The older brother of Stephen Vincent Benet, he was educated at the Albany Academy and the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University. He graduated with a PhB in 1907. Benet married four times, his second wife being the author Elinor Wylie. His first book of verse, Merchants From Cathay, appeared in 1913 and was followed in 1914 by The Falconer of God and Other Poems. In 1924, he co-founded the Saturday Review of Literature with Christopher Morley, continuing to edit it until his death. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1942 for his book, The Dust Which is God. He compiled numerous anthologies including the Reader's Encyclopedia (1948). His other works include The Great White Wall (1916), Perpetual Light (1919), Moons of Grandeur (1920), Dry Points: Studies in Black and White (1921), Wild Goslings (1927), Starry Harness (1933), Golden Fleece (1935), Day of Deliverance (1940), The Stairway of Surprise (1947), The Spirit of the Scene (1951 Posth.) and The First Person Singular (1971 Posth.). |
