Richard Wilbur

Richard Purdy Wilbur (New York City, 1921 – Belmont, Massachusetts, 2017) was one of the leading poets of the generation that came of age during the Second World War. He wrote in English and kept to traditional forms, above all rhymed verse, at a time when much American poetry had dropped regular meter. His work, known for its wit and polished elegance, is still a useful reference point for anyone curious about how tradition and modernity coexisted in twentieth-century American poetry.

He grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey, and graduated from Amherst College in 1942. After serving in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, he went to graduate school at Harvard. He taught at Wesleyan for about two decades and then at Smith College for another ten years. At Wesleyan he helped found the poetry series of the university press, which became a respected showcase for new poets.

His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947, and many collections followed. He was also a distinguished translator, best known for his rhymed versions of Molière and Racine. His English Tartuffe remains one of the standard versions of the play. He wrote children's books, literary criticism, and several lyrics for Leonard Bernstein's operetta Candide.

Critics were divided. In the 1960s and 1970s some faulted him for his traditional forms and his reticence on political matters, while others praised the precision and depth of his verse. Interest in formal poetry revived in the 1980s, and his reputation grew with it. He was named Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and again in 1989. Later poets associated with the New Formalist movement regarded him as a mentor.