WRITER

Richard Wilbur

1921 - 2017

Photo of Richard Wilbur

Icon of person Richard Wilbur

Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend Anthony Hecht, of the World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir to Robert Frost, translated the verse dramas of Moliere, Corneille, and Racine into rhymed English, collaborated with Leonard Bernstein as the lyricist for the opera Candide, and in his old age acted, particularly through his role in the annual West Chester University Poetry Conference, as a mentor to the younger poets of the New Formalist movement. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Richard Wilbur has received more than 295,212 page views. His biography is available in 24 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 23 in 2019). Richard Wilbur is the 6,328th most popular writer (down from 5,154th in 2019), the 11,410th most popular biography from United States (down from 7,962nd in 2019) and the 837th most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 300k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 41.84

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 24

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.40

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.00

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Poems
1957
Opposites
Poetry, English language, Synonyms and antonyms
A collection of humorous poems about the opposites of various items.
1973
Walking to sleep
American poetry
1969
Naval Science
Naval art and science, Military - General, Military Science
1978
The Pig in the Spigot
Vocabulary, Juvenile literature, Poetry
Rhyming text gives many examples of short words found within longer ones such as "pig" in "spigot" and "ant" in "pantry".
2000
Loudmouse
Mice, Fiction
1963

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Richard Wilbur ranks 6,328 out of 7,302. Before him are Wolf Blitzer, Samar Yazbek, Alyson Noël, Naomi Wolf, Henry Vaughan, and Tsai Chih-chung. After him are William Roscoe, Terry Southern, Stella Gibbons, Alberto Dines, Veronica Roth, and Bill Prady.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1921, Richard Wilbur ranks 442. Before him are Bobby Wanzer, Alan Hale Jr., Wayne C. Booth, Brian Moore, Bill Bright, and Muriel Pavlow. After him are Horace Gould, Andrew M. Gleason, Dinny Pails, Vivian Blaine, Art Clokey, and Kitty Kallen. Among people deceased in 2017, Richard Wilbur ranks 559. Before him are Steve Sumner, William H. Gass, Rhodri Morgan, Fernand Decanali, Yash Pal, and Mario Tullio Montano. After him are Benjamin Whitrow, John B. Anderson, Jim Nabors, Howard Hodgkin, George Steele, and Carlos Gómez.

Others Born in 1921

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Others Deceased in 2017

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Richard Wilbur ranks 11,410 out of 20,380. Before him are Scoot McNairy (1977), Ghostface Killah (1970), Bob Love (1942), James Barbour (1775), Shari Headley (1964), and Charles Rocket (1949). After him are William Demarest (1892), Fairuza Balk (1974), Jim "Bad News" Barnes (1941), Liz Cheney (1966), Angie Everhart (1969), and Jonathan Dayton (1760).

Others born in United States

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Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Richard Wilbur ranks 837. Before him are Jean Stafford (1915), Sandra Cisneros (1954), Bill Bright (1921), Christina Hoff Sommers (1950), Alyson Noël (1965), and Naomi Wolf (1962). After him are Terry Southern (1924), Veronica Roth (1988), Bill Prady (1960), Pat Conroy (1945), Arthur Kopit (1937), and Elizabeth Moon (1945).

American born Writers

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