J.V. Cunningham (1911-1985) was an American poet whose precision in meter, form and image places him squarely in the neo-classicist camp of poets. His style was fashioned after the Latin poets – such as Catullus and Horace – and he was especially adept at the epigram – a brief and direct poem which addressed a wide range of subjects drawn from personal experience. According to critic and fellow poet Hayden Carruth, Cunningham’s epigrams largely rehabilitated this all-but-lost poetic form in the 20th century.
J.V. Cunningham (1911-1985) was an American poet whose precision in meter, form and image places him squarely in the neo-classicist camp of poets. His style was fashioned after the Latin poets – such as Catullus and Horace – and he was especially adept at the epigram – a brief and direct poem which addressed a wide range of subjects drawn from personal experience. According to critic and fellow poet Hayden Carruth, Cunningham’s epigrams largely rehabilitated this all-but-lost poetic form in the 20th century.
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