Leafing Through

Poet Laureate: Joseph Auslander

Joseph Auslander
(1897-1965) Auslander, who was born in Philadelphia and graduated Harvard College, was appointed in 1937 as the first Consultant in Poetry without a definite term and served four years. He was noted for his war poems, and his best-known work is "The Unconquerables" (1943), a collection of poems addressed to the German-occupied countries of Europe.

Auslander became the Library’s first Consultant in Poetry in 1937. He vigorously carried out his responsibilities — seeking sponsors for the Library’s literary programs, gifts of manuscripts, and organizing public readings by poets of note. Librarian MacLeish disapproved of his methods and style but, recognizing his ability to build the Library’s collections, appointed him to the newly established post of Gift Officer. Auslander resigned his position at the end of March 1944.

Yes, you have taken everything from me:
Beauty and love and all the measureless
Impatience of proud April; even our sea
Shouting under the gulls; all loveliness
Of form and sound and colour; all that we
Had touched; the curve of things we used to press
Glowing against our senses; mystery
And movement. . . everything taken. . . taken. . . Yes,
Even the little brave irrelevancies
Like brooding water, dripping water-cress,
The cool dark noise of cropping; cruising bees
On hot gold expeditions--even these
You took from me--Oh spare me your caress,
Leave me at least my own stark loneliness!
(Text from The Best Poems of 1923)

Soliloquy in the Grove

I.
The sultry cicalas in your citron trees
Clash gongs and cymbals of impossible brass;
The hot noon throbs with their monotonies,
And seems, because of these,
Insufferably hotter than it was
When, side by side with Plato, you would pass
Along the luxurious margins of soft grass,
Cooling the corybantic revelries
Of worse than wasps or bees,
In silvery fountains of the spirit's singular felicities.

O bandy-legged and beloved ghost,
The limpid fervour of whose mind to some
Is bread and honeycomb;
Relentless nectar of the locust, bitter
As blood or salt, the pure and sunny frost
Of inquisition like the wasp's, but neater --
If only once again your lemon trees
Could hear that caustic tongue;
If only muddled times among,
Ours, alas, the most,
Your passion for cold truth, O Socrates,
Could penetrate. . . .
Faugh! there is nothing now save garrulous folly,
And settled melancholy,
And hate,
And the despot hammering loudly at the gate!

-1-

(From More Than Bread: A book of poems)

Don't you love those first two lines? I love alliteration. No wonder he was put in charge of the poetry of our nation.

Poet Laureates

I have long been facinatec by the idea of a poet laureate.  I like the idea that we have someone in charge of poetry. It speaks volumes on the importance of poetry in our nation. We, as a nation, as illiterate as we are becoming still believe it worthwhile to provide a steward for poetry. That gives me hope.  Here is what the Library of Congress says about the position:

The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress serves as the nation's official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.

The Poet Laureate is appointed annually by the Librarian of Congress and serves from October to May. In making the appointment, the Librarian consults with former appointees, the current Laureate and distinguished poetry critics. The position has existed under two separate titles: from 1937 to 1986 as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" and from 1986 forward as "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry." The name was changed by an act of Congress in 1985.

The Laureate receives a $35,000 annual stipend funded by a gift from Archer M. Huntington. The Library keeps to a minimum the specific duties in order to afford incumbents maximum freedom to work on their own projects while at the Library. The Laureate gives an annual lecture and reading of his or her poetry and usually introduces poets in the Library's annual poetry series, the oldest in the Washington area, and among the oldest in the United States. This annual series of public poetry and fiction readings, lectures, symposia, and occasional dramatic performances began in the 1940s. Collectively the Laureates have brought more than 2,000 poets and authors to the Library to read for the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature.

Each Laureate brings a different emphasis to the position. Joseph Brodsky initiated the idea of providing poetry in airports, supermarkets and hotel rooms. Maxine Kumin started a popular series of poetry workshops for women at the Library of Congress. Gwendolyn Brooks met with elementary school students to encourage them to write poetry. Rita Dove brought together writers to explore the African diaspora through the eyes of its artists. She also championed children's poetry and jazz with poetry events. Robert Hass organized the "Watershed" conference that brought together noted novelists, poets and storytellers to talk about writing, nature and community.

Websters: a person who has been honored for achieving distinction in a particular field or with a particular award: a Nobel laureate.

           b) crowned or decked with laurel as a mark of honor.

I am going to make an effort to do a little bit on each laureate.