Léonie Adams
Encyclopedia
Léonie Fuller Adams was an American poet
. She was appointed the seventh Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
in 1948.
where she was a contemporary and friend of roommate Margaret Mead
. While still an undergraduate, she showed remarkable skill as a poet, and at this time her poems began to be published. In 1924, she became the editor of The Measure.
Her first volume of poetry, titled Those Not Elect, was in 1925.
In the spring of 1928, she had a brief affair with Edmund Wilson
. Léonie apologized to Wilson for having "moped and quarreled" on the day she left for France. While in London, Leonie met H.D.
, who introduced her to several figures in the London literary scene; in Paris she was invited to tea by Gertrude Stein
. At the beginning of 1929, when Wilson wrote to her that he was thinking of marrying another woman, Leonie wrote back that she had had a pregnancy and hinted that she had had a miscarriage, mentioning the need for a visit to a London doctor in October. Guilt over the pregnancy — both Wilson, and a former student, Judith Farr, reported that Léonie had a gift for making others feel guilty — combined with his heavy drinking, and indecision in other elements of his personal life led Wilson to a nervous collapse. Louise Bogan
later revealed to him that Léonie's pregnancy had been imaginary, and this caused a temporary rift between Bogan and Adams.
In 1929 appeared her volume High Falcon. During the 1930s, she lived in the Ramapo Mountains
near Hillburn, New York
, and commuted to New York City
to lecture on Victorian poetry at New York University
. In 1930, she met writer and fellow New York University teacher William Troy
. The two married in 1933. That same year she published This Measure. In 1935 she and her husband joined the faculty of Bennington College
.
She taught English at various other colleges and universities including Douglass College (then known as the New Jersey College for Women), the University of Washington
, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
, Columbia University
, and Sarah Lawrence College
. The poets for whom Adams acted as a mentor included Louise Glück
. In 1950, she received an honorary doctorate from the New Jersey College for Women.
Adams' Poems: A Selection won the 1954 Bollingen Prize
. In a review of the book, Louise Bogan wrote: "Poems such as "Companions of the Morass," "For Harvest," "Grapes Making," and "The Runner with the Lots" spring from and are indications of a poetic endowment as deep as it is rare."
In 1955, in a brief autobiography written for a biographical dictionary of modern literature, Adams threw a little light on her religious and political views: "My father... made me a childhood agnostic — I am now a Roman Catholic.... I am a very liberal democrat."
In 1988, she died at the age of 88 in New Milford, Connecticut
.
and 17th century metaphysical poetry, especially in her near-religious ecstasy. In a recent critical commentary for the WOM-PO (Discussion of Women's Poetry) website, poet Annie Finch
provides a more postmodern reading of Adams as "a lush, sensual poet who directed her sensuality not towards other people but primarily towards the materials of poetry, towards syntax and symbol, diction and word-sound, in short, towards the language itself," and goes on to say that "Adams' poetry teases the balance between the incantatory and representational powers of poetic language. She uses the sounds of language as counterweights to her poems' ostensible meanings, complicating the act of reading and calling into question a reader's emotional responses."
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. She was appointed the seventh Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...
in 1948.
Biography
Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in an unusually strict environment. She was not allowed on the subway until she was eighteen, and even then her father accompanied her. She studied at Barnard CollegeBarnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
where she was a contemporary and friend of roommate Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
. While still an undergraduate, she showed remarkable skill as a poet, and at this time her poems began to be published. In 1924, she became the editor of The Measure.
Her first volume of poetry, titled Those Not Elect, was in 1925.
In the spring of 1928, she had a brief affair with Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
. Léonie apologized to Wilson for having "moped and quarreled" on the day she left for France. While in London, Leonie met H.D.
H.D.
H.D. was an American poet, novelist and memoirist known for her association with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington...
, who introduced her to several figures in the London literary scene; in Paris she was invited to tea by Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
. At the beginning of 1929, when Wilson wrote to her that he was thinking of marrying another woman, Leonie wrote back that she had had a pregnancy and hinted that she had had a miscarriage, mentioning the need for a visit to a London doctor in October. Guilt over the pregnancy — both Wilson, and a former student, Judith Farr, reported that Léonie had a gift for making others feel guilty — combined with his heavy drinking, and indecision in other elements of his personal life led Wilson to a nervous collapse. Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan was an American poet. She was appointed the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945.-Early years:...
later revealed to him that Léonie's pregnancy had been imaginary, and this caused a temporary rift between Bogan and Adams.
