Poet, short story writer, critic, and novelist, Conrad Aiken was born on August 5, 1889 in Savannah, Georgia. He had the misfortune of the ultimate tragedy befall him at a tender age, and this profoundly impacted his life and view of the world.

At the age of 11, Conrad Aiken’s father killed his mother, and then committed suicide. It was Conrad who found their bodies. Traumatized, young Aiken was sent to Massachusetts to live with an aunt. He was well taken care of there - educated in private schools, and then attended Harvard, where he was classmates and friends with T.S. Eliot. He graduated in 1912, and published his first poetry in 1914, called Earth Triumphant. He wrote and edited more than 50 books during his life, and in 1930 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his Selected Poems (1929).

He had an intense interest in psychoanalysis, and this is clearly reflected in his works. Throughout his poetry and fiction, he tried to explore the messages of his subconscious – he believed that understanding one’s own motivations was key to self-awareness. Deep, reflective, sensitive, and ponderous, the sound of his poetry has been likened to the music of Debussy, or the artwork of Whistler. He claimed that his greatest influences included Freud, Edgar Allen Poe, and William James.

Conrad Aiken led an illustrious life – he was married three times, and in his autobiographical novel, Ushant (1952), he speaks of his various affairs, marriages, attempted suicide and fear of insanity, like his father. He struggled with these issues throughout his life, and they informed all that he wrote. Silent Snow, Secret Snow is his short story about a young boy’s descent into madness. He was named Poetry Consultant (today’s equivalent to Poet Laureate) from 1950-1952. He enjoyed a longstanding friendship with poet Ezra Pound, and even his daughter, Joan Aiken, went into writing, becoming a children’s book author.

From 1962 onward, he moved back to Savannah, living right next door to the house of his childhood. He and his wife were active in literary and academic life in the community. Six months before his death, Governor Jimmy Carter made him Poet Laureate for the state of Georgia. Aiken had a marble bench erected next to his parents’ graves in Bonaventure Cemetery, engraved with two epitaphs: “Give my love to the world” and “Cosmos Mariner Destination Unknown.”

Conrad Aiken died in 1973, and he is buried in Bonaventure Cemetery. There is an historical marker in front of his house on 223 E. Oglethorpe Ave.

If you are interest in reading a fascinating 1963 interview with Aiken by the Paris Review, check out this pdf link: http://www.parisreview.com/media/4283_AIKEN.pdf .

All Lovely Things, by Conrad Aiken

All lovely things will have an ending,
All lovely things will fade and die,
And youth, that’s now so bravely spending,
Will beg a penny by and by.

Fine ladies soon are all forgotten,
And goldenrod is dust when dead,
The sweetest flesh and flowers are rotten
And cobwebs tent the brightest head.

Come back, true love! Sweet youth, return!-
But time goes on, and will, unheeding,
Though hands will reach, and eyes will yearn,
And the wild days set true hearts bleeding.

Come back, true love! Sweet youth, remain!-
But goldenrod and daisies wither,
And over them blows autumn rain,
They pass, they pass, and know not whither.

Join Us For The Great Slow Travel Gathering in Savannah, Georgia, on April 4, 5, and 6, 2008.

Terry, what an interesting piece about Conrad Aiken... such a tragic thing to happen to a young boy. I loved the poem too. Thank you!

I have another Conrad Aiken connection. Back in 1999 we did a family trip to England, ending in the southeast in the town of Rye. We stayed in a B&B called Jeakes House on a famous cobblestone street called Mermaid Street. This house was once owned by Conrad Aiken and he lived there on and off for some period of years.

The B&B looks much more upscale (and expensive) than I remember it from our stay, but I enjoyed the literary connection then... and even more now.

Kathy

An interesting article, indeed, Terry. It's quite understandable that two of his biggest influences were Freud and Poe. And how good of you to include the poem. A somewhat depressing aura, though, yes?

Ann

Quite so, Ann. In light of his early psychological trauma, I think it's quite a testimony to the fiber of Aiken that he not only became a literary success, but also that he so deftly turned such an enormous negative force in his life into something so sensitive and informative for the world to ponder. His gift.

Kathy, how neat!

teaberry,
Thanks again. I'll look for his home, grave & bench when I'm there. J.