Collected Poems

Mark Van Doren (1894-1972) was an American poet, writer, critic, and esteemed professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he influenced writers like Allen Ginsberg and Thomas Merton. He won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Collected Poems 1922–1938 and authored notable works including the verse play The Last Days of Lincoln (1959), critical studies like Shakespeare (1939) and The Poetry of John Dryden (1920), and over 20 volumes of poetry exploring themes of nature, family, and American life. His legacy includes the Mark Van Doren Award for teaching excellence at Columbia, established in 1962.