born Dec. 22, 1905, South Bend, Ind., U.S.
died June 6, 1982, Santa Barbara, Calif.
U.S. painter, essayist, poet, and translator.
The largely self-educated Rexroth spent much of his youth traveling in the West, organizing and speaking for unions. His early poems were experimental, influenced by Surrealism ; his later work was praised for its tight form and its wit and humanistic passion. He was an early champion of the Beat movement . His works include essays in Assays (1962) and With Eye and Ear (1970); and many translations of Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Spanish poetry.