R. P. Blackmur
R. P. Blackmur, born Richard Palmer Blackmur on January 21, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, was a significant figure in 20th-century American literature, recognized for both his poetry and his influential role as a literary critic and essayist. He is best known for his contributions to the New Criticism movement, which emphasized close analysis of literary texts rather than biographical or historical context. Blackmur's literary career began with his editing of the magazine *The Hound and Horn* from 1928 to 1930, followed by a series of essays that critically examined modernist poets, including T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. His first major poetry collection, *From Jordan's Delight*, was published in 1937 and received high praise for its craftsmanship.
He served as a professor of creative writing and English literature at Princeton University from 1940 until his death in 1965, during which time he also established the Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism. Blackmur's work has left a lasting impact on subsequent generations of poets, including Randall Jarrell and Robert Lowell. He continued to publish both poetry and essays throughout his life, with notable works appearing posthumously. Blackmur died on February 2, 1965, in Princeton, New Jersey, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence literary criticism and poetry.
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R. P. Blackmur
- Born: January 21, 1904
- Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts
- Died: February 2, 1965
- Place of death: Princeton, New Jersey
Biography
Richard Palmer Blackmur, known throughout his adult career as R. P. Blackmur, published critically acclaimed volumes of poetry but is perhaps better known as an influential literary critic, essayist, and prominent exponent of the “New Criticism.” As such, Blackmur helped steer Modernist criticism toward the close analysis of structure and form within the written work itself, rather than focusing on the writer’s biography and influences.
Blackmur was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 21, 1904, and grew up in Boston. After graduating from the High and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he worked in a Cambridge bookshop while attending lectures at Harvard University. Blackmur did not officially enroll in these lectures; in fact, he received no formal education after high school, even though he later became an Ivy League professor. From 1928 to 1930, he edited the literary magazine The Hound and Horn and began to write essays of literary criticism.
Influenced by the linguistic theories of I. A. Richards, Blackmur practiced the “close reading” of the New Critics, producing early and enduring assessments of Modernist poets such as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, and William Butler Yeats. His first book of essays, The Double Agent: Essays in Craft and Elucidation, appeared in 1935. Over the next five years, Blackmur brought out his first book of poetry, From Jordan’s Delight (1937), and an important text of the New Criticism, The Expense of Greatness (1940). Critic Allen Tate called From Jordan’s Delight “one of the most distinguished volumes of verse in the first half of the [twentieth] century.”
At this time, upon Tate’s recommendation, Blackmur began his career as a teacher of creative writing and English literature at Princeton University, serving as a resident fellow from 1940 to 1948, and then as a full-fledged professor until his death in 1965. In 1949, Blackmur also established the university’s Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism. He continued to write poetry and publish further essay collections, including the posthumous A Primer of Ignorance (1967). He directed the Seminars from 1957 to 1965, was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, served as vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and was a fellow in American Letters at the Library of Congress.
As both poet and critic, Blackmur was an influence on other poets such as Randall Jarrell, John Berryman, and Robert Lowell. Throughout his career, Blackmur also worked on a biography of historian Henry Adams, which was eventually published in edited form fifteen years after his death. Blackmur died on February 2, 1965, in Princeton, New Jersey. A collection of his poetry, Poems of R. P. Blackmur, was published by the Princeton University Press in 1977. A collection of his nonfiction, Selected Essays, appeared in 1986, and another, Outsider at the Heart of Things: Essays by R.P. Blackmur, in 1989.