• LIFE

‘To Praise a Poet’: 30 Portraits of Poets From the LIFE Archives

2 minute read

For nearly 20 years, the United Nations has designated March 21 as World Poetry Day, as part of UNESCO’s effort to “give poetry its rightful place in society” despite a “tendency in the media and among the general public to refuse to take the poet seriously.”

But that feeling is much older than a few decades. LIFE Magazine noted a similar sentiment in 1962, that it was easy to believe that Americans have a tendency to feel “somehow that poetry is high-flown talk and poets no real students of the world we know.” And yet, the magazine added, thanks largely to the poets whose words set the 20th century to new rhythms and who crafted the ideas that helped their readers see the modern world in a new way, that belief has often been proved false.

No matter what people may think about poetry as a concept, it’s hard not to react when confronted with a great poem.

One piece of evidence of that appreciation of poetry can be found in the pages of LIFE Magazine, where — though the magazine only occasionally ran actual poetry, usually in the course of news about poets and the poetry business — readers came face to face with some of the modern world’s most well-regarded poets. In one such instance, for a story about Robert Frost, the magazine quoted the poet Paul Engle’s statement that the best way to “praise a poet” was to write a poem. LIFE, however, was better known for photography than for poetry, and so the magazine gave credit in its own way to the men and women who crafted the century’s best-loved verses.

In honor of World Poetry Day, here’s a look back at 30 of those timeless portraits of poets.

Poet Dorothy Parker, 1940.
Dorothy Parker, 1940.Bob Landry—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Poet Robert Frost, 1943.
Robert Frost, 1943.Eric Schaal—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet T.S. Eliot, 1951..JPG
T.S. Eliot, 1951.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1941.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1941.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Ezra Pound, 1970.
Ezra Pound, 1970.David Lees—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Carl Sandburg, 1953.
Carl Sandburg, 1953.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet William Carlos Williams, 1954.
William Carlos Williams, 1954.Lisa Larsen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet W.H. Auden, 1969.
W.H. Auden, 1969.Harry Redl—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Allen Ginsberg, 1966.
Allen Ginsberg, 1966.John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Langston Hughes, 1958.
Langston Hughes, 1958.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Marianne Moore, 1953.
Marianne Moore, 1953.Esther Bubley—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Poet John Berryman, 1967.
John Berryman, 1967.Terence Spencer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Jorge Luis Borges and his wife, 1968.
Jorge Luis Borges and his wife, 1968.Charles H. Phillips—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Pablo Neruda, 1949.
Pablo Neruda, 1949.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Leonard Cohen, 1960.
Leonard Cohen, 1960.James Burke—The LIFE Collection/Getty Images
Poet Robinson Jeffers, 1948.
Robinson Jeffers, 1948.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Rod McKuen, 1967.
Rod McKuen, 1967.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Gregory Corso, 1959.
Gregory Corso, 1959.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Robert Lowell, 1956.
Robert Lowell, 1956.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Edith Sitwell, 1953.
Edith Sitwell, 1953.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Ogden Nash holding his daughter Jill, 1951.
Ogden Nash holding his daughter Jill, 1951.Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Paul Valery, 1945.
Paul Valery, 1945.David E. Scherman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Sarojini Naidu, 1946.
Sarojini Naidu, 1946.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Robert Penn Warren, 1956.
Robert Penn Warren, 1956.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1957.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1957.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Archibald MacLeish, 1960.
Archibald MacLeish, 1960.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Evgeny Evtushenko, 1968.
Evgeny Evtushenko, 1968.Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Wallace Stevens, 1950.
Wallace Stevens, 1950.Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Poet Louis Aragon, 1946.
Louis Aragon, 1946.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
00937255.JPGPoet Kenneth Rexroth, 1957.
Kenneth Rexroth, 1957.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com