Léonie Adams
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Léonie Fuller Adams (December 9, 1899 – June 27, 1988) was an American
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
. She was appointed the seventh Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1948.


Biography

Adams was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, and raised in an unusually strict environment. She was not allowed on the subway until she was eighteen, and even then, her father accompanied her. Her sister was the teacher and archaeologist Louise Holland and her brother-in-law the archaeologist Leicester Bodine Holland. She studied at
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, where she was a contemporary and friend of roommate
Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...
. While still an undergraduate, she showed remarkable skill as a poet, and at this time her poems began to be published. In 1924, she became the editor of ''The Measure''. Her first volume of poetry, titled ''Those Not Elect'', was in 1925. In the spring of 1928, she had a brief affair with
Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer, literary critic, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary critics of the 20th century. Wilson began his career as a journalist, writing ...
. Adams apologized to Wilson for having "moped and quarreled" on the day she left for France. While in London, Adams met H.D., who introduced her to several figures in the London literary scene; in Paris she was invited to tea by Gertrude Stein. At the beginning of 1929, when Wilson wrote to her that he was thinking of marrying another woman, Adams wrote back that she had had a pregnancy and hinted that she had had a miscarriage, mentioning the need for a visit to a London doctor in October. Guilt over the pregnancy — both Wilson, and a former student, Judith Farr, reported that Adams had a gift for making others feel guilty — combined with his heavy drinking, and indecision in other elements of his personal life led Wilson to a nervous collapse. Louise Bogan later revealed to him that Léonie's pregnancy had been imaginary, and this caused a temporary rift between Bogan and Adams. In 1929, her volume ''High Falcon'' was published. During the 1930s, she lived in the Ramapo Mountains near
Hillburn, New York Hillburn, originally called "Woodburn" and incorporated in 1893, is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the town of Ramapo, New York, Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United S ...
, and commuted to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to lecture on Victorian poetry at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. In 1930, she met writer and fellow New York University teacher William Troy. The two married in 1933. That same year she published ''This Measure''. In 1935 she and her husband joined the faculty of
Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,
. She taught English at various other colleges and universities including Douglass College (then known as the New Jersey College for Women), the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference,
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, and
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
. The poets for whom Adams acted as a mentor included Louise Glück, recipient of the 2020
Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
and former
United States Poet Laureate The poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States poet laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consc ...
. Fantasy writer, poet and editor
Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lov ...
attended her Poetry Workshop while studying at Columbia University. Marcella Comès Winslow painted a portrait of Adams in 1947. In 1950, she received an honorary doctorate from the New Jersey College for Women. Her ''Poems: A Selection'' won the 1954 Bollingen Prize. In a review of the book, Louise Bogan wrote: "Poems such as "Companions of the Morass," "For Harvest," "Grapes Making," and "The Runner with the Lots" spring from and are indications of a poetic endowment as deep as it is rare." In 1955, in a brief autobiography written for a biographical dictionary of modern literature, Adams threw a little light on her religious and political views: "My father... made me a childhood agnostic — I am now a Roman Catholic.... I am a very liberal democrat." In 1988, she died at the age of 88 in
New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of Greater Danbury, as well as the New York Metropolitan Area, has a population of 28,115 as of the 2020 census. New Milford lies north of Danbury on the ...
.


Poetic style

Superficially, Léonie Adams' style did not change greatly over her lifetime, but there was an initial shy wonder at the world that eventually became an intense and almost devotional lyricism. Her rich descriptions demonstrated great delicacy of perception and an exalted spirit. She bore comparison with
Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...
and 17th century metaphysical poetry, especially in her near-religious ecstasy. In a mid-2000s critical commentary for the Wom-Po (Discussion of Women's Poetry) website, poet Annie Finch provided a more postmodern reading of Adams as "a lush, sensual poet who directed her sensuality not towards other people but primarily towards the materials of poetry, towards syntax and symbol, diction and word-sound, in short, towards the language itself," and went on to say that "Adams' poetry teases the balance between the incantatory and representational powers of poetic language. She uses the sounds of language as counterweights to her poems' ostensible meanings, complicating the act of reading and calling into question a reader's emotional responses."


Prizes and awards

* 1954: the Bollingen Prize for ''Poems: A Selection (1954)'' * 1974: Academy Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets * the Shelley Memorial Award * fellowship from The Guggenheim Foundation * grants from The National Council of the Arts and The National Institute of Arts and Letters,


Poetry collections

*''Those Not Elect,'' Robert M. McBride & Co, 1925; Reprint Services Corp, 1992, *''High Falcon and Other Poems,'' John Day, New York, 1929. *''Midsummer,'' Ward Ritchie, 1929 *''This Measure,'' A. A. Knopf, 1933 *''Poems: A selection,'' Funk & Wagnalls, 1954


Edited and translated

*''The Lyrics of Francois Villon'', Limited Editions Club, New York, 1933.


Children's books


"A casque for Amadis,"
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1928.
"The tale of Tenjin : or how a much-abused man became a saint,"
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1928.


Anthologies

* *


References


External links

* Léonie Adams and William Troy Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Brief Note at Library of Congress siteAcademy of American Poets entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Leonie 1899 births 1988 deaths American women poets American poets laureate Catholics from New York (state) Barnard College alumni Bennington College faculty Bollingen Prize recipients Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Poets from New York (state) Sarah Lawrence College faculty 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Writers from Brooklyn 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters