Stanley Kunitz Dies at 100; Took No Crap from Republicans

[saltpoint]

On Sunday of this past weekend, poet Stanley Kunitz died at age 100 in his sleep.

He served in 2000 as our poet laureate and held keen views of the ethical ground on which public action is built.

Here is a brief excerpt of his view of the poet's role in national political life:

_ _ _ _ _

“The poet must continue to stand in an adversarial relationship. The most elementary of our adversarial relationships are in terms of the power of the state, which has never been so great in the history of mankind. That power can destroy us all. It’s a terrible power to entrust to people who are not spiritually great, that’s all there is to it. You see it in the callousness, self-aggrandizement, insensitivity to the plight of the poor. In the general level of ethical conduct, the state has become an abomination. The Vietnam war--I was very angry about that, as I am about our policy in Nicaragua--all such difficulties lead one to feel more and more separated from the heads of state and the conduct of the state. A poet can’t change anything, but the poet can demonstrate the power of the solitary conscience. It’s an example. Any gain, even the conquest of a small part of oneself, is a triumph.”

--Stanley Kunitz, interview in the Washington Post, May 12, 1987
_ _ _ _ _

Good bye Stanley. And thank you.