Classic and Contemporary Poets

Laura Riding (1901-1991), later known as Laura (Riding) Jackson, was an American poet, critic, novelist, essayist, and a significant figure in the interwar modernist circles. Riding's poetry is known for its rigorous dedication to truth and its exploration of language as a medium for accessing that truth, with a career marked by a distinctive, evolving style and a profound theoretical engagement with the nature of poetry itself.

Riding began her career in the 1920s as a member of the Fugitives, a group of poets and scholars based at Vanderbilt University who were committed to the agrarian values of the American South and to a poetic style marked by traditional forms and clear, precise expression. She quickly became known for her sharp intellect and uncompromising poetry, which was characterized by a concise, almost austere use of language and a precision of thought.

Her works from this period, including "The Close Chaplet" (1926) and "Anarchism is Not Enough" (1928), display her growing concern with the limitations and possibilities of words. Riding's intellectual intensity and her belief in the capacity of language to reveal truth were evident in these early collections. She was involved with the journal 'The Fugitive' and later with 'The Criterion,' edited by T.S. Eliot, whom she corresponded with extensively.

In the 1930s, Riding's style became even more focused on the philosophical and ethical functions of language. Her collection "Poems: A Joking Word" (1930) and "The Life of the Dead" (1933) are marked by linguistic experimentation and a style that some critics found to be austere and challenging, yet undeniably innovative.

However, Riding's poetry is perhaps most notable for its departure from conventional forms and its exploration of the abstract potentials of language. In her pursuit of truth through poetry, she often approached the brink of linguistic and philosophical abstraction, leading to a complex and sometimes controversial body of work.

After her association with the Fugitives, she collaborated with Robert Graves, with whom she lived and worked in England for many years. Their partnership was both literary and personal, and together they published "A Survey of Modernist Poetry" (1927) and founded the Seizin Press. Her relationship with Graves was significant for both of their literary developments; they influenced each other's work deeply during this period.

In a dramatic turn, Riding announced her renunciation of poetry in 1941, arguing that it could not live up to its promise of truth. She turned her attention to linguistic philosophy and continued to write essays and critiques, but she remained silent as a poet for nearly five decades. This silence was self-imposed out of a sense of the inadequacy of poetry in its conventional forms to carry the burden of true communication.

Her later life was devoted to philosophical inquiry and linguistic study, culminating in the publication of "Rational Meaning: A New Foundation for the Definition of Words," co-authored with her husband, Schuyler B. Jackson. This work reflects her enduring dedication to the precise use of language and her belief in its importance for human understanding and ethics.

Laura Riding received several honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Bollingen Prize for her contribution to American poetry. Despite the accolades, she remains a controversial figure in literary circles due to her renunciation of poetry and the perceived difficulty of her work.

In sum, Laura Riding's contribution to poetry is defined by her intellectual rigor, her pursuit of truth through the precise use of language, and her challenge to the boundaries of poetic form. Her work and ideas continue to provoke debate and admiration, securing her place as a distinctive and influential voice in 20th-century literature

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