I started out both clever and stupid

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Moving to North Caldwell, New Jersey

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I started out both clever and stupid

Richard Wilbur Poet

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1. My artistic parents		3541	05:00
2. I started out both clever and stupid		948	00:51
3. Moving to North Caldwell, New Jersey		620	01:45
4. A lonely childhood	1	676	01:33
5. Still an outsider		558	00:57
6. The Death Club		486	02:04
7. Academic excellence at Montclair High School		478	02:07
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9. Finding the right girl for me		899	03:29
10. Amherst College: a good place for poets		676	03:03

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I was in the apartment and studio on Haven Avenue for just two years of my young life, and of course I remember nothing of it. What I have been told is that I used to sit out on the fire escape looking at the Hudson River and unerringly recognise the Albany night boat when it went by. The other thing - that of course means that I was very clever as a child - the other thing was that I went into my father's studio one day and ate a quantity of his paints and became very sick. So, as you can see, I started out both clever and stupid.

Acclaimed US poet Richard Wilbur (1921-2017) published many books and was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He was less well known for creating a musical version of Voltaire's “Candide” with Bernstein and Hellman which is still produced throughout the world today.

Title: I started out both clever and stupid

Listeners: David Sofield

David Sofield is the Samuel Williston Professor of English at Amherst College, where he has taught the reading and writing of poetry since 1965. He is the co-editor and a contributor to Under Criticism (1998) and the author of a book of poems, Light Disguise (2003).

Tags: Haven Avenue, Hudson River

Duration: 51 seconds

Date story recorded: April 2005

Date story went live: 24 January 2008