Randall Jarrell

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Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914- 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's writer, essayist, and novelist.

He was the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, his position in which now bears the title Poet Laureate of the United States. Jarrell was given a Guggenheim Fellowship for the years 1947–48; a National Institute of Arts and Letters award in 1951; and the National Book Award for Poetry in 1961.

Youth and education

Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee. "Imbibed tennis, performed in some school productions, and began his career as a writer with satirical essays in a school newspaper," Hume-Fogg High School's founder began his career as a writer. He earned his B.A. In 1935, Vanderbilt University was founded. While at Vanderbilt, he edited The Masquerader, a student humor magazine that was based on the tennis team, and Phi Beta Kappa was awarded to the tennis team. Jarrell's poetry was first published; Allen Tate, who first published Jarrell's poetry; and John Crowe Ransom, who gave Jarrell his first teaching position as a freshman Composition instructor at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio; Although all of these Vanderbilt scholars were heavily involved in the conservative Southern Agrarian movement, Jarrell did not become an Agrarian himself. "Jarrell," a Marx and Auden scholar who adored their teachers' literary positions while opposing their politics, was embraced by Stephanie Burt, "a devotee of Marx and Auden." He also earned his master's degree in English at Vanderbilt in 1937, as part of his thesis on A. E. Housman (which he completed in 1939).

As Ransom left Vanderbilt for Kenyon College in Ohio the same year, a few of his loyal students, including Jarrell, followed him to Kenyon. Jarrell taught English at Kenyon for two years, coached tennis, and was the resident faculty member of a college dormitory that housed future writers Robie Macauley, Peter Taylor, and poet Robert Lowell. Until Jarrell's death, Lowell and Jarrell remained loyal and respected colleagues. "Jarrell was the first person of [Lowell's] own generation [whom he] genuinely held in awe] as a result of Jarrell's brilliance and charisma even at the age of 23," Lowell biographer Paul Mariani said.

Jarrell went on to teach at the University of Texas at Austin from 1939 to 1942, where he began to write criticism and where he first married Mackie Langham. In 1942, he left the university to join the United States Army Air Forces. He "started" as a flying cadet, [then] he later became a celestial navigation tower operator, a job title he considered the most poetic in the Air Force," according to his obituary. His early poetry, especially The Death of the Ball Turner, would focus on his Air Force service experiences.

After being kicked out of the service, the Jarrell obituary goes on to say that he joined Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., for a year. During his time in New York, he served as the interim book review editor for The Nation magazine. Jarrell was uneasy living in the city, "claiming to loathe New York crowds, high cost of living, status-conscious sociability, and a lack of greenery." He left the city for the University of North Carolina's Woman's College, where he taught modern poetry and "imaginative writing" as an associate professor of English.

In 1952, Jarrell divorced his first wife and married Mary von Schrader, a young woman who appeared at a summer writer's conference in Colorado. When Jarrell was teaching at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, they first lived together. With Mary's children from her previous marriage, the couple reconnected in Greensboro. Jarrell also migrated to Washington, D.C., in 1956, when Jarrell started as the poet's tutor at the Library of Congress (a position that later became Poet Laureate) for two years, returning to Greensboro and the University of North Carolina after his term ended.

"Randall's behavior began to change as a result of his illness in 1963, Stephanie Burt says. He seems to be terribly worried about his advancing age as he approaches his fiftieth birthday. ... .. Randall spent days in front of the television weeping after President Kennedy was shot. Randall, who was in danger of inertia, needed [the antidepressant drug] Elavil." He became manic, and Elavil was hospitalized and arrested in 1965. At this point, he was no longer male, but he was depressed once more. Burt also states that in April, Joseph Bennett of Jarrell's most recent book of poems, "his work is definitely outdated," according to the journal's "viciously condescending" review, "which also encourages procession and sentimental Mama-ism; its overriding feature is doddering infantialism." Jarrell slashed a wrist and returned to the hospital shortly after. Since leaving the hospital, he stayed at home that summer under his wife's care and returned to teaching at the University of North Carolina this fall.

