John Allyn Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.) (October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and often considered one of the founders of the Confessional school of poetry. He was the author of The Dream Songs, which are playful, witty, and morbid. Berryman committed suicide in 1972.
Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't wa...
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John Allyn Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.) (October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and often considered one of the founders of the Confessional school of poetry. He was the author of The Dream Songs, which are playful, witty, and morbid. Berryman committed suicide in 1972.
Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.'
Berryman graduated from Columbia University in 1936. A pamphlet entitled Poems was published in 1942 and his first proper book, The Dispossessed, appeared six years later. His first major work was Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, which appeared in Partisan Review in 1953 and was published as a book in 1956. Another pamphlet, His thought made pockets & the plane buckt, followed. It was the collection called Dream Songs that earned him the most admiration. The first volume, entitled 77 Dream Songs, was...
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