Howard Phelps Putnam (1894 – 1948) was an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q * George Quasha (born 1942) R S T U–V ...

who published two books, ''Trinc'' and ''The Five Seasons''.

Biography

Phelps Putnam was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

in 1894 and attended Phillips Exeter Academy. He enrolled at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

where he was a member of the secret society

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

and was among the "Renaissance" generation of talented Yale-educated writers (which includes alumni such as

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...

, Henry R. Luce, Archibald MacLeish, Cole Porter, and

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

). Following graduation Putnam traveled to Europe and worked a series of odd jobs including a brief period as an assistant editor for the Atlantic Monthly Press and writing advertising copy for an insurance company. Putnam's first book of poems, ''Trinc'', Rabelaisian for drink, was published in 1927. Following ''Trinc'' Putnam set to work on an epic, to be titled ''The Earthly Comedy''. In 1930 Putnam was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and the following year he published ''The Five Seasons'' (1931). This volume marks the beginning of Putnam's work towards producing ''The Earthly Comedy'', however, Putnam died in 1948 before completing his epic, perhaps thwarted by his ill health (asthma and alcoholism) and the paralyzing ambition of his plans. As F.O. Matthiessen acknowledges in his essay “To the Memory of Phelps Putnam” “he sketched a poem too vast ever to be able to shoulder the weight of writing it”. Putnam wrote little in his later years, which largely consists of poetry published in various magazines and lyrics for a musical collaboration with

Harl McDonald Harl McDonald (July 27, 1899 - March 30, 1955) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. McDonald was born in Boulder, Colorado, and studied at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Redlands, and the Leipzig Con ...

entitled ''Songs of Conquest: Cycle for Chorus of Mixed Voices'' (1937). Putnam's love life appears to have superseded his poetic reputation. Twice married (to Ruth Peters and Una Fayerweather) Putnam had numerous affairs, including trysts with Katharine Hepburn and painter

Russell Cheney Russell Cheney (October 16, 1881 – July 12, 1945) was an American Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and New England regionalist painter. Early life and education The youngest of eleven children, Cheney was born in Manchester, Connecticut, ...

. In her autobiography ''Me'' Hepburn writes of Putnam: "I took one look at him and I was stricken with whatever it is that strickens one at once and for no reason when one looks at a member of the opposite sex. He absolutely fascinated me. I flew up onto a pink cloud

. . . The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...

” Relative Rob Putnam is a TV writer in Los Angeles and writes for

Music Connection ''Music Connection'' is a United States-based monthly music-trade magazine, which began publication in 1977. It caters to career-minded musicians, songwriters, recording artists and assorted music-industry support personnel. The magazine began ...

magazine.

Notes

Bibliography

''Trinc''. New York: New York: Doran, 1927.
''The Five Seasons''. New York: Scribner, 1931.
With Harl McDonald. ''Songs of Conquest: Cycle for Chorus of Mixed Voices''. Philadelphia: Elkan-Vogel, Rev. ed. 1939.

References

Farwell Knapp PapersBeinecke Rare Book and Manuscript LibraryYale University
* Hepburn, Katharine. ''Me: Stories of My Life''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. * Mann, William J. ''Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006. * Matthiessen, F.O. “To the Memory of Phelps Putnam”. In ''The Collected Poems of H. Phelps Putnam''. Ed. Charles Walker. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1971. {{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, Phelps American male poets 1894 births 1948 deaths Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Yale University alumni Poets from Massachusetts 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers