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J. V. Cunningham

January 01, 1970

James Vincent Cunningham (August 23, 1911 – March 30, 1985) was an American poet, literary critic and teacher.

Background edit

Cunningham is described as a neo-classicist or anti-modernist. His poetry was distinguished by its clarity, brevity and traditional formality of rhyme and rhythm at a time when many American poets were breaking away from traditional fixed meters.

Cunningham's finely crafted epigrams in the style of Latin poets were much praised and frequently anthologized. But he also wrote spare, mature poems about love and estrangement, most notably the 15-poem sequence entitled To What Strangers, What Welcome (1964).

Cunningham was also a fine translator with a lifelong interest therein.[1]

Life edit

Cunningham was born in Cumberland, Maryland in 1911, the son of Irish Catholic parents.[2] His father, James Joseph Cunningham, was a steam-shovel operator for a railroad who moved the family to Billings, Montana, and later to Denver, Colorado where Cunningham spent his youth. His mother was Anna Finan Cunningham. Cunningham graduated from Regis High School[3] in Denver 1927 at age fifteen, showing great skills in Latin and Greek. In high school, he first corresponded with Yvor Winters who was then a graduate student at Stanford University and who later became an influential poet and critic.

The death of Cunningham's father in an accident and the family's resulting financial hardship prevented Cunningham from continuing immediately to college. He worked for a while as a "runner" for a brokerage house on the Denver Stock Exchange, where he personally witnessed two suicides in the days immediately following the October 29, 1929 stock market crash.[4]

With the onset of the Great Depression, he rode the rails from odd job to odd job, throughout the Western United States, including stints as a local newspaper reporter and a writer for trade publications such as Dry Goods Economist. In 1931, Cunningham again struck up a correspondence with Winters who offered him the opportunity to stay in a shed on Winters' property and to attend classes at Stanford University where Winters was teaching. Cunningham earned an A.B. in classics in 1934 and a Ph.D. in English in 1945—both from Stanford.

During World War II, Cunningham taught mathematics to Air Force pilots. He later earned his living primarily by teaching English and writing at the University of Chicago, the University of Hawaii, Harvard University, the University of Virginia and Washington University in St. Louis. He took a position at Brandeis University in 1953, soon after the school was founded, and taught there until he retired in 1980. As a teacher and critic, Cunningham often concentrated on Shakespeare and the English Renaissance, authoring works such as Woe or Wonder: The Emotional Effect of Shakespearean Tragedy.

Cunningham was married three times including to the poet Barbara Gibbs in 1937 (divorced 1945), with whom he had a daughter, Cunningham's only child. He died of heart failure in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in 1985.

He was the model for the book Stoner by John Williams.[5]

Poetry edit

Cunningham's output was as spare as his style (sometimes called the Plain Style). Over his relatively long career he published only a few hundred poems, many just a few lines long.[6] He was considered one of three or four masters of the epigram form in the English language.[7] Many of his epigrams included social and moral observations and were incisive, acerbic, and judicatory.[8]

Cunningham's epigrams (including his translations of the Latin poet Martial) and short poems were often witty and sometimes ribald. Richard Wilbur labeled him our best epigrammatic poet. He was one of a small number of modern writers to treat the epigram in its full, classical sense: a short, direct poem, not necessarily satirical, dealing with subjects from the whole range of personal experience. His epigrams have been described as both brilliant and quotable.[9]

Cunningham's longer poems "tend toward the epigrammatical, little quotable bits that express thoughts with exceptional neatness."[10] His plain-spoken lyrics about love, sex, loss, and the American West are especially haunting and original, but he was also capable of investing abstract ideas--both mathematical and philosophical--with considerable emotional force.[11]

Critics often yoked him to his early influence, Yvor Winters, but his verse actually bears only a formalistic similarity to Winters's work. Cunningham "inclined toward logical statement and syllogistic argument, saying so much in so little space, often in a single iambic pentameter couplet."[12] He was impatient with definitions intended to embrace modernism, writing, "Poetry is what looks like poetry, what sounds like poetry. It is metrical composition."[13]

The poet Thom Gunn, in reviewing The Exclusions of a Rhyme in the 1960s, commented that Cunningham "must be one of the most accomplished poets alive, and one of the few of whom it can be said that he will still be worth reading in fifty years' time."[citation needed]

Cunningham was awarded Guggenheim fellowships in 1959-60 and 1966–67 and received a Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets in 1976. He won grants from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1965 and the National Endowment for the Arts in 1966. Some of his poems have been set to music by the English composer Robin Holloway.

Works edit

Poetry

  • For My Contemporaries (1939)
  • The Helmsman (1942)
  • The Judge Is Fury (1947)
  • Doctor Drink (1950)
  • Trivial, Vulgar, and Exalted: Epigrams (1957)
  • The Exclusions of a Rhyme (1960)
  • To What Strangers, What Welcome (1964)
  • Some Salt: Poems and Epigrams (1967)
  • Let Thy Words Be Few (1986)
  • The Poems of J. V. Cunningham (1997) ISBN 978-0-8040-0998-0

Prose

  • Tradition and Poetic Structure (1960)
  • The Journal of John Cardan, [with] The Quest of the Opal [and] The Problem of Form (1964)
  • The Collected Essays of J. V. Cunningham, Swallow, Chicago (1976)

Other

  • Let Thy Words be Few, Gullans Symposium Press (1988)
  • The Problem of Style, Fawcett, New York (1966)
  • The Exclusion of Rhyme (1960)
  • A Bibliography of the Published Works of J. V. Cunningham, Charles B. Gullans (1973)
  • Dickinson: Lyric and Legend, Sylvester & Orphanos (1980)

References edit

  1. ^ Steele, Timothy 'Introduction & Commentary- Poetry of J V Cunningham' Faber Finds, London 2008
  2. ^ "Biography-poets.org". from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  3. ^ . Weekly Standard. 1998-02-16. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  4. ^ The Poems of J. V. Cunningham, ed. by Timothy Steele, p. xv.
  5. ^ Myers, D.G. "Defeats and Victories Not Recorded in the Annals of History". Commentary Magazine. from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  6. ^ Gullans, Charles Bibliography of the Published Works of J V Cunningham, 1931-1988, revised and enlarged, Robert L Barth, Florence, Ky 1988
  7. ^ Bottum J 'America's Best Forgotten Poet' The Weekly Standard' Feb 16 1998
  8. ^ Pinsky, Robert - Review of 'The Poetry of J V Cunningham' Chicago Review vol 35 no 1 Autumn 1985
  9. ^ Hemling, Steven - 'Dictionary of Literary Biography ' vol 5 American Poets since WWII 1980
  10. ^ Bottum J 'The Poems of J V Cunningham' Weekly Standard 1998
  11. ^ Schreiber, Jan - Short of Breath: Poems in a Narrow Compass, https://www.literarymatters.org/10-3-short-of-breath-poems-in-a-narrow-compass/
  12. ^ Steele, Timothy 'Introduction & Commentary -Poetry of J. V. Cunningham, Faber Finds, London 2008 ISBN 9780571241934
  13. ^ Cunningham, J V, 'Poetry Structure and Tradition' Alan Swallow, Denver Dec 31 1939

External links edit

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to J. V. Cunningham.
  • Joseph Bottum, "America's Best Forgotten Poet: The Poems of J. V. Cunningham" (inc Epigram examples), in the Weekly Standard, February 16, 1998.
  • Biography of J. V. Cunningham at Academy of American Poets
  • Profile on by Poetry Foundation
  • Works by J. V. Cunningham at Project Gutenbergtrans.'Essay on True&Apparent Beauty by Pierre Nicole'
  • Works by or about J. V. Cunningham at Internet Archive inc 'Exclusions of a Rhyme'
  • Guide to the James Vincent Cunningham Papers 1931-1947 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center

January 01, 1970
cunningham, james, vincent, cunningham, august, 1911, march, 1985, american, poet, literary, critic, teacher, contents, background, life, poetry, works, references, external, linksbackground, editcunningham, described, classicist, anti, modernist, poetry, dist. James Vincent Cunningham August 23 1911 March 30 1985 was an American poet literary critic and teacher Contents 1 Background 2 Life 3 Poetry 4 Works 5 References 6 External linksBackground editCunningham is described as a neo classicist or anti modernist His poetry was distinguished by its clarity brevity and traditional formality of rhyme and rhythm at a time when many American poets were breaking away from traditional fixed meters Cunningham s finely crafted epigrams in the style of Latin poets were much praised and frequently anthologized But he also wrote spare mature poems about love and estrangement most notably the 15 poem sequence entitled To What Strangers What Welcome 1964 Cunningham was also a fine translator with a lifelong interest therein 1 Life editCunningham was born in Cumberland Maryland in 1911 the son of Irish Catholic parents 2 His father James Joseph Cunningham was a steam shovel operator for a railroad who moved the family to Billings Montana and later to Denver Colorado where Cunningham spent his youth His mother was Anna Finan Cunningham Cunningham graduated from Regis High School 3 in Denver 1927 at age fifteen showing great skills in Latin and Greek In high school he first corresponded with Yvor Winters who was then a graduate student at Stanford University and who later became an influential poet and critic The death of Cunningham s father in an accident and the family s resulting financial hardship prevented Cunningham from continuing immediately to college He worked for a while as a runner for a brokerage house on the Denver Stock Exchange where he personally witnessed two suicides in the days immediately following the October 29 1929 stock market crash 4 With the onset of the Great Depression he rode the rails from odd job to odd job throughout the Western United States including stints as a local newspaper reporter and a writer for trade publications such as Dry Goods Economist In 1931 Cunningham again struck up a correspondence with Winters who offered him the opportunity to stay in a shed on Winters property and to attend classes at Stanford University where Winters was teaching Cunningham earned an A B in classics in 1934 and a Ph D in English in 1945 both from Stanford During World War II Cunningham taught mathematics to Air Force pilots He later earned his living primarily by teaching English and writing at the University of Chicago the University of Hawaii Harvard University the University of Virginia and Washington University in St Louis He took a position at Brandeis University in 1953 soon after the school was founded and taught there until he retired in 1980 As a teacher and critic Cunningham often concentrated on Shakespeare and the English Renaissance authoring works such as Woe or Wonder The Emotional Effect of Shakespearean Tragedy Cunningham was married three times including to the poet Barbara Gibbs in 1937 divorced 1945 with whom he had a daughter Cunningham s only child He died of heart failure in Marlborough Massachusetts in 1985 He was the model for the book Stoner by John Williams 5 Poetry editCunningham s output was as spare as his style sometimes called the Plain Style Over his relatively long career he published only a few hundred poems many just a few lines long 6 He was considered one of three or four masters of the epigram form in the English language 7 Many of his epigrams included social and moral observations and were incisive acerbic and judicatory 8 Cunningham s epigrams including his translations of the Latin poet Martial and short poems were often witty and sometimes ribald Richard Wilbur labeled him our best epigrammatic poet He was one of a small number of modern writers to treat the epigram in its full classical sense a short direct poem not necessarily satirical dealing with subjects from the whole range of personal experience His epigrams have been described as both brilliant and quotable 9 Cunningham s longer poems tend toward the epigrammatical little quotable bits that express thoughts with exceptional neatness 10 His plain spoken lyrics about love sex loss and the American West are especially haunting and original but he was also capable of investing abstract ideas both mathematical and philosophical with considerable emotional force 11 Critics often yoked him to his early influence Yvor Winters but his verse actually bears only a formalistic similarity to Winters s work Cunningham inclined toward logical statement and syllogistic argument saying so much in so little space often in a single iambic pentameter couplet 12 He was impatient with definitions intended to embrace modernism writing Poetry is what looks like poetry what sounds like poetry It is metrical composition 13 The poet Thom Gunn in reviewing The Exclusions of a Rhyme in the 1960s commented that Cunningham must be one of the most accomplished poets alive and one of the few of whom it can be said that he will still be worth reading in fifty years time citation needed Cunningham was awarded Guggenheim fellowships in 1959 60 and 1966 67 and received a Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets in 1976 He won grants from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1965 and the National Endowment for the Arts in 1966 Some of his poems have been set to music by the English composer Robin Holloway Works editPoetry For My Contemporaries 1939 The Helmsman 1942 The Judge Is Fury 1947 Doctor Drink 1950 Trivial Vulgar and Exalted Epigrams 1957 The Exclusions of a Rhyme 1960 To What Strangers What Welcome 1964 Some Salt Poems and Epigrams 1967 Let Thy Words Be Few 1986 The Poems of J V Cunningham 1997 ISBN 978 0 8040 0998 0 Prose Tradition and Poetic Structure 1960 The Journal of John Cardan with The Quest of the Opal and The Problem of Form 1964 The Collected Essays of J V Cunningham Swallow Chicago 1976 Other Let Thy Words be Few Gullans Symposium Press 1988 The Problem of Style Fawcett New York 1966 The Exclusion of Rhyme 1960 A Bibliography of the Published Works of J V Cunningham Charles B Gullans 1973 Dickinson Lyric and Legend Sylvester amp Orphanos 1980 References edit Steele Timothy Introduction amp Commentary Poetry of J V Cunningham Faber Finds London 2008 Biography poets org Archived from the original on 2019 01 08 Retrieved 2016 03 01 AMERICA S BEST FORGOTTEN POET Weekly Standard 1998 02 16 Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2018 01 01 The Poems of J V Cunningham ed by Timothy Steele p xv Myers D G Defeats and Victories Not Recorded in the Annals of History Commentary Magazine Archived from the original on 11 April 2014 Retrieved 6 May 2014 Gullans Charles Bibliography of the Published Works of J V Cunningham 1931 1988 revised and enlarged Robert L Barth Florence Ky 1988 Bottum J America s Best Forgotten Poet The Weekly Standard Feb 16 1998 Pinsky Robert Review of The Poetry of J V Cunningham Chicago Review vol 35 no 1 Autumn 1985 Hemling Steven Dictionary of Literary Biography vol 5 American Poets since WWII 1980 Bottum J The Poems of J V Cunningham Weekly Standard 1998 Schreiber Jan Short of Breath Poems in a Narrow Compass https www literarymatters org 10 3 short of breath poems in a narrow compass Steele Timothy Introduction amp Commentary Poetry of J V Cunningham Faber Finds London 2008 ISBN 9780571241934 Cunningham J V Poetry Structure and Tradition Alan Swallow Denver Dec 31 1939External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to J V Cunningham Joseph Bottum America s Best Forgotten Poet The Poems of J V Cunningham inc Epigram examples in the Weekly Standard February 16 1998 Biography of J V Cunningham at Academy of American Poets Profile on by Poetry Foundation Works by J V Cunningham at Project Gutenbergtrans Essay on True amp Apparent Beauty by Pierre Nicole Works by or about J V Cunningham at Internet Archive inc Exclusions of a Rhyme Guide to the James Vincent Cunningham Papers 1931 1947 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title J V Cunningham amp oldid 1217045765, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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