William Rose Benét (February 2, 1886 – May 4, 1950) was an American poet, writer, and editor. He was the older brother of

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 receive ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the son of Col. James Walker Benét and his wife, Frances Neill (née Rose), and grandson of Brigadier General

. He was educated

The Albany Academy The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool (age 3) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselae ...

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the State capital (United States), capital of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, also the county seat, seat and largest city of Albany County, New York, Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, abo ...

and at

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, graduating with a

Ph.B. Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...

in 1907. At Yale, he edited and contributed light verse to campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

''. He began the ''

Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, ess ...

'' in 1924 and continued to edit and write for it until his death.

Career

In 1942, he was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

for his book of autobiographical verse, ''The Dust Which Is God'' (1941). His brother

was awarded the same prize two years later in 1944. Benét is also the author of '' The Reader's Encyclopedia'', a standard American guide to world literature. Today he is perhaps best known as the author of "The Skater of Ghost Lake," a poem frequently assigned in American schools for its use of

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

and rhythm as well as its tone of dark mystery.

Personal life

Benét married four times. First, on September 3, 1912, he married Teresa Frances Thompson, with whom he had three children ( James Walker Benét (1914-2012), Frances Rosemary Benét, and Kathleen Anne Benét). Teresa died in 1919. Benét's second wife, whom he married on October 5, 1923, was poet

Elinor Wylie Elinor Morton Wylie (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensu ...

. She died in 1928. Benét's third wife, whom he married on March 15, 1932, was Lora Baxter. They divorced in 1937. Benét's fourth wife, and widow, was children's writer

Marjorie Flack Marjorie Flack (October 22, 1897 - August 29, 1958) was an American artist and writer of children's picture books. Flack was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York in 1897. She was best known for '' The Story about Ping'' (1933), illustrate ...

. They were married from June 22, 1941, until his death in 1950. Benét's son, James Walker Benét, fought in the

Abraham Lincoln Brigade The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internationa ...

and was the author of two suspense novels and a guidebook to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

.James Benet obituary, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (December 22, 2012)
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Works

* ''Merchants of Cathay'' (1913) * ''The Great White Wall: A Poem'' (1916) * ''Perpetual Light: A Memorial'' (1919) * ''Moons of Grandeur: A Book of Poems'' (1920) * ''Dry Points: Studies in Black and White'' (1921) * ''The Flying King of Kurio: A Story of Children'' (1926) * ''Wild Goslings: A Selection of Fugitive Pieces'' (1927) * ''Starry Harness'' (1933) * ''Pocket University: Guide to Daily Reading'' (1934) * ''Golden Fleece: A Collection of Poems and Ballads Old and New'' (1935) * ''Great Poems of the English Language'' (1936) * ''Mother Goose: A Comprehensive Collection of the Rhymes'' (1936) * ''Mad Blake: A Poem'' (1937) * ''Day of Deliverance: A Book of Poems in Wartime'' (1940) * ''The Dust Which is God: A Novel in Verse'' (1941) * ''The Stairway of Surprise: Poems'' (1947) * ''Timothy's Angels, Verse'' (1947) * '' The Spirit of the Scene'' (1951) * ''The First Person Singular'' (1971) * ''The Prose and Poetry of

'' (1974)

References

*''Bulletin of Yale University'', Obituary Record of Graduate of the Undergraduate Schools Deceased During the Year 1949–1950, series 47, number 109, 1 January 1951, page 170–1.

External links

* * * * *
''Perpetual Light by William Rose Benet''
* William Rose Benét Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Hervey Allen Papers, 1831-1965, SC.1952.01, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benet, William Rose 1886 births 1950 deaths American people of Catalan descent Poets from New York (state) Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners 20th-century American poets The Yale Record alumni Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni The Albany Academy alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters