John Holmes (poet)

John Holmes, born John Albert Holmes Jr. (January 6, 1904-June 22, 1962) was an American poet and critic.

Life
Holmes was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, and both attended and taught at Tufts University where he was a professor of literature and modern poetry for 28 years. One of his students was the poet Anne Sexton.

Early years
Holmes was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, son of John A. Holmes, Sr. and Mary Florence (Murdock) Holmes. His father was an engineer who specialized in building dams and bridges. John attended Somerville public schools, and lter Tufts University.

Holmes’ early adulthood was marred by his struggle with alcoholism and the nightmarish end to his first marriage when his wife slit her wrists and bled to death over his papers

Professional life
In 1934 he became an instructor at Tufts. He worked there the rest of his life, rising to full professor in 1960. Holmes's students admired him. "When he taught," wrote Jerome Barron, "something magical happened. He made you want to write and understand poetry. He didn't lecture; he encouraged. Simplicity, and writing that went from the inside out, this is what he was after."

Another of his students was the poet Anne Sexton.

He wrote several volumes of poetry and the lyrics to several Unitarian Universalist hymns. , including "The People's Peace".

Publications

 * Along the Row (1929)
 * Address to the Living (1937)
 * Fair Warning (1939)
 * The Poet's Word (1939)
 * Map of my Country (1943)
 * Little Treasury of Love Poems (1950)
 * The Double Root (1950)
 * The Symbols (1955)
 * Writing poetry (1960)
 * The Fortune Teller (1961)