SOURCE: "Poet Laureate Lambastes Library," in Book World—The Washington Post, Vol. XXII, No. 22, May 31, 1992, p. 15.

In the essay below, Streitfield discusses Brodsky's term as U.S. poet laureate, focusing in particular on the poet's disgruntlement with the lack of support for the position.

Joseph Brodsky's term as poet laureate, which officially concluded with a reading of his work to an overflow crowd of several hundred at the Library of Congress May 14, was stormier and more colorful than those of his four predecessors put together, and not coincidentally probably did more to boost the profile of this obscure post.

It wasn't raised nearly enough to satisfy Brodsky, however. In his favorite Capitol Hill cafe the morning after his final appearance, the poet waffled about whether he regretted taking the job, but made his feelings clear: "I could have happily lived without it. The job was ill-paid, ill-defined and...