Collected Poems, 1917-1982

by Archibald MacLeish

This expanded volume of the distinguished poet's work contains 29 previously uncollected poems, some that had been published, and some found in manuscript after MacLeish's death in 1982. This is the definitive volume produced by a life that filled several careers as writer, teacher, and public servant, but was devoted above all to poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

544 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 1985

About the author

American poet Archibald MacLeish won a Pulitzer Prize for Conquistador in 1932, served as librarian of Congress from 1939 and as assistant secretary of state from 1944 to 1945, and won again for Collected Poems 1917-1952 and the verse play J.B. (1958).

The modernist school associates this writer. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.

Reviews

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“To face the truth of the passing away of the world and make song of it, make beauty of it, is not to solve the riddle of our mortal lives but perhaps to accomplish something more.” —Archibald MacLeish, “Poetry and Experience” Perhaps a better exponent of poetry and proponent of other versifiers than a poet himself, MacLeish exhibits the extraordinary range of his erudition in this collection. Particularly poignant are his war poems, especially those dedicated to his brother, a Navy pilot who died in WWI: “Memorial Rain” and “Lines for an Interment.” The reflective poems written during his later years seem less self-conscious and more present, finally accomplishing the work of the poet by facing the truth of his own impending death, making song, and finding beauty in it.

Favorite Poems:
“Corporate Entity” (wowza!)
“Memorial Rain”
“Man!”
“Ars Poetica”
“Sketch for a Portrait of Mme. G— M—“
“Einstein”
“Landscape as a Nude”
“Lines for and Interment”
“Invocation to the Social Muse”
“Journey Home”
“The Treason Crime” (1/6/2021)
“You, Also, Gaius Valerius Catullus”
“The Linden Branch”
“The Black Day” (ode to Moscow Mitch & his ilk)
“The Ballad of the Corn Cob and the Lie” (Trump)
“Crossing”
“Hypocrite Auteur” (“A world ends when its metaphor has died. . . Invent the age! Invent the metaphor!”)
“The Infinite Reason”
“Theory of Poetry” (“Know the world by heart/ Or never know it!”)
“Reasons for Music”
“Survivor”
“Great Contemporary Discoveries”
“La Foce”
“Hemingway”
“The Big Bang and the Evening Star”
“Return to the Island”

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

More people should be reading Archibald MacLeish. At one time, he was often placed alongside the greatest modern poets. This book is full of absolutely breathtaking poems. MacLeish was very engaged with his art and the question of what it meant to be a poet. One gets the sense that MacLeish lead a very active and exciting intellectual life. This book demonstrates the changes in style and philosophy that he made throughout his career.

[John Gentry · Rating 2 out of 5]

He rhymes a lot 🤷‍♂️

[Tanvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of this guy . . one of my most favorite poems in the world is by him, called The End of the World, I think on page 89. If you like connotations, literary allusions and creative explosions . . pick this book up.

[Susan]

Collected Poems 1917-1952 by Archibald MacLeish (Houghton)
So far unable to locate 1917-1952 which is what he won the Pulitzer for but this seems to be that work with some unpublished works in addition.