Allen Tate American critic, poet, novelist and educator Date of Birth: 19.11.1899 Country: USA

1. Allen Tate Biography
2. Early Life and Education
3. Views and Contributions
4. Poetry
5. The Fathers
6. Allen Tate passed away on February 9, 1979, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Allen Tate Biography

Allen Tate (1899-1979) was an American critic, poet, novelist, and educator. Although some of Tate's experiments with poetic language can be associated with modernism, he remained a southern "reactionary" in his views on contemporary culture, science, and politics. As one of the representatives of the "New Criticism," Tate believed that a poem represents a "created text" rather than a means of conveying a "corresponding" doctrine. His own poems are carefully crafted and serve as examples of intricately constructed texts.

Early Life and Education

John Orley Allen Tate was born on November 19, 1899, in Winchester, Kentucky. He received his education at Vanderbilt University, where he studied alongside D.K. Ransom, wrote poetry, and published in the magazine "The Fugitive."

Views and Contributions

Tate's views on society are outlined in his essay "Remarks on the Southern Beliefs," which is included in the agrarian manifesto "I'll Take My Stand" (1930). Tate advocated for a return to a "private, self-sufficient, essentially spiritual life." This creed is elaborated in his "Reactionary Essays on Poetry and Ideas" (1936), where he demonstrates the destructive consequences of rationalism on modern life. His second collection of essays, "Reason in Madness" (1941), diagnoses a "terminal disease" characterized by worship of science and material progress. "The Man of Letters in the Modern World" (1955) traces the evolution of Tate's thoughts over several decades, particularly highlighting the impact of his conversion to Catholicism in 1950 (an essay on Dante and the imagination that creates symbols).

Poetry

Tate's poems, written over almost 60 years, reveal his reverence for form and tradition. In "Ode to the Confederate Dead" (1927, revised in 1937), he juxtaposes the heroic past with the self-absorption of modern consciousness. The spiritual development of the poet can be discerned in his later works, such as "Soul in Seasons" (1944) and "The Swimmers" (1953). Tate had a significant influence on younger poets, especially Robert Lowell.

The Fathers

Tate's only novel, "The Fathers" (1938), is dedicated to the Civil War and tells the story of a man reminiscing about his childhood. The book explores how individual motivations can upend the entire social order based on a certain kind of agreement among its members and on the gentleman's sense of honor.

Allen Tate passed away on February 9, 1979, in Nashville, Tennessee.