A Natural Source of Energy

“Poetry is a natural energy resource of our country. It has no energy crisis, possessing a potential that will last as long as the country. Its power is equal to that of any country in the world.” – Richard Eberhart

Born in Austin, MN, on April 5, 1904, Eberhart authored more than 20 books – a dozen being books of poetry – and won both the Pulitzer Prize (for Selected Poems, 1930–1965) and the National Book Award for Poetry (for Collected Poems, 1930–1976).   Encouraged to write by his mother, who was dying of cancer at the time, he wrote his first pieces at age 16 and continued to study writing throughout his collegiate years, particularly at Dartmouth and at England’s Cambridge University.  His first book of poetry, A Bravery of Earth, was published in London in 1930. 

Eberhart had a long, distinguished career as both a poet and writing teacher; is credited with drawing attention to the so-called “Beat Generation” of poets in the 1950s; and had a 3-year stint as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.      Recipient of numerous major awards, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and named for the Frost Medal by the Poetry Society of America.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Eberhart’s,

The Eclipse

I stood out in the open cold
To see the essence of the eclipse
Which was its perfect darkness.

I stood in the cold on the porch
And could not think of anything so perfect
As mans hope of light in the face of darkness. 

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