William Kennedy

Mrs.Kirschner
English III
March 16th 2016
Death and Agrarians
As a young adult writing poetry the ideas of morbidity and death struck hard
into the heart of John Crowe Ransom. John Crowe's Ransom morbid poems stand out
as taboo in an age of mannered society. As a result he transcends the ladder of
poetry and puts himself in positions that would be widely regarded as "crazy" or
unethical. His poetry manages to encapsulate the era of New Criticism, a style of
poetry dedicated to secretly criticizing the normal style of poetry subtly between
the lines.
Ransoms unusual craziness began in 1888 in Pulaski Tennessee. His father
was a Methodist minister and because of it,he moved frequently which left him with
being relegated to being taught at home. Ransom seldom experienced working with
people outside of his home for the first ten years of his life then he began to go to
public school. Ransoms lengthy stays with his father helped carve out his lifestyle
critique wherein he established the role of teacher-critic where his father was the
teacher. Ransoms constant criticizing of learning methodologies helped distinguish
possibly why his poetry became so separated from society. Ransoms criticism in
some ways affected his ability to easily meld with society. This constant criticizing
as stated by Albert Gelpi, can be seen as a kind of paradigm of the series of similar
relationships that were to be central to Ransoms development well into his mature
years (Gelpi 1). Some of these exchanges carried through into his work with Allen
Tate. Gelpi also goes on to state, Ransoms career was divided almost equally
between his tenures at Vanderbilt and Kenyon College. After receiving his B.A. from

Vanderbilt in 1909, he went as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, where he took a second

B.A. in 1913 (Gelpi 2). His work split between these two colleges also opened him
up to new opportunities for influences and criticisms. Afterwards, Ransom soon
began his work as an instructor at Vanderbilt University before shipping off as a 1 st
Lieutenant in the Army for two years fighting in France. This conflict in France and
possibly the entire war itself might have contributed to his creation of Captain
Carpenter as stated by William Logan, about a latter-day man-at-arms who tussle
by tussle loses nose, arms, ears, eyes, and more. (Logan 3). This poem besides
emphasizing his usual chaotic style of poetry, makes clear of how he feels his life is
coming about. Ransoms poems are most heavily influenced by his chronology.
In 1919 Ransom publishes Poems about God before in 1922 founds the
Fugitive Group of Poets. This group helped shaped literary criticism and evolution
during the early 20th century. The Fugitive Group of Poets would eventually overlap
with another group of poets called the Agrarians, which in turn, greatly shaped his
later poems which also inserted a more nature-like theme but still with the same
elements as before. As 1930 rolled around Ransom publishes God without
Thunder: An Unorthodox Defense of Orthodoxy which, compounded with the Great
Depression, argued for the need of a God of mystery, magnificence, and thunder
and contributes to the agrarian manifesto (Hiers 1). After having published God
Without Thunder, Ransom moves from Vanderbilt University to Kenyon University in
Ohio. There in 1938, Ransom publishes The Worlds Body which emphasizes
Ransoms concern with the lack of literary criticism in America. This continued
pursuit for creating literary criticism also has influenced as said by Lloyd Derringer,
The body of his most intensely effective lyrical poetry, that concern is the
underlying premise, implicit in the concretely experiential terms of death and

dying. (Derringer 4). Again, at the infancy of World War 2 Ransom publishes The
New Criticism which combines previous thoughts and statements with newer ways
of interpreting poetry. The work, The New Criticism formulated a new movement
called New Criticism which dominated the latter half of the 20 th century. This new
literary movement was not the only achievement in his name.
Ransom was in 1951 as a result of his poetical successes award the Bollingen
Prize. Soon afterwards it was said that Ransom and his new critics were committed
to supplanting a feminine, Southern regionalist literary tradition with an ironic, often
nostalgic poetics (Mikkelson 49). This literary tradition helped influence his selfcharacterization which as stated by Ann Mikkelson, are anticipated and echoed by
his editorial persona within the pages of the Fugitive, which he gave the pseudonym
of Roger Prim. (Mikkelson 4). Ransoms editorial persona is the culmination of his
works and his criticism. Ransoms first poetic works Poems about God, helps set the
stage for what is called by Albert Gelpi prose devoted to social and literary
criticism. (Gelpi 5). The works succeeding Poems about God evolve into a
transformative but revolutionary idea of how poetry should emphasize a more
constructive but criticizing ideal and enable the reader to follow poetry that defines
new boundaries. Ransom was as said by William Allegrezza an influential critic and
teacher, counting among his students poets Randall Jarrell and Robert Lowell
(Allegrezza 1). Another prominent researcher, Ann Mikkelson justifies this through
Rather than a personal idiosyncrasy, the explicitly gendered rhetoric of Ransoms
poetry and criticism must be understood as part of a continuous line of ethical and
aesthetic inquiry that was at times less reactionary than it appeared to be and
intimately linked to the unusual, and increasingly liberal, trajectory of Ransoms
intellectual development. (Mikkelson 2). Ransoms other groups of works also

