Allen Tate
A cerebral American poet and critic who became a fierce defender of the agrarian Old South and a central architect of the New Criticism movement.
1899–1979 (age 80)·American poet, essayist, social commentator·Birthday: November 19·The Lost Generation
Biography
Allen Tate emerged from the American South with a modernist's ear and a traditionalist's heart. As a young man at Vanderbilt University, he was a key member of the Fugitives, a group of poets who sought a new Southern voice. This evolved into his role as a leading Southern Agrarian, co-authoring the manifesto 'I'll Take My Stand,' which argued passionately—and controversially—for a society rooted in land and tradition against industrial modernity. His poetry, most famously the brooding 'Ode to the Confederate Dead,' is marked by its formal rigor and philosophical tension. Later, as a critic and teacher, he was instrumental in shaping New Criticism, which insisted on close reading of the text itself. Tate's career was a lifelong, often combative, engagement with the questions of history, belief, and the role of the intellectual.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Allen was born in 1899, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Allen Was Born
The biggest hits of 1899
Allen's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1899Born
President: William McKinley
1904Started school
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Became a teenager
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1915Could drive
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Could vote
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Turned 21
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1929Turned 30
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1939Turned 40
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1949Turned 50
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1959Turned 60
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 70
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 80
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential poem 'Ode to the Confederate Dead' (1928), a complex meditation on history, memory, and modernity.
- Was a primary contributor to the Southern Agrarian manifesto 'I'll Take My Stand' (1930), defending agrarian values.
- Served as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1943 to 1944.
- His critical essays were foundational to the New Criticism school of literary analysis, emphasizing close textual reading.
Did You Know?
He was the first husband of the celebrated novelist Caroline Gordon, with whom he had a tumultuous literary partnership.
He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1950, an event that deeply influenced his later work.
He taught at several major universities, including Princeton and the University of Minnesota, mentoring a generation of writers and scholars.
He served as the editor of the prestigious literary journal 'The Sewanee Review' from 1944 to 1946.
“The point of being a poet is to be a nuisance.”
