Peter Viereck
Encyclopedia
Peter Robert Edwin Viereck (August 5, 1916 – May 13, 2006), was an American
poet and political thinker, as well as a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College
for five decades.
, the son of George Sylvester Viereck
. He received his B.A. summa cum laude in history in 1937 from Harvard University
. He then specialized in European history, receiving his M.A. in 1939 and his Ph.D. in 1942 in history, again from Harvard.
. His collection of poetry, Terror and Decorum, won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
.
, a Nazi sympathizer:
His beliefs are difficult to categorize as they raise questions about what "conservative" really means:
As Viereck wrote in Conservatism Revisited (1949), he "had 'opened people's minds to the idea that to be conservative is not to be satanic.' But, he said, 'once their minds were opened, Buckley came in.'" In his review (New York Times, November 4, 1951) of Buckley's 1950 book God and Man at Yale, Viereck wrote:
In 1962, Viereck elaborated upon the differences he saw between real conservatives and those he called pseudo-conservatives. He wrote
In January 2006 Viereck offered this analysis:
from 1946-7. He then joined the Mount Holyoke faculty in 1948, and taught there for nearly fifty years as a professor of history. He "retired" in 1987 but continued to teach his Russian history survey course there until 1997. Upon grading the final exams of his students, he would write on the test, "An A- is good, an A+ means you aren't smelling enough flowers." He and the poet Joseph Brodsky
would often joke about teaching a course together, "Rhyme and Punishment".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet and political thinker, as well as a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
for five decades.
Background
Viereck was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the son of George Sylvester Viereck
George Sylvester Viereck
George Sylvester Viereck was a German-American poet, writer, and propagandist.-Biography:...
. He received his B.A. summa cum laude in history in 1937 from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He then specialized in European history, receiving his M.A. in 1939 and his Ph.D. in 1942 in history, again from Harvard.
Poetry and scholarship
Viereck was prolific in his writing, publishing much since 1938. He was a respected poet, who published numerous poetry collections. In addition, a number of his poems were first published in Poetry MagazinePoetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
. His collection of poetry, Terror and Decorum, won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
.
Politics
Viereck was an early leader in the conservative movement, but by 1951 was feeling that this movement strayed from true conservatism (see Viereck's review of William F. Buckley's God and Man at Yale, New York Times, November 4, 1951). In April 1940, Viereck wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly ("But—I'm a Conservative!" ), partly in reaction against the ideologies of his father, George Sylvester ViereckGeorge Sylvester Viereck
George Sylvester Viereck was a German-American poet, writer, and propagandist.-Biography:...
, a Nazi sympathizer:
His beliefs are difficult to categorize as they raise questions about what "conservative" really means:
As Viereck wrote in Conservatism Revisited (1949), he "had 'opened people's minds to the idea that to be conservative is not to be satanic.' But, he said, 'once their minds were opened, Buckley came in.'" In his review (New York Times, November 4, 1951) of Buckley's 1950 book God and Man at Yale, Viereck wrote:
In 1962, Viereck elaborated upon the differences he saw between real conservatives and those he called pseudo-conservatives. He wrote
In January 2006 Viereck offered this analysis:
Teaching
Viereck initially taught at Smith CollegeSmith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
from 1946-7. He then joined the Mount Holyoke faculty in 1948, and taught there for nearly fifty years as a professor of history. He "retired" in 1987 but continued to teach his Russian history survey course there until 1997. Upon grading the final exams of his students, he would write on the test, "An A- is good, an A+ means you aren't smelling enough flowers." He and the poet Joseph Brodsky
Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky , was a Russian poet and essayist.In 1964, 23-year-old Brodsky was arrested and charged with the crime of "social parasitism" He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and settled in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters...
would often joke about teaching a course together, "Rhyme and Punishment".
Awards
- 1949: Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
for Terror and Decorum. - Guggenheim Fellowships in poetry and history.
Obituaries
Viereck died on May 13, 2006 after a prolonged illness.- "Peter Viereck: Conservative US historian of Nazi thought and writer of complex poetry", The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- "Peter Viereck, 89; writings helped inspire conservatism", Boston Globe
- "Peter Viereck, Poet and Conservative Theorist, Dies at 89", New York Times, May 19, 2006
- Obituaries in the News:Peter R. Viereck - ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
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Poetry
- The poem, "Kilroy" referred to the expression, Kilroy was hereKilroy was hereKilroy was here is an American popular culture expression, often seen in graffiti. Its origins are debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle—a bald-headed man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with the fingers of each hand clutching the wall—is widely known among U.S...
