Working Paper: NBER ID: w9856
Authors: David W. Galenson
Abstract: This paper examines the careers of eleven leading American poets of the past century. Using the frequency with which poems are reprinted in anthologies as a measure of their importance, quantitative analysis reveals that among these poets there were two distinctly different life cycles: one group produced their most important work early in their careers, in their 20s and 30s, while the other group produced their most important work considerably later, in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s. These different career patterns appear to reflect differences in the nature of their poetry. The conceptual poets, including E. E. Cummings, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound, arrived early and suddenly at a technically sophisticated poetry based on imagination and study of literary history, whereas Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, William Carlos Williams and the other experimental poets arrived later and more gradually at a poetry rooted in real speech and observation.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J0; J4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| conceptual poetry (B50) | early significant works (Y20) |
| experimental poetry (C90) | later significant works (Y50) |
| type of poetry (Y92) | timing of significant works (C41) |
| conceptual poets (B59) | cease to innovate earlier (O31) |
| experimental poets (B59) | continue to innovate longer (O35) |