added onto his aesthetic inquiry included Chills and Fever, and Two Gentlemen in
Bonds appear in a Kenyon University magazine known as The Fugitive. Having
started the literary magazine himself, Ransom was the first editor and one of the
first compilers of the magazine. Kieran Quinlin notes that during this time Ransom
continued to "tinker" with poetry throughout his long career, his reputation rests
largely on the output of these three years. (Quinlin 3). After having published these
literary works, later in life Ransom earns The National Book Award for Selected
Poems in 1964. Despite earning multiple awards, the press continued to persecute
his works.
Most of the persecution began around 1936 where as stated by Kieran
Quinlin, Ransom defended the arguments presented in the book when they were
widely ridiculed and attacked, but by 1936 he was less certain that a return to an
agricultural economy could save the nation. (Quinlin 3). One of Ransoms Poems,
Four Sisters starkly but subtly introduces Ransoms views:
Four sisters sitting in one house,
I said, these roses on a stem
With bosoms bare. But wayfaring
I went and ravished one of them;(Four Sisters 1-4)
The ravishing references how agriculture steals away from progress. The
Them being that progress, it is as if a person who advocates for an agricultural
society ravishes progress. Because of Ransoms beliefs, an agrarian society does
not advance and is bare. Ransoms opinions contrast those of notable agrarian
economists like Sir Arthur Lewis and Theodore Shultz who both argued that an

agricultural economy is essential for keeping industry upright and advancing.

Ransoms differences from society can be summed up in the poem Captain
Carpenter:
Captain Carpenter mounted up one day
And rode straightway into a stranger rogue
That looked unchristian but be that as may
The Captain did not wait upon prologue; (Captain Carpenter8-12)
Ransom rode into unexplored territory; which is the territory of poetry that focused
on gritty realism but with mixed elements of fantasy. This style of poetry, in lieu of
Ransoms characteristics are key defining points as to where Ransoms style
originate from. It is also why during the introductions of these poems and
anthologies like Captain Carpenter and Poems about God that Ransom helped
distinguish himself a particular spot within the history-books as one of the most
controversial poets. Hence, Ransom received lots of persecution for once again
redefining the boundaries and eventually as stated by Kieran Quinlin, Ransom
himself recognized, finally collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions.
(Quinlan 1). The contradictions stem from Ransoms admission that religion is
simply a creation of mans imagination and that the modern mind cannot accept
many of its traditional premises (Quinlin 7). Despite Ransom being showered with
criticism, albeit he criticized others constantly himself, there were a few ardent
supporters of his literary style and taste. These people mainly originated from his
stay at Kenyon College, they were Randal Jerrell, Peter Taylor, and most famously
Robert Lowell. Interestingly enough while Ransom ran and published editions of the
newspaper, he publishes stories that were quite often contrary to his beliefs.

Ransoms publishing of stories contrary to his beliefs can also be described as his
exploration of morality wherein Ransom attempted to mend together the
differences of poets into one consistent grouping. Ransoms own morbid poetry
combined with poetry that was not so morbid mend what is known as the
movement of New Criticism. As Lloyd Dendinger states; The tensions and the
anguish at the heart of Ransoms poetry derive from his preoccupation with
mortality.(Dendinger 1). From this it is clear that the movement resolves itself from
Ransoms ability to pull forth the tensions between humans and their poetry to
create a New Criticism.
For the first portion of his life Ransom constantly dealt with the harsh
criticism of the outside world. Despite personal contradictions including his own
criticisms and philosophy, Ransom managed to distinguish himself as an influential
poet in a new era. With it, creating and developing a whole new set of guidelines for
a movement within a movement, New Criticism. This New Criticism in turn managed
to put forth an idea of poetry that is able to be directly accepted by the reader, but
at the same time secretly compounding and discrediting their beliefs of what poetry
should be. Ransom was at times some of the most crazy and un-sensical of poets,
but he managed to forge with it, an era dominated by new forms of poetry.

Citations:

Gelpi, Albert. "John Crowe Ransom." 1993. 4th Edition. Comp. Craig S. Abbott.
Ipswich: Salem Press, n.d. N. pag. Print. Vol. 4 of Critical Survey of
Poetry, Second Revised Edition. 12 vols.

Elliott, Grey. "John Crowe Ransom: A Study of His Literary Strategy." University
Of Montana. Missoula Montana. 1969. Reading.
Chance, William, and Peter Collier. "Ransom's Bells for John Whiteside's
Daughter." The Explicator. By Douglas Fowler. Vol. 52. N.p.: Taylor and
Francis, n.d. 1-21. Print.
Allegrezza, William. "The Facts on File Companion to American Poetry." 2007.
The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry. Comp. Kieran Quinlan.
N.p.: Bloom's Literature, 2007. N. pag. Print.
Logan, William. "Under the Skin." The New Criterion. N.p., Dec. 2015. Web. 1
Mar. 2016. <http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/
Under-the-skin-8299>.
Mikkelsen, Ann. Roger Prim, Gentleman: Gender, Pragmatism, and the Strange
Career of John Crowe Ransom. N.p.: College Literature, 2009. Print.
Quinlan, Kieran. "John Crowe Ransom's Life and Career." 1999. Reading.