Archie Randolph Ammons
Encyclopedia
Archie Randolph Ammons was an American
poet
. He wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic and solemn tones.
, in the southeastern part of the state. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, stationed on board the U.S.S. Gunason, a battleship escort. After the war, Ammons attended Wake Forest University
, majoring in biology.Graduating in 1949, he served as a principal and teacher at Hattaras Elementary School later that year and also married Phyllis Plumbo. He received an M.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley
.
In 1964, Ammons joined the faculty of Cornell University
, eventually becoming Goldwin Smith Professor of English and Poet in Residence. He retired from Cornell in 1998.
Ammons had been a longtime resident of Northfield, New Jersey
, and Millville, New Jersey
, when he wrote Corsons Inlet in 1962.
(1998); and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1981, the year the award was established. Ammons also had a school in Miami, Florida, named after him.
Ammons's other awards include a 1981 National Book Critics Circle
Award for A Coast of Trees; a 1993 Library of Congress
Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for Garbage; the 1971 Bollingen Prize
for Sphere; the Poetry Society of America's Robert Frost
Medal; the Ruth Lilly Prize; and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation
and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1978.
"Ode to the West Wind." Lines are strongly enjambed
. Some of Ammons's poems are very short, one or two lines only, while others (for example, the book-length poems Sphere and Tape for the Turn of the Year) are hundreds of lines long, and sometimes composed on adding machine tape or other continuous strips of paper. His National Book Award-winning volume Garbage is a long poem consisting of "a single extended sentence, divided into eighteen sections, arranged in couplets".
Many readers and critics have noted Ammons's idiosyncratic approach to punctuation. Lehman has written that Ammons "bears out T. S. Eliot'
s observation that poetry is a 'system of punctuation'." Instead of periods, some poems end with an ellipsis; others have no terminal punctuation at all. The colon
is an Ammons "signature"; he uses it "as an all-purpose punctuation mark."
According to critic Stephen Burt
, in many poems Ammons combines three types of diction
:
Such a mixture is nearly unique, Burt says; these three modes are "almost never found together outside his poems".
As far as topics often addressed by Ammons, those of religious and philosophical concern are visited in his works as are many scenes involving nature, almost in a Transcendental fashion. According to Daniel Hoffman, who wrote a book review on Ammons, stated that his work "is founded on an implied Emersonian division of experience into Nature and the Soul," adding that it "sometimes consciously echo[es] familiar lines from Emerson, Whitman and [Emily] Dickinson."
Poetry
Prose
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic and solemn tones.
Life
Ammons grew up on a tobacco farm near Whiteville, North CarolinaWhiteville, North Carolina
Whiteville is a city in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,148 at the 2000 census. It is the only city of Columbus County and is the county seat....
, in the southeastern part of the state. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, stationed on board the U.S.S. Gunason, a battleship escort. After the war, Ammons attended Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
, majoring in biology.Graduating in 1949, he served as a principal and teacher at Hattaras Elementary School later that year and also married Phyllis Plumbo. He received an M.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
In 1964, Ammons joined the faculty of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, eventually becoming Goldwin Smith Professor of English and Poet in Residence. He retired from Cornell in 1998.
Ammons had been a longtime resident of Northfield, New Jersey
Northfield, New Jersey
Northfield is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 8,624.Northfield was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 21, 1905, from portions of Egg Harbor Township...
, and Millville, New Jersey
Millville, New Jersey
Millville is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city population was 26,847. Millville, Bridgeton and Vineland are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
, when he wrote Corsons Inlet in 1962.
Awards
During the five decades of his poetic career, Ammons was the recipient of many awards and citations. Among his major honors are two National Book Awards (in 1973, for Collected Poems 1951-1971, and 1993, for Garbage); the $100,000 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American PoetsAcademy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
(1998); and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1981, the year the award was established. Ammons also had a school in Miami, Florida, named after him.
Ammons's other awards include a 1981 National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
Award for A Coast of Trees; a 1993 Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for Garbage; the 1971 Bollingen Prize
Bollingen Prize
The Bollingen Prize for Poetry, which is currently awarded every two years by Beinecke Library of Yale University, is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.-Inception and controversy:The...
for Sphere; the Poetry Society of America's Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
Medal; the Ruth Lilly Prize; and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1978.
Poetic style
Ammons often writes in two- or three-line stanzas. Poet David Lehman notes a resemblance between Ammons's terza libre (unrhymed three-line stanzas) and the terza rima of Shelley'sPercy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
"Ode to the West Wind." Lines are strongly enjambed
Enjambment
Enjambment or enjambement is the breaking of a syntactic unit by the end of a line or between two verses. It is to be contrasted with end-stopping, where each linguistic unit corresponds with a single line, and caesura, in which the linguistic unit ends mid-line...
. Some of Ammons's poems are very short, one or two lines only, while others (for example, the book-length poems Sphere and Tape for the Turn of the Year) are hundreds of lines long, and sometimes composed on adding machine tape or other continuous strips of paper. His National Book Award-winning volume Garbage is a long poem consisting of "a single extended sentence, divided into eighteen sections, arranged in couplets".
