king of insight
Richard Wilbur, one of the great American poets of the twentieth century, sat in a leather armchair in Straus spewing out such phrases as "clots of consonants" while sharing his wisdom on poetry and writing. He visited Milton on Wednesday, November 29th, and read some of his many works of poetry in the morning assembly. His work over the years has varied from metric and children's poetry, to translations of the French playwright Moliere and other foreign writing. His poetry is "unabashedly rich in its diction, urbane in its metrical sophistication, and remarkably light-hearted and playful," writes Modern American Poetry. His work has been read, performed, digested and recognized throughout the country, culminating in the bestowment of the title of Poet Laureate of the United States. Wilbur served as the second Poet Laureate for the year of 1987-1988, the greatest honor our country gives poets. Additionally, his third volume of poetry, Things of This World, won the Pulitzer Pri!Wilbur is passionate about writing and words. "The most miserable condition," he said, "is to be inarticulate." He was raised in a house where "any one of the arts was much appreciated. If you tried to play the banjo, that was great."
Wilbur spoke like a poet, even in the conversational atmosphere of Straus. His words rolled from his tongue, and the syllables were rhythmic and pleasing. His reservoir of quotes shared his wisdom on writing, but even the non-writers in the audience could appreciate the value of his words. He advocates the necessity of starting a poem without a clear direction, that one mustn't start to write with the purpose of portraying an idea or statement and that meaning must grow from the process. Wilbur said, "Ernest Hemingway wrote Always quit when you know what your next sentence is going to be,' and I agree." The power of poetry, Wilbur believes, lies in the ability to find the right words to articulate some deep inner emotion. A measure of a poem's success is its ability to cross the boundaries of personal experience and relate events in the life of one person to others. "If you do it properly, you're finding the exact words for how you feel, for what scares you. You're becoming stronger against what scares you." Wilbur said that this is the responsibility of the poet to his audience. He does not endorse any concepts of what a poet should do, but recognizes that the power in a poet's works lies
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Approximate Word count = 809
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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