n.
born March 1, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died July 5, 1991, University City, near St. Louis, Mo.
U.S. poet.
He attended Harvard University and served as a pilot in World War II before teaching at various colleges, including Bennington. His verse, marked by irony and self-deprecatory wit, is often about nature; it appears in several volumes beginning with The Image and the Law (1947) and including Collected Poems (1977, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award). His fiction includes The Homecoming Game (1957) and A Commodity of Dreams and Other Stories (1960). He was poet laureate of the U.S. (198890). His sister Diane Arbus was a notable photographer.