Louis Untermeyer

Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977) was a New York-born American poet, editor, critic, and anthologist. He left school as a teenager and worked in his family’s jewelry business, while developing as a writer and publishing poetry in the early twentieth century. His career grew alongside a changing American literary scene, and he became especially influential as a guide to poetry: his anthologies brought readers into contact with both established writers and newer voices. Among his best-known collections are Modern American Poetry and Modern British Poetry, books that he revised and expanded over time.

Untermeyer’s own writing ranges from lyric poems to humorous verse and literary criticism. In collections such as Challenge and May Night, he returned to love, nature, and the textures of ordinary life, often in clear, rhythmic language shaped by traditional forms. He also had a gift for wit, reflected in his work on comic poetry and in anthologies such as A Treasury of Laughter. His enduring contribution lies partly in this combination of poet and attentive reader: he made poetry approachable without narrowing its range, and helped generations of readers discover writers beyond their usual horizons. Explore his poems and anthologies here to encounter both his own voice and the wider company of poets he championed.