Alan Dugan (12 February 1923 - 3 September 2003 / New York City, New York)
Alan Dugan was an American poet. His poetry is known for its plain and direct language, though it is supported by technical skill; it is generally trenchant and ironic in its criticism of American life and received ideas, and in its frank sensuality alike.
Dugan grew up in Jamaica, Queens in New York City and served in World War II, experiences which entered his poetry though he avoided simple autobiography or confession. He later lived in Truro on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where he directed the Fine Arts Work Center and was a mentor and teacher to younger poets for decades.
Dugan's work was published in successive numbered collections under the simple title ... more »
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Quotations
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''Nothing is plumb, level or square:
Alan Dugan (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Love Song: I and Thou (l. 1-3). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, e...
the studs are bowed, the joists
are shaky by nature,'' -
''bent nails
Alan Dugan (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Love Song: I and Thou (l. 5-7). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, e...
dance all over the surfacing
like maggots'' -
''I can nail my left palm
Alan Dugan (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Love Song: I and Thou (l. 27-31). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair,...
to the left-hand cross-piece but
I can't do everything myself.
I need a hand to nail the right,
a help, a love, a you, a wife.''
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I want to add this superb poem by Alan Dugan, but can't figure out how to do it....
Morning Song by Alan Dugan
Look, it's morning and a little water gurgles in the tap.
I wake up waiting, because it's Sunday, and turn twice more
than usual in bed, before I rise to cereal and comic strips.
I have risen to the morning danger and feel proud,
and after shaving off the night's disguises, after searching
close to the bone for blood, and finding only a little,
I shall walk out bravely into the daily accident.