Richard Wilbur

{{Infobox writer

| name = Richard Wilbur

| image = Richard Wilbur 1964 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Wilbur in 1964

| birth_name = Richard Purdy Wilbur

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|3|1}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|10|14|1921|3|1}}

| death_place = Belmont, Massachusetts, U.S.

| occupation = Poet

| education = Amherst College (BA)
Harvard University (MA)

| spouse = Mary Hayes Ward (1942–2007)

| children = 4

| genre = Poetry, children's books, drama, French literature

| movement = Formalism

| notableworks = Things of This World

| awards = Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1957, 1989)
Robert Frost Medal (1996)

}}

Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend Anthony Hecht, of the World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir to Robert Frost, translated the verse dramas of Moliere, Corneille, and Racine into rhymed English, King, Brendan D., The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, pp. 15–19. collaborated with Leonard Bernstein as the lyricist for the opera Candide,[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000016 Music Theatre International. Candide (1973)] and in his old age acted, particularly through his role in the annual West Chester University Poetry Conference, as a mentor to the younger poets of the New Formalist movement. King, Brendan D., The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, po. 15–19. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987 and received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry twice, in 1957 and 1989.{{cite web | title=Poet Laureate Timeline: 1981–1990 | url= https://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1981-1990.html | publisher = Library of Congress | year = 2008 | access-date = January 1, 2009}}

Early years

Wilbur was born in New York City on March 1, 1921, and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey. In 1938 he graduated from Montclair High School, where he worked on the school newspaper.[http://www.bookrags.com/biography/richard-purdy-wilbur-dlb/ Richard (Purdy) Wilbur], from the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Accessed January 1, 2012. "Wilbur showed an early interest in writing, which he has attributed to his mother's family because her father was an editor of the Baltimore Sun and her grandfather was an editor and a publisher of small papers aligned with the Democratic party. At Montclair High School, from which he graduated in 1938, Wilbur wrote editorials for the school newspaper." At Amherst College, he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one of the "sharpest" reporters for the college newspaper, edited by upperclassman Robert Morgenthau.{{cite book |last1=Meier |first1=Andrew |title=Morgenthau |year= 2022 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781400068852 |pages=276, 299 |edition=First}} After graduation in 1942, he served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. He attended graduate school at Harvard University. Wilbur taught at Wellesley College, then Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the Wesleyan University Press.{{citation | publisher =University of Illinois | url =http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | title =Wilbur biography | access-date =May 9, 2009 | archive-date =July 20, 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190720100402/http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | url-status =dead }}{{citation |newspaper=The New York Times | access-date = July 18, 2011 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2D6143FF935A25753C1A9639C8B63&sel=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=The University of Verse | first = Jane | last = Gordon | date = October 16, 2005}} He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and taught at Amherst College as late as 2009,{{citation | chapter-url = https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/rpwilbur42 | publisher =Amherst College | chapter = Wilbur | title = Faculty staff}}. where he also served on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommononline.org/about|title=About The Common – The Common|website=www.thecommononline.org|date=July 15, 2016}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/obituaries/richard-wilbur-poet-laureate-and-pulitzer-winner-dies-at-96.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96 |work=The New York Times |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=October 16, 2017}}{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=Boston Globe|date=October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/richard-wilbur-in-the-new-yorker |title=Richard Wilbur in the New Yorker |date=October 16, 2017 |first1=Hannah |last1=Aizenman |magazine=The New Yorker}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-richard-wilbur-20171016-story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Who Twice Won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Dies at 96|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=September 28, 2019|quote=The U.S. poet laureate in 1987–88, Wilbur was often cited as an heir to Robert Frost and other New England writers and was the rare versifier to enjoy a following beyond the poetry community. He was regarded – not always favorably – as a leading “formalist,” a master of old-fashioned meter and language who resisted contemporary trends. Wilbur was also known for his translations, especially of Moliere, Racine and other French playwrights.}}

Literary career

When only eight years old, Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine.{{citation | url = http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3509/the-art-of-poetry-no-22-richard-wilbur |title=Richard Wilbur, The Art of Poetry No. 22 |journal=The Paris Review |series=Interviews |date=Winter 1977 |volume=Winter 1977 |issue=72 |access-date=December 24, 2014}}. His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Thereafter he published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur was also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the play's standard English version and has been presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available on DVD). Wilbur also published several children's books, including Opposites, More Opposites, and The Disappearing Alphabet. In 1959 he became the general editor of The Laurel Poetry Series (Dell Publishing).

Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into writing theatre lyrics. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow". He also produced several unpublished works, including "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".

His honors included the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award and the PEN Translation Prize for his translation of The Misanthrope, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award for Things of This World (1956),

[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1957 "National Book Awards – 1957"]. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-02.

(With acceptance speech by Wilbur and essay by Patrick Rosal from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)

the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Prize, and the Chevalier, {{lang|fr|Ordre des Palmes Académiques}}. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W| url= http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf | publisher =American Academy of Arts and Sciences | access-date = April 7, 2011}} In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for his New and Collected Poems. On October 14, 1994, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton. He also received the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|title=2004 Inductees of Theatre Hall of Fame Announced|publisher=www.playbill.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331082301/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|archive-date=March 31, 2014|df=mdy-all}} In 2006 he won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award for the translation of The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille. In 2012 Yale University conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Wilbur. He had a literary correspondence with Catholic nun, literary critic and poet M. Bernetta Quinn.{{Cite book |last=Ripatrazone |first=Nick |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2xkjp9p |title=The Habit of Poetry: The Literary Lives of Nuns in Mid-century America |date=2023 |publisher=1517 Media |isbn=978-1-5064-7112-9 |chapter=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn: Woman of Letters |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2xkjp9p.7|jstor=j.ctv2xkjp9p }}{{Cite web |title=Mary Bernetta Quinn Papers, 1937–1998 |url=https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04307/ |access-date= |website=Wilson Special Collections Library of UNC-Chapel Hill}}{{Cite web |title=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn papers |url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/1438 |url-status= |access-date= |website=Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University}}

Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, at a nursing home in Belmont, Massachusetts, from natural causes aged 96.{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=The Boston Globe|date= October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}

Awards and honors

During his lifetime, Wilbur received numerous awards in recognition of his work, including:

Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts (1952, 1963){{cite web |url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/ |title=All Fellows |author= |publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=July 18, 2016 |archive-date=July 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707071610/http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/ |url-status=dead }}
Poetry Society of America Millay Award (1957){{cite web |url=https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/about/mission/ |title=A Century of American Poetry |author= |website=Poetry Society of America |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
National Book Award for Poetry (1957) for Things of This World{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1957#.V41tqmQrK2w |title=National Book Awards – 1957 |author= |website=National Book Foundation |access-date=July 18, 2016}}
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1957, 1989) for Things of This World, New and Collected Poems{{cite web |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/224 |title=Poetry |author= |website=The Pulitzer Prizes |access-date=July 18, 2016}}
Bollingen Prize for Poetry (1971){{cite web |url=http://bollingen.yale.edu/ |title=The Bollingen Prize for Poetry |author= |publisher=Yale University |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Shelley Memorial Award (1973) {{cite web |url=https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/frost_and_shelley/shelley_winners/ |title=Shelley Winners |author= |website=Poetry Society of America |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical (1973–1974) for Candide{{cite web |url= http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_pastawards.html#1974 |title=Past Awards |author= |publisher=New York Drama Critics' Circle |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical (1973–1974) for Candide{{cite web |url=http://outercritics.org/award-results/awards-for-1973-1974/ |title=Awards for 1973–1974 |author= |website=Outer Critics Circle |access-date=July 19, 2016 |archive-date=May 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503103843/http://outercritics.org/award-results/awards-for-1973-1974/ |url-status=dead }}
Drama Desk Special Award (1983) for translation of The Misanthrope{{cite web |url=http://www.dramadesk.org/awards |title=Awards |author= |website=Drama Desk |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
United States Poet Laureate (1987–1988){{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/poetslaureate/ |title=United States Poets Laureate: A Guide to Online Resources |author=Peter Armenti |date=June 10, 2015 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Laurence Olivier Award for Musical of the Year (1988) for Candide{{cite web |url=http://www.olivierawards.com/winners/view/item98523/olivier-winners-1988/ |title=Olivier Winners 1988 |author= |website=Olivier Awards |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates{{cite web|url=http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|title=Saint Louis Literary Award - Saint Louis University|website=www.slu.edu|access-date=July 26, 2016|archive-date=April 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427180855/http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://lib.slu.edu/about/associates/literary-award |title=Recipients of the St. Louis Literary Award |author=Saint Louis University Library Associates |access-date=July 25, 2016}}
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry (1991){{cite web |url=http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev=Gold%20Literature |title=Gold Medal |author= |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Letters |access-date=July 19, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817092924/http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev=Gold%20Literature |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |df=mdy-all }}
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1995){{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}
PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation (1994){{cite web |url=https://pen.org/penralph-manheim-medal-translation-winners |title=PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation Winners |author= |website=PEN America |date=April 29, 2016 |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Frost Medal (1996){{cite web |url=https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/frost_and_shelley/frost_winners/ |title=Frost Medalists |author= |website=Poetry Society of America |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Wallace Stevens Award (2003){{cite web |url=https://www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/wallace-stevens-award |title=Wallace Stevens Award |author= |website=Academy of American Poets |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (2006){{cite web |url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/programs/foundation/awards/detail/ruth-lilly-poetry-prize |title=Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize |author= |website=Poetry Foundation |access-date=July 19, 2016}}
Edward MacDowell Medal (1992){{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8447621/MacDowell-Medal-winners-1960-2011.html |title=MacDowell Medal winners {{mdash}} 1960{{ndash}}2011 |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=December 6, 2019}}

Bibliography

=Poetry collections=

1947: The Beautiful Changes, and Other Poems{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/richard-wilbur|title=Richard Wilbur|date=October 18, 2017|website=Poetry Foundation}}
1950: Ceremony, and Other Poems
1955: A Bestiary
1956: Things of This World – won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and National Book Award, both in 1957{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/17/richard-wilbur-obituary|title=Richard Wilbur obituary|first=Michael|last=Carlson|date=October 17, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|via=www.theguardian.com}}
1961: Advice to a Prophet, and Other Poems
1969: Walking to Sleep: New Poems and Translations
1976: The Mind-Reader: New Poems
1988: New and Collected Poems – won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1989
2000: Mayflies: New Poems and Translations
2004: Collected Poems, 1943–2004
2010: Anterooms

=Editor=

2003 Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Poetics{{cite web |title=Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Poetics |url=https://loa.org/books/196-poems-and-poetics |website=Library of America}}

=Selected poems available online=

{{cite magazine |title=Some Words Inside of Words |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/06/some-words-inside-of-words/303448/ |magazine=The Atlantic |date=June 2004 |access-date=October 21, 2017}}
{{cite magazine |title=Sugar Maples, January |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/16/sugar-maples-january |magazine=The New Yorker |date=January 16, 2012 |access-date=November 12, 2014}}

=Prose collections=

1976: Responses: Prose Pieces, 1953–1976
1997: The Catbird's Song: Prose Pieces, 1963–1995

