A New and Important American Poet: Andrew Benson Brown

A New and Important American Poet: Andrew Benson Brown
Andrew Benson Brown in his library. Courtesy of Andrew Benson Brown
James Sale
Updated:

One of the lessons of history is that it is difficult to predict in advance who are truly the important people of the day—be they politicians, philosophers, artists, musicians, novelists, poets, or in any area of human endeavor. My favorite example of this is Shakespeare. While he was a huge commercial success as a playwright—groundlings and aristocrats alike seemed to have loved his plays—the idea that he was the “immortal bard” or one of the greatest English poets who ever lived would have seemed, almost certainly, laughable to most of his contemporaries (Ben Jonson’s tribute excepted).

The proof of this assertion seems to be in the difficulty we have constructing his biography. Clearly, very few people saw him as being noteworthy; hence the “lost years” and many other lacunae besides in his life’s story.

Who Will Stand the Test of Time?

At present, we ask ourselves, who are the poets of today whose reputations will stand the test of time once the vested interests of commercial publishers, academic lobbies, political pressure groups, and social media brigades have past. Who will rise to the top when a new generation sees the field afresh and with unbiased and uncluttered eyes?
James Sale
James Sale
Author
James Sale has had over 50 books published, most recently, “Mapping Motivation for Top Performing Teams” (Routledge, 2021). He has been nominated for the 2022 poetry Pushcart Prize, and won first prize in The Society of Classical Poets 2017 annual competition, performing in New York in 2019. His most recent poetry collection is “StairWell.” For more information about the author, and about his Dante project, visit EnglishCantos.home.blog
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