Howard Nemerov

Howard Nemerov – Life, Work, and Enduring Voice

A deep dive into Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), celebrated American poet, twice U.S. Poet Laureate, master of formal verse. Explore his life, poetic philosophy, major works, memorable quotes, and lessons his art offers.

Introduction

Howard Nemerov was one of America’s most respected and richly gifted poets of the mid-20th century. Known for his precise craftsmanship, formal meter, wry wit, and philosophical depth, he held the nation’s highest poetic honor—Poet Laureate—twice, and earned major awards like the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Bollingen Prize.

His work blends careful structure with emotional insight, offering readers an experience of language where clarity, paradox, and subtle reflection merge. In a literary landscape increasingly valuing free verse, Nemerov remained committed to form — but never at the expense of vitality or meaning.

Early Life and Family

Howard Nemerov was born on February 29, 1920, in New York City.

He had two notable sisters: Diane Arbus, the photographer, and Renée Nemerov Sparkia Brown, a painter and sculptor. Growing up in New York in a culturally vibrant milieu, he was immersed in art, literature, and intellectual life from an early age.

As a youth, he attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, where he excelled academically and even played on the school’s football team (fullback) while preparing for higher education.

Education & War Service

After finishing his schooling in 1937, Nemerov went to Harvard University, where he earned his A.B. degree in 1941 (he had earlier been Bowdoin Essayist).

During World War II, he served as a pilot — initially with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and later in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He flew missions over the North Sea, then left the service with the rank of First Lieutenant.

His wartime experience left a mark on his poetry: he later published works like “The War in the Air” drawing from that period.

Academic, Literary Career & Positions

After the war, Nemerov balanced writing and teaching. He held academic posts at Hamilton College, Bennington College, Brandeis University, and finally at Washington University in St. Louis, where from 1969 until his death he was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of English and Distinguished Poet in Residence.

Throughout his career, he was deeply engaged in literary communities. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice (1963–64 and 1988–90).

His reputation was built not on polemics or manifestos, but on quietly rigorous poems that reward close reading and reflection.

Major Works & Style

Poetry Collections & Achievements

Nemerov published numerous collections. Among his notable poetry books:

• The Image and the Law (1947)

• The Salt Garden (1955)

• Mirrors and Windows (1958)

• The Next Room of the Dream: Poems and Two Plays (1962)

• The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov (1977) — his crowning volume, for which he earned the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Bollingen Prize.

• War Stories: Poems about Long Ago and Now (1987)

• Trying Conclusions: New and Selected Poems, 1961–1991 (published posthumously 1992)

Among his most anthologized poem is “A Primer of the Daily Round”, a shrewd and deceptively simple sonnet that exemplifies his mastery of form.

His poem “Because You Asked about the Line between Prose and Poetry” is often taught in literature classes as an ars poetica—exploring the subtle boundary between prose and verse.

Style & Poetic Philosophy

Though many mid-century poets embraced free verse, Nemerov remained committed to form, meter, and rhyme. His style is often described as formalist, combining technical control with philosophical and emotional content.

His poems often reflect a balance of observation and introspection, irony and sincerity, a play of light meaning within strict structures. He is sometimes compared to John Hollander and Philip Larkin in his attention to craft and tone.

Nemerov’s work is also witty—he frequently wove humor, paradox, and self-conscious reflection into his serious poetic voice.

Legacy & Recognition

Howard Nemerov’s influence continues:

• His winning of the Pulitzer, National Book Award, and Bollingen for a single collection marks him among the most honored American poets.

• The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award was established in 1994 (after his death) to celebrate excellence in the sonnet form. At its height, it drew thousands of submissions yearly.

• His poems remain taught in American poetry courses, anthologies, and creative writing programs for their blend of accessibility and formal sophistication.

• He was inducted in the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1990.

Though Nemerov died of cancer on July 5, 1991, in University City, Missouri, his voice endures — in collected volumes, the continued awarding of the sonnet prize, and in the respect of poets who admire his rigor and heart.

Personality, Values & Poetic Vision

From commentary on his life and in his writings, some traits stand out:

• Master of discipline and subtlety: Nemerov’s poetry displays restraint, precision, and unforced thought rather than emotional excess.

• Philosophical attention: His poems often move from concrete observation to moral or metaphysical reflection.

• Wit and irony: Even as he engages serious themes, he often leavens them with irony or self-awareness.

• Humane sensibility: His poems gesture toward the ordinary, the passage of time, mortality, and human experience without sentimentality.

• Faith in form as expression: His commitment to formal constraints is not simply stylistic dogma, but a belief that structure can intensify meaning.

Selected Quotes by Howard Nemerov

Here are some memorable lines that offer insight into his poetic temperament:

• “I’ve never read a political poem that’s accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely what the poet wants.”

• “Robert Frost had always said you mustn’t think of the last line first, or it’s only a fake poem, not a real one. I’m inclined to agree.”

• “It may be said that poems are in one way like icebergs: only about a third of their bulk appears above the surface of the page.”

• “Both poet and painter want to reach the silence behind the language, the silence within the language…”

• “Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.”

• “I do insist on making what I hope is sense so there’s always a coherent narrative or argument that the reader can follow.”

• “A lot happens by accident in poetry.”

These lines display his wit, awareness of the poetic process, and his humility regarding the limits of language and control.

Lessons from Howard Nemerov

From his life and work, we can draw several enduring lessons:

1. Discipline & freedom can be friends
   Nemerov demonstrates that formal constraints need not stifle imagination — they can focus it.

2. Subtlety is powerful
   He often does less, or what seems minimal, and trusts the reader to engage with layers beneath the surface.

3. Craft matters
   His work continues to remind poets that technique — meter, rhyme, lineation — remains a vital tool, not just a relic.

4. Humility in ambition
   His quotes about how poetry seldom “achieves” what poets intend show awareness of art’s limits.

5. Evolution over dogma
   Though committed to form, he was open to reflection, contradiction, and intellectual movement. His voice matured over time rather than stagnating.

Conclusion

Howard Nemerov remains a luminous figure in American letters — a poet who balanced technical mastery with moral, emotional, and philosophical inquiry. His legacy is not just the honors he collected, but the poems that continue to breathe, surprise, and invite re-reading.