. - "Unthings", Boston University
Published in Poetry Magazine
- "Graves Are Made to Waltz On," Volume 56, July 1940, Page 185
- "Sonnet for Servants of the Word," Volume 68, September 1946, Page 302
- "Vale," from Carthage, Volume 70, July 1947, Page 182
- "Five Theological Cradle-Songs," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "Better Come Quietly," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "Why Can't I Live Forever?," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "Blindman's Buff," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "Game Called on Account of Darkness," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "Hide and Seek," Volume 71, December 1947, Page 115
- "A Sort of Redemption," Volume 72, August 1948, Page 238
- "Elegy to All Sainthood Everywhere," Volume 72, August 1948, Page 238
- "Love Song of Judas Smith," Volume 74, August 1949, Page 256
- "Again, Again!," Volume 80, April 1952, Page 6
- "Girl-Child Pastoral," Volume 81, October 1952, Page 80
- "Nostalgia," Volume 82, April 1953, Page 18
- "Benediction," Volume 85, February 1955, Page 255
- "A Walk on Moss," Volume 87, October 1955, Page 1
- "We Ran All the Way Home," Volume 96, August 1960, Page 265 http://www.poetrymagazine.org/magazine/historic.v.html
Poetry collections
Each year links to a corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- 19481948 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Sometime this year, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase Beat Generation to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that...
: Terror and Decorum, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
in 19491949 in poetryLinks to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, United Kingdom links to English poetry and Indian links to Indian poetry.-Events:... - 19491949 in poetryLinks to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, United Kingdom links to English poetry and Indian links to Indian poetry.-Events:...
: The Poet in the Machine Age - 19501950 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Charles Olson publishes his seminal essay, Projective Verse. In this, he called for a poetry of "open field" composition to replace traditional closed poetic forms with an improvised form that should...
: Strike Through the Mask! New Lyrical Poems - 19521952 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* November — The Group British poetry movement of the 1950s and 1960s began at Downing College, Cambridge University, Philip Hobsbaum along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris...
: The First Morning, New Poems - 19531953 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen and Harold L...
: Dream and Responsibility: Four Test Cases of the Tension Between Poetry and Society - 19541954 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Robert Creeley founds and edits the Black Mountain Review...
: The Last Decade in Poetry: New Dilemmas and New Solutions - 19561956 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 27—Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge...
: The Persimmon Tree: new pastoral and lyrical poems - 19611961 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20–Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at United States President John F...
: The Tree Witch: A Poem and Play (First of All a Poem) - 19671967 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK....
: New and Selected Poems: 1932-1967 - 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
: Archer in the Marrow: The Applewood Cycles of 1967-1987 - 19951995 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T...
: Tide and continuities: Last and First Poems, 1995-1938 - 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Door: Poems - 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Strict Wildness: Discoveries In Poetry And History
Select articles
- "But—I'm a Conservative!", The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, April 1940.
Select scholarship
- Conservatism revisited: the revolt against ideology / Peter Viereck ; with a major new study of Peter Viereck and conservatism by Claes G. RynClaes G. RynDr. Claes Gösta Ryn is a Swedish-born, American academic and educator.-Background:Ryn was born and raised in Norrköping in Sweden. He attended the Latin Gymnasium, Norrköpings Högre Allmänna Läroverk' . He was an undergraduate and a doctoral student at Uppsala University...
, 2005 (expanded and revised from 1949). - Conservative Thinkers: From John Adams to Winston Churchill, 2005 (revised edition).
- Unadjusted Man in the Age of Overadjustment: Where History and Literature Intersect, 2004 (revised).
- Metapolitics : from Wagner and the German Romantics to Hitler, 2003 (expanded ed.).
- The Unadjusted Man: A New Hero for Americans: Reflections on the Distinction between Conforming and Conserving, 1973.
- Shame and glory of the intellectuals: Babbitt Jr. vs. the rediscovery of values, 1965.
- Inner liberty:the stubborn grit in the machine, 1957.