My name is John Crowe Ransom (pretty kick ass name if you ask me). I was born in Pulaski, Tennessee, and managed to attain an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1909, then went on to study as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. I'm proud to say that I took some time to serve my country in France as a first lieutenant during World War I. Once home again I took up teaching, first at Vanderbilt then at Kenyon College where I founded The Kenyon Review. I Retired in 1959. Though I have published three volumes of highly acclaimed poetry (not to pat myself on the back) I devoted myself purely to critical writing in 1927. I was also a guiding member of the Fugitives. We were a group of writers wary of social and cultural change that was going on in the South around us. We wanted to preserve the traditional aesthetic ideals which were rooted in classical forms and values. Because of this we even publishe a literary magazine titled The Fugative. We were later known as the Agrarians.
My ideals for the "New Criticism" are John Donne, and much of the English Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century. The poetic virtues of irony and complexity are of utmost importance as well as keeping to the prosodic techniques of meter, stanza, and rhyme.
1888-1974
1982-
I suppose I should answer last Tues. question as well. What literary works would I bring with me to a desert island. Every Stephen King novel I could get a hold of (especially The Dark Tower series) for a start. Collected poetry of T.S.Eliot, Robert Browning, Keats, Yeats, Blake, Coleridge, Russell, and Poe, and just to be safe I'd hand pick out a small selection of pop. lit. Hmm, I don't reckon there's going to be much room on that island for me. How do you pick a single author though. The words you want to read depend on the temperament of the mind from day to day.
By the way, I've been looking 'round at everyone else's journals. They're very good. J.R. Logan- nice pick of Dr. Sexson. Tristan Vick- my japanese name is Sakamoto Michiyo. It means Book of the Hill, and Three Thousand Generations. See you all in class tomorrow.
Cheers
~Sarah