=Translated plays from other authors=

==Translated from Molière==

The Misanthrope (1955/1666){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1607 | title = The Misanthrope | year = 1966 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1389-5}}.
Tartuffe (1963/1669){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1606 | title = Tartuffe | year = 1991 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1111-2}}.
The School for Wives (1971/1662){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1505 | title = The School for Wives | date = October 1991 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-0999-7}}.
The Learned Ladies (1978/1672){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1407 | title = The Learned Ladies | year = 1977 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-0648-4}}.
The School for Husbands (1992/1661){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=934 | title = School for Husbands | date = October 1991 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-0998-0}}.
The Imaginary Cuckold, or Sganarelle (1993/1660){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=885 | title = The Imaginary Cuckold, or Sganarelle | year = 1993 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1331-4}}.
Amphitryon (1995/1668){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=783 | title = Amphitryon | year = 1995 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1439-7}}.
The Bungler (2000/1655){{citation | url = https://archive.org/details/bungler00jean | title = The Bungler | year = 2000 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1747-3 | url-access = registration }}.
Don Juan (2001/1665){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=2771 | title = Don Juan | year = 1998 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1657-5}}.
Lovers' Quarrels (2009/1656){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=3762 | title = Lovers' Quarrels | year = 2007 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-2159-3}}.
Molière: The Complete Richard Wilbur Translations (2021){{cite web |title=Forthcoming: Summer and Fall 2021 |url=https://loa.org/news-and-views/1774-forthcoming-summer-and-fall-2021 |website=Library of America |access-date=23 April 2023}}

==From Jean Racine==

Andromache (1982/1667){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1286 | title = Andromache | year = 1982 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-0048-2}}.
Phaedra (1986/1677){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1067 | title = Phædra | year = 1986 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-0890-7}}.
The Suitors (2001/1668){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=2996 | title = The Suitors | year = 2001 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-1804-3}}.

==From Pierre Corneille==

The Theatre of Illusion (2007/1636){{citation | url = https://archive.org/details/theatreofillusio00corn | publisher = Mariner books | title = The Theatre of Illusion | date = April 2, 2007 | last = Corneille | first = Pierre | isbn = 978-0-15-603231-5 | url-access = registration }}.
Le Cid (2009/1636){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=4258 | title = Le Cid | year = 2012 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-2501-0}}.
The Liar (2009/1643){{citation | url = http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=4259 | title = The Liar | year = 2012 | publisher = Dramatists Play Service | isbn = 978-0-8222-2502-7}}.

References

=Citations=

=Sources=

{{citation | series = Clinton | url = http://clinton6.nara.gov/1994/10/1994-10-13-president-and-first-lady-honor-artists-and-scholars.html | date = October 13, 1994 | publisher = The White House – Office of the Press Secretary | title = President and first Lady honor Artists and Scholars}}.

External links

{{IBDB name|9575}}
{{IOBDB name|13845}}
[http://www.kwls.org/littoral/the_world_is_fundamentally_a_g/ "The World is Fundamentally a Great Wonder"]: Richard Wilbur in conversation with Arlo Haskell, October 21, 2009. Littoral.
Readings by Wilbur at the Key West Literary Seminar: [http://www.kwls.org/podcasts/richard_wilburs_elizabeth_bish/ 1993], [http://www.kwls.org/podcasts/richard_wilbur_2003/ 2003], [http://www.kwls.org/podcasts/richard_wilbur_2010/ 2010]
{{YouTube|id=KBvBKRBp49E|title=Lincolnshire Poacher by The Spinners}}
[http://www.nysun.com/arts/voice-that-stands-alone/5555/ Ernest Hilbert reviews Richard Wilbur's Collected Poems for the New York Sun]
[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/love.htm Essays on a Wilbur's "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807125236/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/love.htm |date=August 7, 2008 }}
{{cite journal| url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3509/the-art-of-poetry-no-22-richard-wilbur| title=Richard Wilbur, The Art of Poetry No. 22|author1=Helen McCloy Ellison |author2=Ellesa Clay High |author3=Peter A. Stitt | journal=The Paris Review| date=Winter 1977 | volume=Winter 1977| issue=72}}
[http://www.choralwiki.org/wiki/index.php/Richard_Wilbur Settings of Richard Wilbur's poetry in the Choral Public Domain Library]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LdgHqKpdE Wilbur's "Then" (1950)] – Composer Jonathan Elliott sets Wilbur's poem to music for Monadnock Music; also featuring Wilbur's reading of the poem
[https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/242 Richard P. Wilbur (AC 1942) Papers] at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections