The Famous Bards Poetry 3C

As we discussed in Poetry 3C, a poet laureate is a nation’s official poet. He or she is responsible helping the people love and appreciate poetry. Although the poet laureate works for the people, giving lectures and readings, with an emphasis on what is important to the poet, he or she often takes time to work on their own creative pieces.

Some recent appointees include Juan Felipe Herrera, Charles Wight, Robert Fitzgerald, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Juan Felipe Herrera, our current poet laureate, has several poetry collections, including 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border: Undocuments 1971-2007, Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), and Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream (1999). In the poem "Exiles", he explores the experiences of immigrants to America. Remember what is on the Statue of Liberty? "Bring me your huddled masses yearning to be free." Herrera shows us a different reality. "They are not here in America. They are in exile...."

Charles Wright served in the United States Army, and it was while he was stationed in Europe that he began to read and write poetry. His collections include Country Music (1982), Black Zodiac (1997), Appalachia, and The World of the Ten Thousand Things: Poems 1980-1990. In "The Short History of the Shadow," there is a line that is the lifeblood of every writer: "Each word, as someone wrote, contains the universe."

Robert Fitzgerald began his poetry career as a translator, translating Greek poetry into English. He has won awards for both his translations and his own poetry. His collections include the poetry collection Spring Shade and Enlarging the Change. In a poem titled "Sympathy of Peoples," he challenges the reader to "commune with your ignorant heart." Do we turn away from the homeless of our streets and the orphans of Eastern Europe?

Gwendolyn Brooks passed away in 2000, but during her lifetime she was well-regarded and was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. A Street in Bronzeville and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Allen celebrate the black urban poor, and other poems reflect the civil rights movements of the 1960s. I like her poem "a song in the front yard." (The title is written in lowercase; I didn't make a mistake!) She wrote, "I've stayed in the front yard all my life. I want a peak at the back...a girl gets tired of a rose."

So there is a look at a few of America's recent poet laureates. One more Saturday in April; one more poetry post! Stay tuned.

So there you have it, a brief look at the works of a few poet laureates. Of the four poems I linked here, which was your favorite? There are still several posts for this mini-series, so check back soon!