Randall Jarrell

Randall Jarrell (1914-1965), American poet, born in Nashville, Tennessee. Noted for his critical writing and several children's books, as well as for his poetry, he taught at a number of colleges in the United States. Jarrell's sensitive, often tragic verse is collected in Blood for a Stranger (1942), Little Friend, Little Friend (1945), and Losses (1948). The latter two volumes deal with his World War II (1939-1945) experiences. Jarrell's poetry often deals with loneliness and the everyday struggle of people in an indifferent universe. His criticism is best known for its appreciation and defense of American poets Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams, who he thought were being ignored by critics of his time. His most famous collection of critical essays is Poetry and the Age (1953). Jarrell's only novel, Pictures from an Institution (1954), recounts his teaching experience at a progressive women's college. His later poetry volumes include The Woman at the Washington Zoo (1960), which won a National Book Award, and The Lost World (1965). His Complete Poems (1969) was published posthumously.