Mary Caroline Dansky

Kirschner
English II
17 March 2016
Title
Thesis: Archibald Macleish was a great American poet. He was a
modern poet, writer, and Librarian of Congress. Archibald Macleishs
poetry was directly affected by all aspects of his life, including his
family life, his struggles with his reputation, and education and
involvement in society.
Intro- his lifespan, his life, his awards and influences
Archibald Macleish had an eventful and well accomplished life.
MacLeish was born on May 7, 1892 in Glencoe, Illinois. Macleish was
raised in Glencoe, and was always at the top of his class. After grade
school and high school he moved on to college. Macleish moved on to
study Law at Yale and Harvard. Macleish was an extremely intelligent
man, who was passionate about his reputation.
Macliesh was involved in several different positions among his
community over his life. He had several different jobs. He worked jobs
such as a writer, poet , social critic, a teacher, and a public servant.
Macleish taught at Harvard and Amherst for over eighteen years, all
while continuing to write poetry and being a social critic.

He also

served as the Librarian of Congress from 1934 to 1944. He was a

supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his time as the

librarian of congress.

Macleish also served as an officer of the

American Academy of Arts and letters , and also teaching. Macleish

was a successful man in both is career as a writer and in his career in
government.
Paragraph two- Macleish had a lovely wife and three children.
From an outside view The Macleish family was picture perfect, but on
the inside it is quite the opposite.

Macleishs wife was a very social

woman. Constantly she was moving around exalted social circles. Her
husband was without a doubt an extremely charming, but he was not
faithful to his wife.

He was never around for his children, Mary,

Kenneth, and Peter, and could be harsh towards them. This could be
an affect of his childhood. As a child Macleish had issues with his own
father, he was always seeking success in his fathers eyes. As a result
of this he was not a loving and compassionate father to all of his
children, but especially his oldest son. The Macleish family was twisted
and unfortunately had an affect on his poetry.
Paragraph 3- talk about his reputation
Archibald Macleish has a distict and unique repuatation that
evolved over his lifespan.
particularly reputable.

Starting in about 1925 Macleish was

He was considered to be one of the finest of modern

American poets, among other famous writers and poets such as Robert Frost and
several others. Others thought that he owed a great deal of his success to others
poets, although he changed there ideas and made them fit the time period. Several

awards and acknowledgments. Around 1960 his reputation began to change for the
worst and he still to this day has a bad wrap. Macleish is viewed as a trendy and
imitative poet.

He used others writers techniques and innovations and put his own

personal twist on them so that he could personally benefit from them. His critics
were found to be a combination of popular and critical fame galling.They also judged
him for having a background in the government and in writing and education.
Macleishs reputation started to diminish when he became successful. Critics began
to critique harder and give him false claims that his work was never innovative.
Unfortunately Archibald Macleishs reputation was never revived and died in 1982 on
April 20, 1982 in Boston Massachusets.

Paragraph 4MacLeishs poetry was filled with "artistic compromises" by the "cheap" way he
phrases, line arrangements, and oracular vapidity. People said that his poetry is
unbeatable.

He was mocked because he had a literary profession and his

government. People were disturbed by Archibald MacLeishs success and started to

make accusations and critiques and began to say that he was never an innovative
poet. Unfortunately Archibald Macleishs reputation was never revived and died in
1982 on April 20, 1982 in Boston Massachusets.

Poetry analysis
o Macleishes work was unique he would take ideas and techniques
from other writers, and twist and recreate them to fit himself. He
was very creative, and some critics loved this and others hated

it. His poems are all about realizing the world around you. His
poems were modern and had strong themes.
o Connect all of the concepts together
o Restate everthing and clear it up

Conclusion
Archibald MacLeish was a great American poet in the modern
era.

He struggled with his personal and family life at home which

affected the themes and structure of his poems.

His struggle to

constantly seek the approval that he never got from his father, not
only affects the way that he treats his children, but his work ethic and
the themes in his writing. He also struggled with his reputation, which
started very high and exceptional. Then his reputation went down a
downward spiral.

All of this affected the way that Archibald wrote,

which affected his poetry. His background contributed to his poetry as

well. He was a unique man because he had working backgrounds in
education and in the government. While having a fairly successful and diverse
career Archibald MacLeish also balanced a personal life just like his career, at least
thats what it looked like on the outside. His wife was a socialite included in social
circles. He was without a doubt charming. From an inside view their marriage was
twisted and troubled. MacLeish was not faithful and did not have a great relationship
with his kids, and was not a very good friend.