Song of Solomon, The Moviegoer, Being There, Lolita, On The Road and who knows how many others are missing from the top 100 as well as Grapes of Wrath. Below is a sampling of the work of 10 of the greatest American poems from the 20th century. She took a job at the New York Public Library in 1921 and during that time period published her first volume of poems, Poems. He wrote several erotic poems in the early 20s and then again stepped into the dangerous literary territory in the 50s. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw Angelou campaigning with democratic candidates such as Hilary Clinton and directing her first film, Down in the Delta. Along with Anne Sexton, Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry that Robert Lowell and W.D. Maya Angelou’s first autobiography is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. American poet Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) is widely considered to be one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century. I used to pray to recover you. When he’s not doing research for new lists or collecting historical oddities, he can be found in the comments or on Facebook where he approves all friends requests! As a child, he spent a great deal of time composing poetry and would write every day from eight to twenty-two. Discover and learn about the greatest poetry ever straight to your inbox. The Best Poets of the 20th Century Pablo Neruda Sylvia Plath T. S. Eliot Ranier Maria Rilke Fernando Pessoa Robert Frost Anna Akhmatova W. H. Auden Dylan Thomas e.e. 1. “If You Forget Me” hauntingly depicts love as it dies and is reborn. She tried to kill herself many times throughout the early 60s, and in February of 1963, she succeeded. In 1915, T.S. Give a friend the gift of culture! 1- Octavio Paz (1914-1998): This Mexican intellectual won the Nobel prize in literature in 1990. Eliot, another best American poet of the 20th century, was born in St. Louis, Missouri in September of 1888. He was named the poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1958-59, and he recited a poem at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. Throughout his life, Cummings entered the spotlight for a variety of reasons. While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening to empire And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops and sighs out, and the mass hardens, I sadly smiling remember that the flower fades to make fruit, the fruit rots to make earth. It became one of Angelou’s most popular works, was published in 1969. She died as a well-known literary figure in New York and one of the best 20th-century poets across America, in 1972. 10 of the Best 20th Century American Poets Sylvia Plath. He would later make use of many different originally coined compound words within his verse. Unfortunately, the books published before the success of 'Moby-Dick' did not do very well. He also traveled to the Soviet Union with the Interior Secretary where he helped lobby for peace between the two countries. In 1974 she published New York Head Shop and Museum. Audre Lorde, one of the best African-American poets, was born in New York, New York in February of 1934. e.e. 12 Poems to Read for Black History Month - February is Black History Month, So, of course, who else but a black, queer poet could offer us such uneasy music ? . The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. Whose woods these are I think I know. It was the piece that brought her the recognition she had been searching for. Eliot’s childhood was not a peaceful one. American 20th Century Poets. On your lists, Yeats and Wallace Stevens were the most frequent 20th century names, with T. S. Eliot a close third. I think it is fair to say that American poets have really dominated the poetry scene in the 20th century. His works are notable for their experimental style and distinct word choices. 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