Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961.

Life and career

Untermeyer was born in New York City, the son of Emanuel, German-Jewish jewelry manufacturer, and Julia Michael Untermeyer. He initially joined his father's firm as a designer, rising to the rank of vice president, before resigning from the firm in 1923 to devote himself to literary pursuits. (Richard Untermeyer died by suicide in January 1927 while studying at Yale, at the age of 19.) After a 1926 divorce, they were reunited in 1929, after which they adopted two sons, Laurence and Joseph. He married the poet Virginia Moore (1903–1993) 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 (1894–1983). This relationship also ended in divorce in 1945. In 1948, he married Bryna Ivens, an editor of Seventeen magazine.

Untermeyer's first book of poetry, First Love (1911), reflected the influences of Heinrich Heine and British poet Laurence Housman. a poetry magazine that is credited for introducing many new poets, including Robert Frost, who became Untermeyer's long-term friend and correspondent.

On May 1, 1935, Untermeyer joined the League of American Writers (1935–1943), whose members included Lillian Hellman, Dashiell Hammett, Frank Folsom, Alexander Trachtenberg, I.F. Stone, Myra Page, Millen Brand, and Arthur Miller. (Members were largely either Communist Party members or fellow travelers.)

In 1950, Untermeyer was a panelist during the first year of What's My Line?, the popular television quiz program. 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 a communist, but he had joined several suspect societies that drew attention to him. The kinescope of this episode has been lost. His firing led to Bennett Cerf becoming a permanent panelist on the program. and his wife Bryna answered all incoming phone calls. He lectured on literature for many years, both in the US and other countries. In 1956 the Poetry Society of America awarded Untermeyer a Gold Medal. He also served as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1961 until 1963.

Selected bibliography

Poetry collections

  • The Younger Quire (parodies), Mood Publishing, 1911.
  • First Love: A Lyric Sequence, Sherman, French & Co., 1911.
  • Challenge, Century, 1914.
  • These Times, Holt, 1917.
  • Including Horace, Harcourt, 1919.
  • The New Adam, Harcourt, 1920.
  • Roast Leviathan, Harcourt, 1923, reprinted, Arno, 1975.
  • (With son, Richard Untermeyer) Poems, privately printed, 1927.
  • Burning Bush, Harcourt, 1928.
  • Adirondack Cycle, Random House, 1929.
  • Food and Drink, Harcourt, 1932.
  • First Words before Spring, Knopf, 1933.
  • Selected Poems and Parodies, Harcourt, 1935.
  • For You with Love (juvenile), Golden Press, 1961.
  • Long Feud: Selected Poems, Harcourt, 1962.
  • One and One and One (juvenile), Crowell-Collier, 1962.
  • This Is Your Day (juvenile), Golden Press, 1964.
  • Labyrinth of Love, Simon & Schuster, 1965.
  • Thanks: A Poem (juvenile), Odyssey, 1965.
  • Thinking of You (juvenile), Golden Press, 1968.
  • A Friend Indeed, Golden Press, 1968.
  • You: A Poem, (juvenile), illustrations by Martha Alexander, Golden Press, 1969.

Autobiography

  • From Another World (1935)
  • Bygones (1965)

Essay collections

  • The New Era in American Poetry (1919)
  • American Poetry Since 1900 (1923)
  • The Forms Of Poetry (1926)
  • Play in Poetry (1938)
  • Doorways to Poetry (1938)
  • The Lowest Form of Wit (1947)
  • The Pursuit of Poetry (1969)

Critical collections

  • The Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1943)
  • The Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (1949)
  • The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer (1963)
  • The Love Poems of Elizabeth and Robert Browning (1994)
  • The Love Poems of Robert Herrick and John Donne (1948)

Fictional volumes

  • Moses (1923)
  • The Fat of the Cat and Other Stories (1925, adapted by Untermeyer)
  • The Donkey of God and Other Stories (1932)
  • The Kitten Who Barked (1962), illustrator: Lilian Obligado
  • The Second Christmas (1961), illustrator: Louis Marak
  • Cat O' Nine Tales (1971), illustrator: Lawrence DiFiori
  • The Dog of Pompeii(1915)

Biography

  • Heinrich Heine: Paradox and Poet (1937)
  • Lives of the Poets: The story of one thousand years of English and American poetry (1972)
  • Makers of the Modern World (with John Moore) (1955)
  • Makers of the Modern World selections, Japanese translation (1971)

Anthologies, as editor or compiler

  • Modern American Poetry (1919) (2nd edition, 1921; 6th edition, 1942)
  • Modern British Poetry (1920) (5th edition, 1942)
  • Modern American and British Poetry (1919)
  • This Singing World (1923)
  • Yesterday and Today (1926)
  • New Songs for New Voices (1928), with Clara and David Mannes, illustrator: Peggy Bacon
  • A Treasury of Great Poems (1942, 1955)
  • The Golden Treasury of Poetry (1959), illustrator: Joan Walsh Anglund
  • Story Poems (1946, 1972)
  • Early American Poets (1952)
  • An Uninhibited Treasury of Erotic Poetry (1963)
  • A Galaxy of Verse (1978)
  • Men and Women: the Poetry of Love (1970), illustrator: Robert J. Lee
  • Collins Albatross Book of Verse (1933, 1960)
  • Stars To Steer By (1941)
  • Lots of Limericks (1961), illustrator: R. Taylor
  • The Book of Living Verse (1932, 1945)
  • Rainbow in the Sky (1935), illustrator: Reginald Birch
  • A Treasury of Laughter (1946)
  • An Anthology of New England Poets (1948)
  • The Best Humor of 1949-1950 (with Ralph E. Shikes, 1950)
  • The Best Humor Annual (with Ralph E. Shikes, 1951)
  • The Best Humor Annual (with Ralph E. Shikes, 1952)
  • The Magic Circle (1952)
  • A Treasury of Ribaldry (1956)
  • The Britannica Library of Great American Writing (1960)
  • Big and Little Creatures (1961), with Bryna Ivens Untermeyer
  • Beloved Tales (1962), with Bryna Ivens Untermeyer
  • Old Friends and Lasting favorites (1962), with Bryna Ivens Untermeyer
  • Fun and Fancy (1962), with Bryna Ivens Untermeyer
  • Creatures Wild and Tame (1963), with Bryna Ivens Untermeyer
  • Love Sonnets (1964), with Ben Shahn
  • Love Lyrics (1964), with Antonio Frasconi
  • The Golden Book of Poems for the Very Young (1971)
  • A Treasury of Great Humor (1972)

Adapted or translated books

  • Poems of Heinrich Heine (1917)
  • The Wonderful Adventures of Paul Bunyan (1946), illustrator: Everett Gee Jackson
  • More French Fairy Tales (1946), illustrator: Gustave Doré
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (1954), illustrator: Pierre Brissaud
  • Aesop's Fables (1965), illustrator: A. and M. Provensen
  • Songs of Joy from the Book of Psalms (1967), illustrator: Joan Berg Victor
  • Tales from the Ballet (1968), illustrator: A. and M. Provensen
  • A Time for Peace (1969), illustrator: Joan Berg Victor
  • The World's Great Stories (1964)
  • The Firebringer (1968)
  • Lines to a Pomeranian Puppy Valued at $3500 (1950), musical adaptation of Untermeyer poem by Irving Ravin

References

  • Profile at Poetry Foundation
  • Untermeyer papers at the Lilly Library, Indiana University
  • Index entry at Poets' Corner for Louis Untermeyer