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Conrad Potter Aiken

コンラッド・ポッター・エイケン

Konraddo Pottā Aiken

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1889-08-05 （Savannah, Georgia, U.S.）
Died
1973-08-17 （Savannah, Georgia, U.S.） age 84
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Unitarian
Residence History
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. → Rye, East Sussex, England → Brewster, Massachusetts, U.S. → Savannah, Georgia, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Poet, Playwright, Essayist, Novelist, Critic
Active Years
1914-1973
Affiliations
Library of Congress (Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry)
Influenced By
T. S. Eliot, George Santayana, Walt Whitman, Sigmund Freud (influence of psychoanalysis), Carl Jung (influence of depth psychology)
Influenced
Jane Aiken Hodge, Joan Aiken, Malcolm Lowry
Nominations
Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1973; died before award)

Education

Harvard University
Degree: BA
Period: 1908–1912
Year of Graduation: 1912
Country: United States
Edited the Harvard Advocate and associated with T. S. Eliot while at Harvard.

Awards

Pulitzer Prize (Poetry)
1930
Work: Selected Poems
Organization: Pulitzer Prize
Result: 受賞
National Book Award (Poetry)
1954
Work: Collected Poems
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Poet Laureate (U.S.)
1950
Organization: Library of Congress
Result: 任命（1950–1952）
Bollingen Prize (Poetry)
Organization: Bollingen Prize
Result: 受賞
Shelley Memorial Award
1929
Organization: Poetry Society of America
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1934
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Academy of American Poets Fellowship
1957
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 受賞
Huntington Hartford Foundation Award
1960
Organization: Huntington Hartford Foundation
Result: 受賞
Brandeis University Creative Arts Award
1967
Organization: Brandeis University
Result: 受賞
National Medal for Literature
Result: 受賞
Georgia's Poet Laureate
1973
Organization: State of Georgia
Result: 任命

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Earth Triumphant

1914 Poetry collection

An early collection of poems showing symbolist tendencies and vivid depictions of nature.

SymbolismNature

The Charnel Rose

1918 Poetry collection

A poetry collection reflecting post–World War I anxieties and meditations on mortality with strong symbolist expression.

DeathDreamSymbolism

Selected Poems

1929 Poetry (Selected)

A selection of Aiken's notable poems; the volume that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930.

Psychological themesSymbolism

Ushant

1952 Autobiographical novel

An autobiographical novel in which Aiken candidly addresses his childhood trauma, psychological struggles, and life as a writer.

AutobiographyPsychoanalysisMemory

Silent Snow, Secret Snow

1932 Short story

A short story portraying a boy's withdrawal into a private, snow-filled fantasy; widely anthologized for its psychological depth.

FantasyPsychological breakdownIsolation

Collected Poems

1953 Poetry (Collected)

A major collected edition of his poetry, which won the National Book Award in 1954.

LifeInner psycheNature

Bibliography

  • Earth Triumphant (1914)
  • Turns and Movies and Other Tales in Verse (1916)
  • The Charnel Rose (1918)
  • Selected Poems (1929)
  • Ushant (1952)
  • Collected Poems (1953)
  • Silent Snow, Secret Snow (short story, 1932)

Adaptations

  • Musical settings of "Music I Heard" (set by multiple composers)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Symbolist expressionBlend of psychological exploration, realism and fantasy influenced by psychoanalysisFree verse and experimental rhythms
Recurring Motifs
DreamsInner psycheNature and the cosmosDeath and rebirth

Health

  • Childhood trauma and psychological difficulties (history of suicide attempt)
    幼少期から成人期
    Deeply influenced his work, leading to strong psychoanalytic themes and detailed interior portrayals of characters.

Legacy

Conrad Aiken was a major 20th-century American poet, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, and served as U.S. Poet Laureate. Known for poetry influenced by symbolism and depth psychology, his cultural legacy is preserved through archives, commemorations, and his distinctive gravesite bench.

Academic Societies

  • Poetry Society of America (associated)
  • Academy of American Poets (associated)

Archives

  • Houghton Library, Harvard University (Conrad Aiken materials)
  • Maxwell Library, Bridgewater State University (Conrad Aiken collection)
  • Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University

In Popular Culture

  • His bench-shaped grave marker in Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Quotes

  • Give my love to the world
    Source: Inscription on his grave bench

Trivia

  • As a child he witnessed his father murder his mother and then commit suicide (1901).
  • One of the first Georgia-born authors to win the Pulitzer Prize.
  • His grave is bench-shaped and inscribed with "Give my love to the world."