Berryman, John (bĕr`ēmən), 1914–72, American poet and critic, b. McAlester, Okla., grad. Columbia, 1936. From 1955 until his death he was on the faculty of the Univ. of Minnesota. Although he had published several volumes of poetry and a highly regarded biography of Stephen Crane (1950), his literary reputation was not established until the appearance of Homage to Mistress Bradstreet (1956), a long dialogue in verse between Berryman and the ghost of Anne Bradstreet Bradstreet, Anne (Dudley), c.1612–1672, early American poet, b. Northampton, England, considered the first significant woman author in the American colonies.
..... Click the link for more information. . The volumes 77 Dream Songs (1964; Pulitzer Prize) and His Toy, His Dream, His Rest (1968) can be considered a two-part novel in verse in which the only speaker is a middle-aged teacher and lover named Henry, who is the universal voice of an anguished and trivial age. Berryman committed suicide in 1972. Delusions (1972), a volume of poems, and Recovery (1973), a novel, were published posthumously; in both the poet examines himself and his life—as it slips away—in intimate and harrowing detail. Berryman's other volumes of poetry include Poems (1942), The Dispossessed (1948), Berryman's Sonnets (1967), and Love and Fame (1971).
(born Oct. 25, 1914, McAlester, Okla., U.S.—died Jan. 7, 1972, Minneapolis, Minn.) U.S. poet. Berryman attended Columbia University and the University of Cambridge and later taught at various universities. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet (1956), one of his first experimental poems, assured his importance. His technical daring was also evident in 77 Dream Songs (1964, Pulitzer Prize), augmented to form a sequence of 385 “Dream Songs” in His Toy, His Dream, His Rest (1968). Later works include the deceptively offhand Love & Fame (1970) and Recovery (1973), an account of his struggle against alcoholism. He is noted for his confessional poetry laced with humour. Subject to deep depression, he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge.
Berryman, John (McAlpin) (1914–72) poet, writer, teacher; born in McAlester, Okla. He studied at Columbia University (B.A. 1936), at Cambridge, England (B.A. 1938), and taught at various institutions, mainly the University of Minnesota (1954–72). He is known for his almost agonizing self-revealing poetry, as in Dream Songs (collected; 1969). He committed suicide in Minneapolis, Minn., and his novel, Recovery (1973), appeared posthumously.
..... Click the link for more information. . The volumes 77 Dream Songs (1964; Pulitzer Prize) and His Toy, His Dream, His Rest (1968) can be considered a two-part novel in verse in which the only speaker is a middle-aged teacher and lover named Henry, who is the universal voice of an anguished and trivial age. Berryman committed suicide in 1972. Delusions (1972), a volume of poems, and Recovery (1973), a novel, were published posthumously; in both the poet examines himself and his life—as it slips away—in intimate and harrowing detail. Berryman's other volumes of poetry include Poems (1942), The Dispossessed (1948), Berryman's Sonnets (1967), and Love and Fame (1971).
Bibliography
See study by J. M. Linebarger (1974).
Berryman, John
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Berryman
(credit: Courtesy of the University of Minnesota)
Berryman, John (McAlpin) (1914–72) poet, writer, teacher; born in McAlester, Okla. He studied at Columbia University (B.A. 1936), at Cambridge, England (B.A. 1938), and taught at various institutions, mainly the University of Minnesota (1954–72). He is known for his almost agonizing self-revealing poetry, as in Dream Songs (collected; 1969). He committed suicide in Minneapolis, Minn., and his novel, Recovery (1973), appeared posthumously.
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