Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 30 (1949) Winner
Peter Robert Edwin Viereck
ピーター・ロバート・エドウィン・ヴィーリック
Peter Robert Edwin Viereck
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1916-08-05 （New York City, New York, U.S.）
- Died
- 2006-05-13 （South Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S.） age 89
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- New York City, New York, U.S. (birthplace) → Florence, Italy (Fulbright scholar, 1955) → South Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S. (faculty at Mount Holyoke College; long-term residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Professor of History, Writer
- Active Years
- 1938-2005
- Affiliations
- Smith College (taught 1946–1947), Mount Holyoke College (Professor of History, 1948–1987; continued teaching until 1997)
- Influenced By
- Irving Babbitt, Adlai Stevenson II
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | Harvard College | History | BA | 1933–1937 | United States |
| Harvard University | Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences | History | MA | 1937–1939 | United States |
| Harvard University | Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences | History | PhD | 1939–1942 | United States |
Harvard University
Harvard College
/ History
Degree:
BA
Period:
1933–1937
Year of Graduation:
1937
Country:
United States
Summa cum laude in history
Harvard University
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
/ History
Degree:
MA
Period:
1937–1939
Year of Graduation:
1939
Country:
United States
Specialized in European history
Harvard University
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
/ History
Degree:
PhD
Period:
1939–1942
Year of Graduation:
1942
Country:
United States
Completed Ph.D. in European history
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry | Terror and Decorum | — | Pulitzer Prize Board (Columbia University) | 受賞 |
| 1955 | Fulbright Scholar | — | — | U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission / Fulbright Program | 奨学金受給（研究派遣） |
| — | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | フェローシップ | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | フェロー |
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1949
Work:
Terror and Decorum
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board (Columbia University)
Result:
受賞
Fulbright Scholar
1955
Organization:
U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission / Fulbright Program
Result:
奨学金受給（研究派遣）
Guggenheim Fellowship
Category:
フェローシップ
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
フェロー
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Terror and Decorum
1948 Poetry collectionA poetry collection addressing anxieties and moral obligations around World War II; awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949. Noted for formal lyricism and ethical concerns.
war and moralityform and decorummoral dilemmas
Metapolitics: From the Romantics to Hitler
1941 Intellectual historyAn intellectual history tracing the lineage from German Romanticism to Nazism, examining roots of totalitarian thought within European intellectual currents.
German Romanticismintellectual roots of totalitarianismculture-politics nexus
Conservatism Revisited
1949 Political theory / CriticismEssays re-examining the ideals of conservatism, questioning the postwar American conservative movement's direction and articulating a vision of authentic conservatism.
definition of conservatismintellectual integrityanti-extremism
The Poet in the Machine Age
1949 Poetry collectionA collection exploring the role of the poet in an age of machines and modernization, poetically addressing tensions between technology and human experience.
modernization and poetryhumanity vs technologyrole of art
The Persimmon Tree: New Pastoral and Lyrical Poems
1956 Pastoral / Lyrical poetryA pastoral and lyrical collection emphasizing traditional form and nature imagery to probe foundational aspects of human life.
naturetradition and formpersonal and moral reflection
Door: Poems
2005 Poetry collection (late works)A late collection of poems that interweaves memory, aging, spirituality, and personal reminiscence.
aging and memoryspiritual reflectionretrospection
Strict Wildness: Discoveries in Poetry and History
2005 Essays / CriticismA collection of essays offering insights into poetry and history, exploring intersections between his poetic practice and historical interests.
poeticsintersection of history and literaturepersonal recollection
Bibliography
- Terror and Decorum (1948)
- The Poet in the Machine Age (1949)
- Metapolitics: From the Romantics to Hitler (1941)
- Conservatism Revisited (1949)
- Dream and Responsibility (1953)
- The Persimmon Tree (1956)
- New and Selected Poems: 1932–1967 (1967)
- Archer in the Marrow: The Applewood Cycles of 1967–1987 (1987)
- Tide and continuities: Last and First Poems, 1995–1938 (1995)
- Door: Poems (2005)
- Strict Wildness: Discoveries in Poetry and History (2005)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- formal lyricismclassical and pastoral elementsessayistic reflections combining thought and ethics
- Recurring Motifs
- history and memoryconservative and ethical themesnature and pastoral imagery
Health
-
Prolonged illness (details not publicized)晩年（具体的期間不明）Limited his activities in later years and is reported to have contributed to his death.
Legacy
Peter Viereck was a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and an influential writer in intellectual history and conservatism. A long-time professor at Mount Holyoke College, his body of work bridges poetry and political thought and left a distinctive mark on 20th-century American intellectual life.
Archives
- Mount Holyoke College archives (holds related papers)
- Library of Congress (catalog records)
Quotes
-
“I have watched the convention of revolt harden into dogmatic ritual.”
Source: Peter Viereck, from "But—I'm a Conservative!", The Atlantic, April 1940 (statement) (1940) -
“I think McCarthy was a menace... because he corrupted the ethics of American conservatives.”
Source: Quoted analysis cited in Tom Reiss, The New Yorker (discussion of Viereck's views, 2005–2006) (2006)
Trivia
- His father was George Sylvester Viereck, a writer known for Nazi sympathies.
- Won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for the collection Terror and Decorum.
- Earned a BA (1937), MA (1939), and PhD (1942) from Harvard University.
- Taught at Mount Holyoke College for nearly fifty years and continued teaching until 1997.
- Contributed the 1940 Atlantic essay "But—I'm a Conservative!", calling for a redefinition of conservatism.