In 1929 appeared her volume High Falcon. During the 1930s, she lived in the Ramapo Mountains
Ramapo Mountains
The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York in the United States...
near Hillburn, New York
Hillburn, New York
Hillburn is a village in the Town of Ramapo Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Suffern; east of Orange County, New York; south of Viola and west of Montebello. It is considered to be one of the more rural communities in Rockland County...
, and commuted to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to lecture on Victorian poetry at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. In 1930, she met writer and fellow New York University teacher William Troy
William Troy (writer and educator)
William Troy was a writer and teacher. He was married to poet and teacher Léonie Adams.-Life and work:Troy was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in nearby Oak Park, and attended Loyola Academy for high school. He sold his first review to a newspaper while still in high school...
. The two married in 1933. That same year she published This Measure. In 1935 she and her husband joined the faculty of Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
.
She taught English at various other colleges and universities including Douglass College (then known as the New Jersey College for Women), the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is a writers' conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. The poets for whom Adams acted as a mentor included Louise Glück
Louise Glück
Louise Elisabeth Glück is an American poet of Hungarian Jewish heritage. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2003, after serving as a Special Bicentennial Consultant three years prior in 2000....
. In 1950, she received an honorary doctorate from the New Jersey College for Women.
Adams' Poems: A Selection won the 1954 Bollingen Prize
Bollingen Prize
The Bollingen Prize for Poetry, which is currently awarded every two years by Beinecke Library of Yale University, is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.-Inception and controversy:The...
. In a review of the book, Louise Bogan wrote: "Poems such as "Companions of the Morass," "For Harvest," "Grapes Making," and "The Runner with the Lots" spring from and are indications of a poetic endowment as deep as it is rare."
In 1955, in a brief autobiography written for a biographical dictionary of modern literature, Adams threw a little light on her religious and political views: "My father... made me a childhood agnostic — I am now a Roman Catholic.... I am a very liberal democrat."
In 1988, she died at the age of 88 in New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford is a town in southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly . The population was 28,671 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates...
.
Poetic style
Superficially, Léonie Adams' style did not change greatly over her lifetime, but there was an initial shy wonder at the world that eventually became an intense and almost devotional lyricism. Her rich descriptions demonstrate great delicacy of perception and an exalted spirit. She bears comparison with Henry VaughanHenry Vaughan
Henry Vaughan was a Welsh physician and metaphysical poet.Vaughan and his twin brother the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales...
and 17th century metaphysical poetry, especially in her near-religious ecstasy. In a recent critical commentary for the WOM-PO (Discussion of Women's Poetry) website, poet Annie Finch
Annie Finch
Annie Finch is an American poet. She is author of numerous books of poetry as well as poetry translation, poetry anthologies and criticism, opera libretti, and poetic collaborations with visual art, music, theater, and dance. Her writings on poetry address topics including meter and prosody,...
provides a more postmodern reading of Adams as "a lush, sensual poet who directed her sensuality not towards other people but primarily towards the materials of poetry, towards syntax and symbol, diction and word-sound, in short, towards the language itself," and goes on to say that "Adams' poetry teases the balance between the incantatory and representational powers of poetic language. She uses the sounds of language as counterweights to her poems' ostensible meanings, complicating the act of reading and calling into question a reader's emotional responses."
Prizes and awards
- 1954: the Bollingen Prize for Poems: A Selection (1954)
- 1974: Academy Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets
- the Shelley Memorial Award
- fellowship from The Guggenheim Foundation
- grants from The National Council of the Arts and The National Institute of Arts and Letters,
Poetry collections
- Those Not Elect, Robert M. McBride & Co, 1925; Reprint Services Corp, 1992, ISBN 9780781269131
- High Falcon and Other Poems, John Day, New York, 1929.
- Midsummer, Ward Ritchie, 1929
- This Measure, A. A. Knopf, 1933
- Poems: A selection, Funk & Wagnalls, 1954
Edited and translated
- The Lyrics of Francois Villon, Limited Editions Club, New York, 1933.
External links
- Léonie Adams and William Troy Papers at Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Brief Note at Library of Congress site
- Academy of American Poets entry