Richard Wilbur
Overview
 
Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second 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 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...

, in 1957 and again in 1989.
Wilbur was born in 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...

 and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey
North Caldwell, New Jersey
-Local government:North Caldwell is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office...

. He graduated from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 in 1942 and then served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 from 1943 to 1945 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Wilbur taught at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 for two decades and at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

 for another decade.
Quotations

Try to remember this: what you projectIs what you will perceive; what you perceiveWith any passion, be it love or terror,May take on whims and powers of its own.Therefore a numb and grudging circumspectionWill serve you best — unless you overdo it,Watching your step too narrowly, refusingTo specify a world, shrinking your purviewTo a tight vision of your inching shoes,Which may, as soon as you come to think, be crossingAn unseen gorge upon a rotten trestle.

"Walking to Sleep" (1969)

What you hope forIs that at some point of the pointless journey, Indoors or out, and when you least expect it,Right in the middle of your stride, like that, So neatly that you never feel a thing,The kind assassin Sleep will draw a beadAnd blow your brains out.

"Walking to Sleep" (1969)

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you.

"Opposites" (1973)

A thrush, because I'd been wrong,Burst rightly into songIn a world not vague, not lonely,Not governed by me only.

"Having Misidentified a Wild-Flower"

Founded on rock and facing the night-fouled seaA beacon blinks at its own brilliance,Over and over with cutlass gazeSolving the Gordian waters ...

 
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