In today”s poetry news, we take a look at the life of Stanley Plumly; a former poet laureate from Maryland who was an authority on the poet John Keats.
Stanley Plumly Dies at 79
Stanley Plumly who served as the poet laureate for Maryland from
2009 t0 2018 has passed away at the age of 79 from complications of multiple
myeloma.
Plumly was a poet and a professor at the University of Maryland.
He was also the state poet laureate for 9 years and had several well-regarded
studies published on a number of literary and artistic subjects. He also had
several volumes of poetry published which drew their inspiration from his roots
in rural Ohio as well as his love for the Romantic poets of the early 19th
century including John Keats.
He began working at the University of Maryland in 1985, and during
his time there he founded the graduate creative writing programme, which he was
still leading until shortly before his death.
His poetry was heavily inspired by nature, but he often drew on
the troubled and rather dark memories of his youth. His father was an alcoholic
who was rather rough and died young, aged just 56. He also wrote a lot of his poems
about his somewhat beleaguered mother who had to deal with so much, especially
during his childhood.
His 2007 book “Old Heart: Poems” was a finalist for the
National Book award. However, in his later years, he turned to prose rather
than poetry. During this period of his life, he wrote three meditations on
poetry which were very well regarded in the literary world and brought him
worldwide acclaim.
His 2008 book “Posthumous Keats”, which was a “personal biography” of the poet examined the poet’s life and how he feared that he might have failed; he was very ill towards the end of his short life, and his poetry was heavily criticised. Keats believed that his writing may be forgotten, so much so that when at his deathbed the poet dictated his own epitaph
Plumly spent many years researching for the book he not only travelled
to London and visited a number of libraries there, but he also travelled to
Rome where he rented an apartment above the room where Keats is known to have
died. The book explores every facet of Keats life, his personal life and his
poetry.
“The Immortal Evening”, Plumly’s second book on Keats was published in
2014 and describes a dinner party in 1817 where Keats met the artist BenJamin
Haydon and was introduced to William Wordsworth for the first
time. It was during this party that Keats first learned about the Elgin Marbles
which were later to become the inspiration for a number of his poems.
A book that Plumly had been working on; a collection of his selected
poetry is due to be published soon.
Stanley Plumly is survived by his wife of nine years, two stepdaughters
and his sister.