footprint during the times that they were wriitng and publishing. Each other shedded light on important issues in society which is why Rita Dove choose to put them in her poetry book. The writing styles are unique, but the works are deeper than just another poem. The touch on very infuential topics. 

Rita dove in the opening of her book The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry, discussed a bundle of information in regards to poetry and the ever changing society. The book scrutinizes how as new movements in the world arise, new writing styles emerge as well. Dove supplying a crucial background is important for the audience to comprehend the reason why she chose the poems she did and the significance of the writing style during this timne period

As continued today, most artists use poetry as an artistic outlet to express their own personal ideology on society. Rita Dove reviews how historical movements caused poets to shift gears in their writing. Second way feminisim, gay awarnwss, hippies, the student protests are all distinct crusades in which aided in progressive writing styes.

One specific coalition was the Black Arts Movement. An art campaign lead by African American to create new cultural institutions and illustrate a message of black pride. Dove quotes, “The nascent Black Arts movement entered a jew phase; unlike their counterparts of the Harlem Renaissance, African- American poets now were not only describing and reflecting upon the pecularities of their place at America’s table–they were upturning the benches and walking off to eat by themselves.” Artists apart of the Black Arts Movemen generated politically captivating work to explore the African American experience, both culturally and historically, in addition to changing the way African Americans were portrayed in literature and the arts. 

In 1965, after the assaination of Malcom X artisit were angery with the slow progession of the civil rights movement. As the Dove goes more in depth into the new phase that the New Black Asthetic had become, she mentions, “The old Euro-American literary standards were rejected, and African Culture…and its derivatives this side of the Middle Passage became the rallying cry of the New Black Asthetic.” Blacks were no longer accepting the portrayal and histroy of their culture their White American. Defining cultural experiences on their own terms. Poetry written during this time period focused solely on unity and pride within the Black community.

The Black Arts movement and the New Black Asthetic reclaimed the power that had been taken from the Black community. Giving blacks a sense of pride known to them in the 1920’s. Living by the “Black is beautiful” motto, which eventually became mainstream. White folks wearing dashikis and tuning in to black artists music such as Marvin Gaye gave the African American community a sense of hope. Not only was hope instilled in the Black Community, but also in other minority struggles. The Black Arts Movement became the blueprint for other communities and encouraged them to speak up. Neglected voices such as Feminists, Native Americans, Hispanics, gays, and Asian Americans spoke up and united due to the similarities and differences discovered. However,  self segregation also brought white washed poems to the table as well.

Poetry became an important part of cultural, especially when it came to political movements. As I mentioned before, poetry is an art that people still to this today feel comfortable voicing their experiences weather it be personal, cultural, or historical. Understanding the background of poetry and its connections to these is very pivotal when it comes to modern poetry. By recognizing the importance of the past of poetry, it brings you to the current and even the future of poetry. Rita Dove wrote this introduction to make sure the audience resonates with how particular styles of writing came to be, and also understanding why she chose the poets she did. By educating us on the history, it gives us room to interpret the works of arts in a new light.