Edward Weismiller
Encyclopedia
Edward Ronald Weismiller (born August 3, 1915 Monticello, Wisconsin
) was an American poet
, scholar and professor of English, George Washington University
. He died in Washington D.C. on August 25, 2010.
and Vermont
. In 1936, the twenty-year-old Edward Weismiller became the youngest poet to win the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets prize.
He graduated from Cornell College
in 1938, from Harvard University
with a master’s in 1942, and from Oxford University, with a D.Phil. in 1950, where he was a Rhodes scholar.
Professor Weismiller, an eminent scholar of John Milton’s poetry, came to
Washington, DC in 1968 to study original source materials in the Folger
Library, and stayed on to teach in the English department of the George
Washington University. After his retirement in 1980 he remained there,
reveling in the city’s beauty, variety, and cultural ferment. He was in
love with words and stories and had a gift for making and keeping friends.
An inspiring teacher, he worked to instill the love of beautiful and
precise language in his students, and many of them went on to success as
writers, artists, actors, teachers.
Weismiller was proud of what he called a nice American success story. His
father, Jacob Weismiller, came of German-Swiss stock; his mother, Georgia
Wilson, was of Scottish descent. Young Edward grew up inventing word games
and creating crossword puzzles for his sister Jean. The family lived on a
tiny farm in rural Wisconsin and the children went to a small country
school where Edward won good grades from his teachers and attacks from a
bully. His mother died when he was 11, shattering the family. Two years
later, taken in by his older sister Luverne, he began doing better in high
school and writing songs and poetry. Gently guided by his brother-in-law,
paper chemist Westbrook Steele, he won scholarships to Swarthmore and then
to Cornell College in Iowa, where he fell in love with Milton’s poetry and
began to publish his own. At age 20 he became the youngest Yale Younger
Poet when his first book of poems, The Deer Come Down, was selected for
publication by series editor Stephen Vincent Benet.
In 1936 he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, soon interrupted
when England and Germany declared war. Repatriated with the other U.S.
students, he earned his Masters degree and taught at Harvard, where he
founded lifelong friendships with some of the best poets and writers of his
generation. A sojourn at Yaddo nourished his talent. He also met and
married Frances Merewether Power of Redlands, California, a budding poet
and journalist; their first child was born in 1942. He translated
a prize-winning French novel, The Young Concubine, and began his second
book of poems, The Faultless Shore, published after the war, in 1946.
When the U.S. joined the European war, Weismiller’s life took an
astonishing twist. In a midnight phone call from the new Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), he was recruited for counterespionage. (He never
knew who had recommended him.) He chose to earn his required commission and
startle his friends—and the Commandant—by joining the Marine Corps. On
detached service in Europe, he was trained by the British secret services
MI5 and MI6 and watched the terrible beauty of firebombs falling on the
roofs of London. Deployed to Cherbourg, France, after D-Day, he became the
first American officer to run a captured enemy agent back against the
Germans. Eventually he was put in charge of counterespionage in the
American Zone in occupied Germany. He was awarded a Bronze Star and the
Medaille de la Reconnaissance Francaise. When he turned in his final
report, he was told that it was so highly classified that he would never
see it again. (He later heard that the British, apparently less secretive,
were using their copy in counterespionage training.)
After the war Weismiller declined an invitation to join the newly formed
CIA, which succeeded the OSS; instead he went home to his family in
Southern California and commenced work on his novel, The Serpent Sleeping,
sustained by a Guggenheim writing fellowship. In 1948 the Rhodes Trust
invited back the scholars whose time had been cut short by the war,
allowing them to bring their new families, so he earned his doctorate from
Oxford. He went on to teach poetry, creative writing, and Milton at Pomona
College. Over the years four more children were born.
In 1968, now divorced, he came to Washington and began a new phase of life.
