Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner

Selected Poems 1928–1958

by Stanley Kunitz

Summary

Spanning thirty years, the selection ranges across grief, eros, the absent father, and the deep continuities of myth. Kunitz writes a taut, intellectually charged lyric whose surface restraint barely contains its emotional pressure. The book brought belated public recognition to a poet whose quiet authority had long shaped his contemporaries and students.

Historical Context & Significance

Kunitz was a "poet's poet" who received this major public recognition in his 50s after decades of mentoring others.