Stanley Kunitz Summary

At the age of 95, Stanley Kunitz (born 1905) became the oldest person ever to serve as Poet Laureate of the United States. One of the finest American poets of the Twentieth Century, Kunitz produced on... Read more

Critical Essay by Babette Deutsch [That sophisticated craftsman, Stanley Kunitz] can commence a lyric with a couplet that might have been composed by one of the metaphysicals: "Lovers relentles... Read more

Critical Essay by Richard Vine For nearly half a century Mr. Kunitz has been giving us poems remarkable for their compactness and force. Now, in his seventieth year, he presents us with [A Kind of Ord... Read more

Cotter reviews Poems of Stanley Kunitz: 1928–1978, briefly remarking on Kunitz's poetic development. [In The Poems of Stanley Kunitz, 1928–1978, Kunitz] arranges his poems in reve... Read more

In the following essay, Kunitz discusses poetic imagination and explains the genesis of his poem "The Abduction." A few months ago a graduate student at a Midwestern university sent me a... Read more

In the following excerpt from a review of Passing Through, Barber marvels at Kunitz's "exemplary resilience" and "inexhaustible " curiosity. Here, in a trim volume t... Read more

In the following essay, Wagoner predicts that the publication of Selected Poems, 1928-1958 will bring an end to critical neglect of Kunitz's poetry. One of the most depressing literary curiosit... Read more

In the following essay, Hagstrum identifies major themes in Kunitz's poetry and traces the development of his technique, examining poems from Intellectual Things, Passport to the War, and Selec... Read more

In the following interview, which was conducted on March 9, 1972, at Kunitz's home in New York, Kunitz comments on a number of subjects pertinent to his work, including the relationship between... Read more

In the following essay, Weisburg relates Kunitz's poetry to that of his contemporaries and discusses his major themes as they emerge in Selected Poems, 1928-1958: disease: generation, or the pa... Read more

Critical Essay by John Ciardi I have carried some of [Stanley Kunitz's poems] in my head for twenty years, and they still ring there in delight. Listen to the opening lines of "Deciduous... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert B. Shaw Even if change were not so prominent among his themes, the reader of Kunitz's life work [in "The Poems of Stanley Kunitz: 1928–1978"] would... Read more

In the following interview, conducted in 1972, Kunitz discusses his formative influences and approach to writing poetry, his artistic development and changing existential and mythopoetic concerns, and... Read more

In the following essay, Kastor presents an overview of Kunitz's career and accomplishments, and reports Kunitz's comments on his work and the role of the poet. Stanley Kunitz has always ... Read more

In the following interview, conducted in 1990, Kunitz discusses his early life, formative experiences, education, beginnings as a poet, literary relationships, and his approach to writing and experien... Read more

In the following essay, Mitchell reflects on the organic processes, universal revelations, and “ecstatic” voice in Kunitz's poetry, particularly that in Next-to-Last Things. A cou... Read more

In the following review, Christie offers a positive assessment of Passing Through. Yes, lately we've been intrigued by a poetry infused with the postmodern, by its skeptical deconstructions and... Read more

In the following positive review of Passing Through, Yezzi provides an analysis of recurring “key images” and archetypes in Kunitz's poetry and comments favorably on Kunitz'... Read more

In the following excerpt, Kitchen comments on the task of the reviewer and offers a favorable evaluation of Passing Through, including close readings of two poems, “Three Floors” and &#x... Read more

In the following interview, Kunitz comments on his life, work, creative inspiration, Jewish heritage, and the significance of poetry. On Tuesday, December 5, 1995, I interviewed Stanley Kunitz in his ... Read more

In the following essay, Weeks provides an overview of Kunitz's literary career and poetry upon his appointment as Poet Laureate of the United States. Stanley Kunitz, who once said that all poet... Read more

In the following review, Young provides an overview of Kunitz's literary contributions and analysis of several exemplary poems from The Poetry of Stanley Kunitz, 1928–1978. While some po... Read more

In the following review of The Poems of Stanley Kunitz, 1928–1978, Stitt argues that Kunitz's greatest strength lies in his high-minded rhetorical style, rather than the “middle&#... Read more

In the following essay, Orr provides an analysis of the recurring images and personal symbolism in Kunitz's poetry, drawing particular attention to the significance of legend, quest, and parent... Read more