His third book of poems, The Branch of Fire, was published in 1970, and he
was invited to give a reading of his poems at the Library of Congress in
1979. After retiring in 1980 he continued to write and reap honors. He
contributed to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, was an editor of the
Variorum Milton series (a compendium of the best modern scholarship), and
received the 2001 Robert Fitzgerald Award for lifetime contribution to the
study of metrics and versification. In 2002, at age 87, he became the
oldest Yale Younger Poet when the press published Walking Toward the Sun,
with a foreword by W. S. Merwin (now U.S. poet laureate).
Weismiller always saw himself as a citizen soldier, not professional
military, but his service affected him deeply. The war’s ambience and human
lessons permeated his 1962 novel, The Serpent Sleeping, recently
republished in a British series of classic spy novels. FOIA requests by
historian Tim Naftali got his final OSS report declassified, setting off a
much-enjoyed series of interviews with historians and popular writers on
what his war was really like. Weismiller had been one of the few Marines
stationed in Europe; most were in the South Pacific. His unusual situation
eventually yielded a bonus: a White House invitation to attend the 50th
anniversary celebrations of V.E. Day, traveling to England, France, Prague,
and all the way to Russia in a special tour with distinguished veterans
from all the services, then-Vice President Gore, and then-Secretary of the
Army Togo West.
His work has appeared in Kenyon Review and The Atlantic.
In 1941, Random House hired Weismiller, then a 26 year-old student, to translate the first award-winning novel of Franco-Khmer poet Makhali-Phal into English. La Favorite de dix ans was published in New York in 1942 as The Young Concubine. In 2008, Professor Weismiller began advising a literary team working to produce an updated version of his original translation incorporating cultural background material unavailable in 1941.
He lived in Washington, D.C.
until his passing on August 25, 2010, at 95.
Monticello, Wisconsin
Monticello is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Wisconsin:*Monticello, Green County, Wisconsin*Monticello, Lafayette County, Wisconsin...
) was an American poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, scholar and professor of English, George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. He died in Washington D.C. on August 25, 2010.
Life
He was raised in WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. In 1936, the twenty-year-old Edward Weismiller became the youngest poet to win the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets prize.
He graduated from Cornell College
Cornell College
Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally called the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by Reverend Samuel M. Fellows...
in 1938, from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a master’s in 1942, and from Oxford University, with a D.Phil. in 1950, where he was a Rhodes scholar.
Professor Weismiller, an eminent scholar of John Milton’s poetry, came to
Washington, DC in 1968 to study original source materials in the Folger
Library, and stayed on to teach in the English department of the George
Washington University. After his retirement in 1980 he remained there,
reveling in the city’s beauty, variety, and cultural ferment. He was in
love with words and stories and had a gift for making and keeping friends.
An inspiring teacher, he worked to instill the love of beautiful and
precise language in his students, and many of them went on to success as
writers, artists, actors, teachers.
Weismiller was proud of what he called a nice American success story. His
father, Jacob Weismiller, came of German-Swiss stock; his mother, Georgia
Wilson, was of Scottish descent. Young Edward grew up inventing word games
and creating crossword puzzles for his sister Jean. The family lived on a
tiny farm in rural Wisconsin and the children went to a small country
school where Edward won good grades from his teachers and attacks from a
bully. His mother died when he was 11, shattering the family. Two years
later, taken in by his older sister Luverne, he began doing better in high
school and writing songs and poetry. Gently guided by his brother-in-law,
paper chemist Westbrook Steele, he won scholarships to Swarthmore and then
to Cornell College in Iowa, where he fell in love with Milton’s poetry and
began to publish his own. At age 20 he became the youngest Yale Younger
Poet when his first book of poems, The Deer Come Down, was selected for
publication by series editor Stephen Vincent Benet.
In 1936 he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, soon interrupted
when England and Germany declared war. Repatriated with the other U.S.
students, he earned his Masters degree and taught at Harvard, where he
founded lifelong friendships with some of the best poets and writers of his
generation. A sojourn at Yaddo nourished his talent. He also met and
married Frances Merewether Power of Redlands, California, a budding poet
and journalist; their first child was born in 1942. He translated
a prize-winning French novel, The Young Concubine, and began his second
book of poems, The Faultless Shore, published after the war, in 1946.
