William Jay Smith Poems

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William Jay Smith
William Jay Smith (born 1918) is an American poet. Born in Winnfield, Louisiana, Smith has studied at Washington University, Columbia University, and Cambridge University as a Rhodes scholar. He was appointed as Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now called Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress) from 1968 to 1970. A member of the Academy of Arts and Letters since 1975, Smith is noted for his translations for which he has garnered awards from the French Academy, Swedish Academy, and the Hungarian government. Smith is the author of ten collections of poetry of which two have been awarded the National Book Award. He presently lives in houses located in both Cummington, Massachusetts and Paris, France. He serves as the Professor Emeritus of English at Hollins University. Smith's play "The Straw Market" appeared in Blackbird: An Online Journal of

the floor and the ceiling
 
 
Winter and summer, whatever the weather,
The Floor and the Ceiling were happy together
In ... [read poem]
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