Author Biography

A descendent of the colonial poet Anne Bradstreet, Robinson was born in Head Tide, Maine, in 1869 and grew up in the nearby town of Gardiner, his model for the fictitious Tilbury Town that figures prominently in his early verse. His father, Edward Robinson, and mother, Mary Elizabeth Palmer

Robinson, were descended from old New England families. Robinson’s father retired from his successful mercantile business at the age of 51, moving the family to Gardiner at that time so his sons could enjoy a better education.

Robinson’s early years were marked by the advantages of an upper middle-class upbringing. He developed an interest in poetry while still in high school, and he was encouraged by a physician neighbor who shared his interest. He published his first poems in a local newspaper and, when he attended Harvard University for two years, in the school’s publication The Harvard Advocate. But a decline in the family’s circumstances forced him to return home. His father died in 1892; a recession in 1893 devastated the family’s finances; and his brother Dean, a doctor, developed a drug addiction that eventually cost him his practice and led him to suicide. In 1896 Robinson’s mother died of black diptheria, just weeks before The Torrent and the Night Before, the author’s first, self-published book of poetry appeared.

Robinson lived in the family house with his two brothers and their families until 1897 when, following a dispute with his brother Herman over his wife, Emma, Robinson left for New York City. Some critics surmise that Robinson’s recurring poetic theme of a triangular love relationship comes from this incident. In 1897 The Children of the Night, a gathering of Robinson’s poems from his first collection and supplemented with others, was published. In New York Robinson shared an apartment with a friend and became acquainted with a more cosmopolitan society than he had previously known. Among the new people he met in New York was a charming derelict named Alfred H. Louis, who served as a model for the disreputable title character of Robinson’s long poem Captain Craig, which was published in 1902.

Partly because of the lukewarm critical response to Captain Craig, Robinson did little writing for the next several years. He worked for brief periods at a number of jobs, including an office assistant, an advertising editor, and as a time-checker. It was during this period that Robinson also began drinking heavily. But in 1904 The Children of the Night attracted the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt after his son sent him a copy of the book from school. Roosevelt was impressed with Robinson’s work and recommended it to Scribner’s publishing house, which issued a new edition. In addition, Roosevelt gave Robinson a position with the New York Customs House so that he could write without financial worry. Robinson’s finances, however, remained insolvent until the late 1920s.

Robinson made his sole trip overseas in 1923, visiting England for six weeks in reaction, so he claimed, to the passage of Prohibition. In 1927 he published his one commercial success, the long poem Tristram, based on an ancient legend. The book sold some 57,000 copies in its first year. In 1935 Robinson was diagnosed as having cancer and died just hours after completing corrections to the galleys of his final book. Although Robinson endured early neglect of his poetry, he eventually received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was also awarded the Levinson Prize, a gold medal from the National Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and several honorary degrees.