Richard (Ghormley) Eberhart - Early career 1904 to 1945, Later career 1945 to 2005, Written works, Further reading

Poet and teacher, born in Austin, Minnesota, USA. He studied at the universities of Minnesota, Dartmouth, Cambridge, England and Harvard, then worked as a teacher (1933–41) and, after service in World War 2, for a family business (1946–52). He taught at Dartmouth (1956–70), and was a consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress (1959–61). His books of poetry include Undercliff (1953), Selected Poems, 1930–1965 (1965, Pulitzer), and Shifts of Being (1968). Later works include Fields of Grace (1972), Throwing Yourself Away (1984), and New and Collected Poems (1990), and he also published Collected Verse Plays (1962).

Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) was a prolific American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. Eberhart's poetry has been widely recognised winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for Selected Poems: 1930-1965 and a National Book Award in 1977 for Collected Poems: 1930-1976.

Early career 1904 to 1945

Eberhart was born in 1904 in Austin, a small town in southeast Minnesota. He published a volume of poetry called Burr Oaks in 1947 and many of his poems reflected his youth in rural America.

Eberhart began college at the University of Minnesota, but following his mother's death in 1921 -- the event that prompted him to begin writing poetry -- he transferred to Dartmouth College.

His first book of poetry A Bravery of Earth was published in 1930. Reading the Spirit published in 1937 contains one of his best known poems "The Groundhog". his experience led him to write, in one of his best known poems, "The Fury of Aerial Bombardment":

In 1945, Eberhart published Poems: New and Selected containing "The Fury of Aerial Bombardment" and other poems written during his service including "Dam Neck, Virginia" and "World War". He also edited War and the Poet: An Anthology of Poetry Expressing Man's Reactions to the Present claiming to be the first collection of poems based on war.

Later career 1945 to 2005

After the war, Eberhart worked for six years for his wife's family's company, the Butcher Polish Company.

From the early 1950s until his retirement he dedicated himself to writing poems and teaching at institutions of higher education, including the University of Washington, Brown University, Swarthmore College, Tufts University, Trinity College, University of Connecticut, Columbia University, University of Cincinnati, Wheaton College, Princeton University and Dartmouth College.

Eberhart published Undercliff: Poems 1946-1953 containing Fragment of New York in 1953.

In 1956, The New York Times sent Richard Eberhart to San Francisco to report on the Beat poetry scene there. Eberhart wrote a piece published in the September 6, 1956 New York Times Book Review entitled "West Coast Rhythms" that helped call national attention to the Beat generation, and especially to Allen Ginsberg as the author of Howl, which he called "the most remarkable poem of the young group" (Allen Ginsberg, Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript &

President Eisenhower appointed Eberhart as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the National Cultural Centre in 1959.

The Quarry: New Poems published in 1964 contained letters in verse to W.

Written works

Eberhart's published works include:

A Bravery of Earth 1930 Reading the Spirit 1937 Song and Idea 1942 War and the Poet: An Anthology of Poetry Expressing Man's Attitudes to War from Ancient Times to the Present 1945 Poems: New and Selected 1945 Burr Oaks 1947 Brotherhood of Men 1949 Undercliff: Poems 1946-1953 1953 Great Praises 1957 Collected Verse Plays 1962 The Quarry: New Poems 1964 Selected Poems: 1930-1965 1965 Shifts of Being 1968 Collected Poems: 1930-1976 1976 The Long Reach: New and Uncollected Works 1948-1984 1984 New and Selected Poems: 1930-1990 1990

His most notable poems include:

"The Groundhog" "The The The The God God and Man" "Dam Neck, Virginia" "World War"101 "The Fury of Aerial Bombardment" "Fragment of New York, 1929"

Further reading

Stuart T.