When the U.S. joined the European war, Weismiller’s life took an
astonishing twist. In a midnight phone call from the new Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), he was recruited for counterespionage. (He never
knew who had recommended him.) He chose to earn his required commission and
startle his friends—and the Commandant—by joining the Marine Corps. On
detached service in Europe, he was trained by the British secret services
MI5 and MI6 and watched the terrible beauty of firebombs falling on the
roofs of London. Deployed to Cherbourg, France, after D-Day, he became the
first American officer to run a captured enemy agent back against the
Germans. Eventually he was put in charge of counterespionage in the
American Zone in occupied Germany. He was awarded a Bronze Star and the
Medaille de la Reconnaissance Francaise. When he turned in his final
report, he was told that it was so highly classified that he would never
see it again. (He later heard that the British, apparently less secretive,
were using their copy in counterespionage training.)
After the war Weismiller declined an invitation to join the newly formed
CIA, which succeeded the OSS; instead he went home to his family in
Southern California and commenced work on his novel, The Serpent Sleeping,
sustained by a Guggenheim writing fellowship. In 1948 the Rhodes Trust
invited back the scholars whose time had been cut short by the war,
allowing them to bring their new families, so he earned his doctorate from
Oxford. He went on to teach poetry, creative writing, and Milton at Pomona
College. Over the years four more children were born.
In 1968, now divorced, he came to Washington and began a new phase of life.
His third book of poems, The Branch of Fire, was published in 1970, and he
was invited to give a reading of his poems at the Library of Congress in
1979. After retiring in 1980 he continued to write and reap honors. He
contributed to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, was an editor of the
Variorum Milton series (a compendium of the best modern scholarship), and
received the 2001 Robert Fitzgerald Award for lifetime contribution to the
study of metrics and versification. In 2002, at age 87, he became the
oldest Yale Younger Poet when the press published Walking Toward the Sun,
with a foreword by W. S. Merwin (now U.S. poet laureate).
Weismiller always saw himself as a citizen soldier, not professional
military, but his service affected him deeply. The war’s ambience and human
lessons permeated his 1962 novel, The Serpent Sleeping, recently
republished in a British series of classic spy novels. FOIA requests by
historian Tim Naftali got his final OSS report declassified, setting off a
much-enjoyed series of interviews with historians and popular writers on
what his war was really like. Weismiller had been one of the few Marines
stationed in Europe; most were in the South Pacific. His unusual situation
eventually yielded a bonus: a White House invitation to attend the 50th
anniversary celebrations of V.E. Day, traveling to England, France, Prague,
and all the way to Russia in a special tour with distinguished veterans
from all the services, then-Vice President Gore, and then-Secretary of the
Army Togo West.
His work has appeared in Kenyon Review and The Atlantic.
In 1941, Random House hired Weismiller, then a 26 year-old student, to translate the first award-winning novel of Franco-Khmer poet Makhali-Phal into English. La Favorite de dix ans was published in New York in 1942 as The Young Concubine. In 2008, Professor Weismiller began advising a literary team working to produce an updated version of his original translation incorporating cultural background material unavailable in 1941.
He lived in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
until his passing on August 25, 2010, at 95.
Awards
- 2001 Robert Fitzgerald Prosody AwardRobert Fitzgerald Prosody AwardThe Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Award is awarded to scholars who have made a lasting contribution to the art and science of versification. The award was named after the poet, critic, and translator Robert Fitzgerald. It was established in 1999 at the Fifth Annual West Chester University Poetry...
- 1936 Yale Series of Younger Poets CompetitionYale Series of Younger Poets CompetitionThe Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the first collection of a promising American poet...
- 1943 Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- Rockefeller Foundation grant
- National Endowment for the HumanitiesNational Endowment for the HumanitiesThe National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
grant
Works
- The Deer Come Down, Yale University Press, 1936
- The Young Concubine, Random House, 1942 (As translator of La favorite de dix ans by Makhali-Phal)
- The Faultless Shore, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1946
Anthologies
- Poets of World War II, Harvey Shapiro (ed.) "To the Woman in Bond Street Station", ISBN 9781931082334