Born February 29, 1920 in New York, New York, Howard Nemerov was a poet and a past U.S. Poet Laureate.http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/222 His parents were wealthy and owned a fashion department store in New York City.http://www.skoool.ie/skoool/examcentre_sc.asp?id=4248 Their wealth granted Nemerov the ability to attend private schools, and study art at a young age. Nemerov graduated from Harvard in 1941.http://www.skoool.ie/skoool/examcentre_sc.asp?id=4248 Shortly after graduating, he became a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force and fought in World War II. He became a first lieutenant in 1945.http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/poets/nemerov.php Prior to the end of his enlistment, he married Margaret Russell; they had three sons together.http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/poets/nemerov.php

Howard Nemerov's first book of poems was The Image and the Law. The book was criticized by many. The New York Times thought it to be too derivative of earlier poets, such as T.S. Eliot.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-nemerov#bibliography Nemerov followed up by publishing a second book, Saturday Review which was praised, as it set him apart from most modern poets.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-nemerov#bibliography

After serving as a fighter pilot in World War II, Howard Nemerov became an instructor at Hamilton College in 1946. For 18 years starting in 1948, Nemerov was a literature faculty member at Bennington College in Vermont. He later became a professor of English at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-nemerov#career He also taught English at Washington University, University of Minnesota, and Hollins College. In 1976 he became the chancellor of the American Academy of Poets.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-nemerov#career

"But best of all are the words that shape the leaves – Orbicular, cordate, cleft and reniform – And their venation – palmate and parallel – And tips – acute, truncate, auriculate. Sufficiently provided, you may now, Go forth to the forests and the shady streets"— Learning the Trees http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/learning-the-trees/

"Away in lines like seaweed on the tide, Or blades of wheat leaning under the wind. The ripple and splash of rain on the blurred glass"— Storm Windows http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/storm-windows/

Poems and Novels from Howard Nemerov are featured in the following books.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-nemerov

• The Melodramatists
• Federigo: Or the Power of Love
• The Homecoming Game
• A Commodity of Dreams and Other Stories
• Stories, Fables and Other Diversions
• Figures of Thought: Speculations on the Meaning of Poetry and Other Essays