Marianne Moore was born on November 15, 1887 in Kirkwood, near St. Louis Missourri. She attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1909. After graduation she learned shorthand and typewriting at Carlisle Commercial College and in 1911 she is a teacher at the United States Indian School in Carlisle. In 1915 she has her first publication, "TO THE SOUL OF PROGRESS" in THE EGOIST; and five poems in Harriet Monroes POETRY. It is now that Marianne begins to win the reputation as one of the "new" poets.

In 1921 she became an assistant at the NY Public Library, and her first book POEMS, appeared in London where it was published without her knowledge by two of her friends, Hilda Doolittle and Robert McAlmon. It was followed by MARRIAGE (1923) and OBSERVATIONS (1924), which was published in the US and won the Dial award. These works contain some of her best known poems, including "TO STEAM ROLLER", "THE FISH", "WHEN I BUY PICTURES", "PETER", "THE LABORS OF HERCULES" and "POETRY".

From 1925 to 1929 she became acting editor of The Dial, an influential American journal of literature and arts. Marianne Moore died in New York City in 1972.

Here are some bibliographies to visit on Marianne Moore:

• A primary secondary bibliography
• A secondary bibliography
• Continuation of secondary bibliography(be sure to scroll to bottom)

The poetry of Marianne Moore is that of an artist of words. She writes of nature and art in her poetry. Of places she's visited, or places she dreamt of seeing as in her poem "ENGLAND",also at times of artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, and writers themselves such as Shakespeare. Her descriptions in her work make you feel as if you are there. She describes moments so vividly, like a painting of words. An example of this can be seen from an excerpt of "THE STEEPLE-JACK", in it she says:

"Durer would have seen a reason for living in a town like this, with eight stranded whales to look at; with the sweet sea air coming into your house on a fine day, from water etched with waves as formal as the scales on a fish."

In Marianne's poem "POETRY", she feels that a precise an accurate summary of a subject will arouse the only valid comprehension of it. The beginning lines saying, "I too dislike it", is meaning that she is disgusted with the common view of poetry. The poetry that critics like. What she likes is "the genuine"; the rest of "POETRY" is an effort at an explanation of this quality:

POETRY

"I too dislike it. Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one dis- covers in it, after all, a place for the genuine."

Marianne also felt that poets must be "literalists of the imagination". The poet must give "imaginary gardens with real toads in them". The accurate presentation of the thing itself must be the basis for the material of "a genuine" garden which is more than the sum of its physical components. Her subject matter is whatever is experienced, whether through the senses or by the imagination.

Marianne was also a big fan of baseball. Read her poem BASEBALL AND WRITING.

Also Marianne found herself greatly influenced by Chinese imagery and you can see it in some of her poems such as "THE DRAGON", or "HE MADE THIS SCREEN.

Read "HE MADE THIS SCREEN".

Some places to visit to learn more about Marianne:

• Visit what was once Marianne's living room
• See a really cool short film of Marianne's poem "THE FISH". A must see!!!
• If your feeling morbid, visit Marianne's grave.
• Learn about Marianne and her poems being compared with art.
• See some letters Marianne wrote to others.
• See a picture of Marianne, and a tribute to her.
• Read some poems by Marianne.
• A picture of Marianne, and some poetry.

THE END

web page by Lauren Jerram