Marianne Moore - (1887-1972)
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I. Biography Marianne Moore was born November 15, 1887 in Kirkwood St.Louis, Missouri. Moore was the daughter of John Milton and Mary (Warner) Moore. Her father an
engineer, suffered a nervous break down after the failure of his plans to manufacture a smokeless furnace, and returned to his parents' home in Portsmouth, Ohio. Mary Moore moved her family to her parent's home in
Kirkwood. Mary Moore's father Reverend John Riddle Warner was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood. In 1894, following the death of the Reverend Warner, Moore's mother moved the family to
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. There Marianne Moore began her education at Metzger Institute. Moore entered Bryn Mawr College in 1905 and graduated with a biology degree in 1909.
Although she loved biology, poetry was her passion and Moore incorporated the biology in her poetry. Her poetry often-involved plants, animals, and the sea related topics.
Marianne Moore died in New York City on February 5, 1972 of natural causes. II. Awards
Marianne Moore accomplished many things in her life and she won quite a few prestigious awards to prove it. The Ernest Hartsock Memorial Prize for the poem " The Steeple-Jack".
Moore won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for the Collected Poems. Other awards include Contemporary Poetry Prize, Harriet Monroe Poetry Award, and the National Book Award. III. Literary Works
"Steeple-Jack"- Moore was a collector of images, she literally collected bit and pieces of pictures and words to put this poem together. The poem sounds as if she was quite
unsatisfied with how Congress was treating the people working hard to make our laws. In fact, the line "sin driven senators" was referring to Herbert Hoover keeping Congress in
session in hundred-and-four-degree heat in the fall of 1930. "Steeple-Jack " was widely considered one of the Moore's masterpieces, not for its
reference but for the way in which Moore weaves all these elements into a simple, yet elegant and rich picture of life. In my opinion, the poem was rather confusing, but once I
got an understanding of the message she is trying to relay in the poem, it became much clearer. "A Grave" was written shortly after the sinking of the Lusitania and her brother Warner
joining the Navy as a Chaplain out at sea worried her. The sea was one of Moore's favorite topics, but she was fully aware that the sea could be and is a watery grave. The sea for
Moore was most beautiful and deadly. Once, when her and her mother were standing together admiring the sea, a man came and stood in front of them. Moore's mother remarked
about how people seem to feel the need to stand in the middle of things instead of stepping back to get the full picture. This incident became a part of the poem. IV. Works by Marianne Moore
Collected Poems (1951)
This essay was submitted by a student of Cheryl Petersohn, a teacher at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania.
Selected Poems (1935)
What Are Years (1941)
Never The Less (1944)
Collected Later (1951)