Many readers and critics have noted Ammons's idiosyncratic approach to punctuation. Lehman has written that Ammons "bears out T. S. Eliot'
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
s observation that poetry is a 'system of punctuation'." Instead of periods, some poems end with an ellipsis; others have no terminal punctuation at all. The colon
Colon (punctuation)
The colon is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots centered on the same vertical line.-Usage:A colon informs the reader that what follows the mark proves, explains, or lists elements of what preceded the mark....
is an Ammons "signature"; he uses it "as an all-purpose punctuation mark."
The colon permits him to stress the linkage between clauses and to postpone closure indefinitely.... When I asked Archie about his use of colons, he said that when he started writing poetry, he couldn't write if he thought "it was going to be important," so he wrote "on the back of used mimeographed paper my wife brought home, and I used small [lowercase] letters and colons, which were democratic, and meant that there would be something before and after [every phrase] and the writing would be a kind of continuous stream."
According to critic Stephen Burt
Stephen Burt
Stephen Burt is a literary critic, poet, and a professor who teaches at Harvard University.-Elliptical Poetry:Burt received significant attention for coining the term "elliptical poetry" in a 1998 book review of Susan Wheeler's book, Smokes, in Boston Review magazine...
, in many poems Ammons combines three types of diction
Diction
Diction , in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a poem or story...
:
- A “normal” range of language for poetry, including the standard English of educated conversation and the slightly rarer words we expect to see in literature (“vast,” “summon,” “universal”).
- A demotic register, including the folk-speech of eastern North Carolina, where he grew up (“dibbles”), and broader American chatter unexpected in serious poems (“blip”).
- The Greek- and Latin-derived phraseology of the natural sciences (“millimeter,” “information of actions / summarized”), especially geology, physics, and cybernetics.
Such a mixture is nearly unique, Burt says; these three modes are "almost never found together outside his poems".
As far as topics often addressed by Ammons, those of religious and philosophical concern are visited in his works as are many scenes involving nature, almost in a Transcendental fashion. According to Daniel Hoffman, who wrote a book review on Ammons, stated that his work "is founded on an implied Emersonian division of experience into Nature and the Soul," adding that it "sometimes consciously echo[es] familiar lines from Emerson, Whitman and [Emily] Dickinson."
Works
Works published before 1970 do not have ISBNs.Poetry
- Ommateum, with Doxology. Philadelphia: Dorrance, 1955.
- Expressions of Sea Level. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1964.
- Corsons Inlet. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1965. Reprinted by Norton, 1967. ISBN 0-393-04463-7
- Tape for the Turn of the Year. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1965. Reprinted by Norton, 1972. ISBN 0-393-00659-X
- Northfield Poems. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1966.
- Selected Poems. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1968.
- Uplands. New York: Norton, 1970. ISBN 0-393-04322-3
- Briefings: Poems Small and Easy. New York: Norton, 1971. ISBN 0-393-04326-6
- Collected Poems: 1951-1971. New York: Norton, 1972. ISBN 0-393-04241-3
- Sphere: The Form of a Motion. New York: Norton, 1974. ISBN 0-393-04388-6
- Diversifications. New York: Norton, 1975. ISBN 0-393-04414-9
- The Selected Poems: 1951-1977. New York: Norton, 1977. ISBN 0-393-04465-3
- Highgate Road. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1977.
- The Snow Poems . New York: Norton, 1977. ISBN 0-393-04467-X
- Selected Longer Poems. New York: Norton, 1980. ISBN 0-393-01297-2
- A Coast of Trees. New York: Norton, 1981. ISBN 0-393-01447-9
- Worldly Hopes. New York: Norton, 1982. ISBN 0-393-01518-1
- Lake Effect Country. New York: Norton, 1983. ISBN 0-393-01702-8
- The Selected Poems: Expanded Edition. New York: Norton, 1986. ISBN 0-393-02411-3
- Sumerian Vistas. New York: Norton, 1987. ISBN 0-393-02468-7
- The Really Short Poems. New York: Norton, 1991. ISBN 0-393-02870-4
- Garbage. New York: Norton, 1993. ISBN 0-393-03542-5
- The North Carolina Poems. Alex Albright, ed. Rocky Mount, NC: NC Wesleyan College P, 1994. ISBN 0-933598-51-3
- Brink Road.New York: Norton, 1996. ISBN 0-393-03958-7
- Glare. New York: Norton, 1997. ISBN 0-393-04096-8
- Bosh and Flapdoodle: Poems. New York: Norton, 2005. ISBN 0-393-05952-9
- Selected Poems. David Lehman, ed. New York: Library of America, 2006. ISBN 1-931082-93-6
Prose
- Set in Motion: Essays, Interviews, and Dialogues (1996)
External links
- Two poems by Ammons
- Lehman, David. "A.R. Ammons' Life and Career."
- A.R. Ammons Interviewed by David Grossvogel
- A.R. Ammons Poetry and Translations at the Open Translation Project sponsored by Bryant H. McGillBryant H. McGillBryant Harrison McGill is an American editor and author who was born in Mobile, Alabama. McGill is the editor and author of the McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme, and other books in the McGill Reference Series, which are used by over one hundred thousand writers, educators, students,...
- Diacritics
- Modern American Poetry, critical essays on Ammons's works
Print sources
- Harold BloomHarold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
, The Ringers in the Tower: Studies in Romantic Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
- Diacritics 3 (1973). An entire "essays on Ammons" issue.