Louis Untermeyer

Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 - December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, and editor, best known for his many poetry anthologies.

Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977). Courtesy Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons.

Louis Untermeyer
Born	October 1, 1885 New York City, New York, United States
Died	December 18, 1977 (aged 92) Newtown, Connecticut, United States
Occupation	Author, anthologist, editor, poet
Nationality	American

Life

Untermeyer was born in New York City.

He married Jean Starr Untermeyer in 1906. Their son Richard was born in 1907 and died under uncertain circumstances in 1927. After a 1926 divorce, they were reunited in 1929, after which they adopted 2 sons, Laurence and Joseph.

He married poet Virginia Moore in 1927; their son, John Moore Untermeyer (1928), was renamed John Fitzallen Moore after a painful 1929 divorce.

In the 1930s, he divorced Jean Starr Untermeyer and married Esther Antin. This relationship also ended in divorce in 1945. In 1948, he married Bryna Ivens, an editor of Seventeen magazine.

He was known for his wit and his love of puns. For a while, he held Marxist beliefs, writing for magazines such as The Masses, through which he advocated that the United States stay out of World War I. After the suppression of that magazine by the U.S. government, he joined The Liberator, published by the Workers Party of America. Later he wrote for the independent socialist magazine The New Masses. He was a co-founder of "The Seven Arts", a poetry magazine that is credited for introducing many new poets, including Robert Frost, who became Untermeyer's long-time friend and correspondent.

According to Bennett Cerf, Untermeyer would sign virtually any piece of paper that someone placed in front of him, and Untermeyer inadvertently signed a few Communist proclamations. According to Cerf, Untermeyer was not at all a communist, but he had joined several suspect societies that made him stand out. He was named during the hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities investigating communist subversion. The Catholic War Veterans and "right wing organizations" began hounding Mr. Untermeyer.

The controversy surrounding Untermeyer led to his being blacklisted by industry. In 1950, he was a panelist during the debut season of What's My Line?. Goodson-Todman held out against the protests for some time, but finally veterans began picketing the theater. The pressure became too great, and sponsor Jules Montenier said: "After all, I'm paying a lot of money for this. I can't afford to have my product picketed." At that point, the producers told Untermeyer that he had to leave the program. This action led to Bennett Cerf becoming a permanent member of the program.

Untermeyer was the author or editor of close to 100 books, from 1911 until his death. Many of them and his other memorabilia are preserved in a special section of the Lilly Library at the Indiana University. Schools used his Modern American Poetry and Modern British Poetry books widely, and they often formed students' introduction to poetry. He and Bryna Ivens Untermeyer created a number of books for young people, under the Golden Treasury of Children's Literature. He lectured on literature for many years, both in the U.S. and other countries. 

Recognition

In 1956 the Poetry Society of America awarded Untermeyer a Gold Medal.

He was appointed the 14th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, serving from 1961 until 1963.

Publications

Main article: Louis Untermeyer bibliography

Poetry

• The Younger Quire (parodies). New York: The Moods Publishing, 1911.
• First Love: A lyric sequence. Boston: Sherman, French, 1911.
• Challenge. New York: Century, 1914.
• —and Other Poets (parodies). New York: Holt, 1916.
• These Times. New York: Holt, 1917.
• Including Horace, Harcourt, 1919.
• The New Adam. New York: Harcourt, 1920.
• Roast Leviathan. New York: Harcourt, 1923; Arno, 1975.
• Poems (with son, Richard Untermeyer). privately printed, 1927.
• Burning Bush. New York: Harcourt, 1928.
• Adirondack Cycle. New York: Random House, 1929.
• Food and Drink. New York: Harcourt, 1932.
• First Words before Spring. New York: Knopf, 1933.
• Selected Poems and Parodies. New York: Harcourt, 1935.
• Long Feud: Selected poems. New York: Harcourt, 1962.
• Labyrinth of Love. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965.

Juvenile

Poetry

• For You with Love. Golden Press, 1961.
• One and One and One. Crowell-Collier, 1962.
• This Is Your Day. Golden Press, 1964.
• Thanks: A Poem. Odyssey, 1965.
• Thinking of You. Golden Press, 1968.
• A Friend Indeed. Golden Press, 1968.
• You: A poem (illustrated by Martha Alexander). Golden Press, 1969.

Edited

• Modern American Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Howe, 1919;
  • revised & enlarged edition, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1921.
• A Miscellany of American Poetry, Granger, 1920, reprinted, 1978.
• Modern British Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Howe, 1920.
• Modern American and British Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1922; 9th revised edition, 1962.

Louis Untermeyer - Prayer

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.

Audio / video

Swimmers by Louis Untermeyer

• The Poetry of Louis Untermeyer (tape). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.
• Discovering Rhyme and Rhythm in Poetry (LP; with Julie Harris & David Wayne). New York: Caedmon, 1967.
• American Thought: A literary critic (cassette). New York: Encyclopedia Americana / CBS News Audio Resource Library, 1975.

Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat

See also

• List of U.S. poets
• List of literary critics

External links

Poems

• "Prayer"
• Louis Untermeyer in The New Poetry: An anthology: "Landscapes," "Feuerzauber," "On the Birth of a Child," "Irony"
• Louis Untermeyer 1885–1977 at the Poetry Foundation.
• Untermeyer in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Magic," "Beauty," "Home," "The Beloved," "Conquest," "End of the Comedy," Monologue from a Mattress"
• Index entry for Louis Untermeyer at Poets' Corner
• Louis Untermeyer at PoemHunter (29 poems)

Books

• Louis Untermeyer anthologies at Bartleby.com.

Audio / video

• Louis Untermeyer poems at YouTube

Books

• Louis Untermeyer at Amazon.com

About

• Louis Untermeyer in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Louis Untermeyer at Spartacus Educational
• Louis Untermeyer at NNDB

Etc.

• Untermeyer papers at the Lilly Library, Indiana University