versifier

He was a gifted versifier — even his harshest critics grant that at least — accomplished in just about every poetic form, and he was a formidable linguist.

A much less elegant truism can be traced back to hokey versifier Edgar A. Guest: “It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home.”

“If you wish to be a versifier,” she answered, whirlpooling her wine, “very possible. If you are a true artist”—she schwurked wine round her mouth—“absolutely never. If you are not truthful to the world about who and what you are, your art will stink of falsenesses.”

By age 14, he had decided to become a poet, inspired after a conversation with a fellow teen versifier who declared, “It is my profession.”

The U.S. poet laureate in 1987-88, Wilbur was often cited as an heir to Robert Frost and other New England writers and was the rare versifier to enjoy a following beyond the poetry community.