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Robert Mezey

ロバート・メジー

Robert Mezey

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1935-02-28 （Philadelphia, United States）
Died
2020-04-25 （Claremont, California, United States） age 85
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Philadelphia (birthplace) → Kenyon College (Ohio) → University of Iowa (Iowa) → Stanford University (California) → Cleveland (Case Western Reserve University) → Pomona/Claremont (Pomona College)

Career

Occupations
poet, critic, translator, academic, editor
Active Years
1952-2020
Affiliations
Case Western Reserve University (faculty), Franklin and Marshall College (temporary), Pomona College (long-term faculty)
Influenced By
Spanish-language poets (as translation sources), Anglo-American poetic tradition
Influenced
Students and poets taught at Pomona College and elsewhere

Education

Kenyon College
Country: United States
Contemporary of E. L. Doctorow and James Wright at Kenyon
University of Iowa
Year of Graduation: 1959
Country: United States
Completed undergraduate degree in 1959
Stanford University
Country: United States
Graduate study

Awards

Lamont Poetry Prize
1961
Work: The Lovemaker
Organization: Poetry Society / awarding body
Result: 受賞
Poets' Prize
2002
Work: Collected Poems: 1952-1999
Organization: Poets' Prize committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Lovemaker

1960 poetry

An early collection of poems dealing with personal and lyrical themes.

loveselflyricism

White Blossoms

1965 poetry

A collection of 1960s poems often touching on nature and loss.

naturelossmemory

A Book of Dying

poetry

A collection themed around death and endings (detailed publication year unknown).

deathsorrow

The Mercy of Sorrow

poetry

A collection exploring sorrow and its meanings (details scarce).

sorrowmercy

Naked Poetry (editor, with Stephen Berg)

1969 anthology (poetry)

An anthology edited with Stephen Berg.

contemporary poetryediting

The Door Standing Open: Selected Poems

1970 selected poems

A selection of chosen poems.

selectionretrospective

Poems from the Hebrew

1973 translation (poetry)

An English translation collection of Hebrew-language poems; an example of Mezey's translation work.

translationcross-cultural

Small Song

1979 poetry

A collection of short lyrical poems.

short poemslyricism

Tungsteno

1982 novel (translation)

A translation of a novel (original author referenced but page not available).

translationLatin American literature

Evening Wind

1987 poetry

A volume collecting his poems from the 1980s.

naturetime

Natural Selection

1995 poetry

One of his principal collections of the 1990s.

selectionnature

Collected Poems: 1952-1999

2000 collected poems

A collected volume of poems from 1952 to 1999. Winner of the Poets' Prize in 2002.

retrospectivepoetic history

Poems of Jorge Luis Borges (translator, with Richard Barnes)

translation (poetry)

English translations of Jorge Luis Borges's poems, translated jointly with Richard Barnes.

translationBorges

Bibliography

  • The Lovemaker (1960)
  • White Blossoms (1965)
  • A Book of Dying
  • The Mercy of Sorrow
  • Naked Poetry (ed., 1969)
  • The Door Standing Open: Selected Poems (1970)
  • Poems from the Hebrew (1973, translation)
  • Small Song (1979)
  • Tungsteno (1982, translation)
  • Evening Wind (1987)
  • Couplets
  • Selected Translations
  • The Collected Poems of Henri Coulette (1990, editor)
  • Natural Selection (1995)
  • Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems (1998, editor)
  • The Poetry of E. A. Robinson (1999, editor)
  • Collected Poems 1952-1999 (2000)
  • Poems of the American West (2002, editor)
  • Poems of Jorge Luis Borges (translation, with Richard Barnes)
  • "Fishing Around" (The New Yorker, 2008)

Translations by Author

  • Poems from the Hebrew (Hebrew to English)
  • Tungsteno (translation, 1982)
  • Poems of Jorge Luis Borges (co-translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical and clear styleblend of traditional prosody and modern sensibilityfaithful yet creative approach to translation
Recurring Motifs
loss and sorrownature and seasonsmemory and retrospectionlanguage and issues of translation

Legacy

Robert Mezey was active as a poet, translator, and educator for decades, noted especially for his English translations of Spanish-language poetry. Through his long tenure at Pomona College he influenced many students and poets and was recognized with honors such as the 2002 Poets' Prize.

Archives

  • Pomona College Special Collections (possible holdings)

Trivia

  • Was briefly suspended at Franklin and Marshall College after being accused of inciting students to burn draft cards.
  • Attended Kenyon College as a contemporary of E. L. Doctorow and James Wright.
  • Co-translated poems of Jorge Luis Borges with Richard Barnes.
  • Completed undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa in 1959 and later pursued graduate study at Stanford.
  • Taught at Pomona College from 1976 until retirement in 2000.