On October 14, 1965, then was struck by a car and killed while walking along the US highway 15-501 near Chapel Hill, N.C., where he had been seeking medical attention. "[Jarrell's wife] Mary, the coroner, and eventually the state of North Carolina judge, his death was accidental," a verdict that was justified by his apparent improvement in health...and then the accident diagnosis confirmed the injuries consistent with an accident rather than suicide." However, because Jarrell had recently been diagnosed with mental illness and a previous suicide attempt, several of his closest friends were not entirely convinced that his death was accidental and suspected that he had taken his own life.

Robert Lowell wrote a letter to Elizabeth Bishop a week after Jarrell's death, saying, "There's a slim possibility [that Jarrell's death] was an accident." . . I think it was suicide, as well as those who knew him well." Jarrell's suicide has since been accepted as fact, even by those who were not closely connected to him and propagated by some writers. In his book The Savage God, A. Alvarez names Jarrell as a twentieth-century poet who killed himself, and James Atlas refers to Jarrell's "suicide" several times in his biography of Delmore Schwartz. Jarrell's death was never denied by his wife, who denied it.

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Career

Jarrell went on to teach at the University of Texas at Austin from 1939 to 1942, where he began to write criticism and where he met his first wife, Mackie Langham, where he began to write about it. In 1942, he left the university to join the United States Army Air Forces. "[Started] as a flying cadet [then] he later became a celestial navigation tower operator, a position he considered the most poetic in the Air Force," he wrote in his obituary. His early poetry, especially The Death of the Ball Turner, would be concerned about his wartime service in the Air Force.

The Jarrell obituary goes on to say that "after being dismissed from the service, he joined Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., for a year." During his time in New York, he also served as the nation's temporary book review editor. Jarrell was unhappy living in the city and "described to dislike New York's crowds, high cost of living, prestige-conscious sociability, and a lack of greenery." He left the area for the University of North Carolina's Women's College, where he taught modern poetry and "imaginative writing" as an associate professor of English.

Jarrell divorced his first wife and married Mary von Schrader, a young woman who appeared at a summer writer's conference in Colorado in 1952. They met for the first time when Jarrell was teaching at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. With Mary's children from her previous marriage, the couple reconnected in Greensboro. Jarrell retired from Washington, D.C., temporarily as the consultant in poetry at the Library of Congress (a post that later became Poet Laureate) for two years, returning to Greensboro and the University of North Carolina after his term came to an end.

"Randall's behavior began to change" as he approached the end of his life, according to Stephanie Burt. He seems to be worried about his age as he approaches his fiftieth birthday. . .. Randall spent days in front of the television watching after President Kennedy was shot. Randall, who was in danger of inertia, needed help from a Cincinnati psychiatrist [the antidepressant drug] Elavil." The drug made him malefic, and Elavil was hospitalized and taken off in 1965. He was no longer manic at this point, but he was depressed again. Burt also states that "his book is dated; his prosecutors are aided by an indulgent and sentimental Mama-ism," according to Joseph Bennett's most recent book of poems, "his work is remarkably dated; prosecutors are aided by an indulgent and sentimental Mama-ism; the overriding feature is doddering infantilism." Jarrell slashed a wrist and returned to the hospital just after. He stayed at home that summer under his wife's care and returned to teaching at the University of North Carolina that fall.

On October 14, 1965, then was struck by a car and killed while walking along the U.S. highway 15-501 near Chapel Hill, N.C., where he had been seeking medical attention. "[Jarrell's wife] Mary, the coroner, and eventually the state of North Carolina judge, made his death accidental" despite his apparent improvement in health...and the bizarre, sidelong attitude of the crash; medical professionals determined the injuries consistent with an accident rather than suicide." However, because Jarrell was recently treated for mental illness and a previous suicide attempt, several of the people closest to him were not entirely sure that his death was accidental and suspected that he had caused his death.

"There's a slim chance [that Jarrell's death] was an accident," Robert Lowell wrote in a letter a week after Jarrell's death. .... . [But] I think it was suicide, as well as others who knew him well. Jarrell's death as a suicide has since been accepted as fact, even by those who were not immediately close to him and told by some writers. In his book The Savage God, A. Alvarez names Jarrell as a twentieth-century writer who killed himself, and James Atlas mentions Jarrell's "suicide" several times, and Deezer's biography of Delmore Schwartz mentions Jarrell as a twentieth-century writer who killed himself. Jarrell's suicide was never denied by his wife, who dismissed the possibility that it was a suicide.

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