Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that the English language have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at individual poets who have shaped and influenced their craft and cement their place in our heritage. In this volume we look at the works of Edwin Arlington Robinson who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry three times including the very first ever awarded. Edwin Arlington Robinson was born on December 22, 1869 in Tide in Lincoln County, Maine. His childhood was described by him as ‘stark and unhappy’. His name was drawn out of a hat from a fellow vacationer from Arlington, Massachusetts when fellow holiday makers decided that his parents had waited long enough, at 6 months, to name him. It was a name he despised and reflects the station to which his parents had placed him; their great hope at his birth was for a girl to complement their two sons. His pessimistic mood followed him to adulthood and a doomed encounter with Emma Loehen Shepherd who encouraged his poetry. Edwin was thought too young to be her companion and so his elder, middle brother, Herman was assigned to her. It was a great blow to Edwin and during their marriage on February 12th 1890 he stayed home and wrote ‘Cortege’ In the fall of 1891 Edwin entered Harvard, taking classes in English, French and Shakespeare. He felt at ease with the Ivy League and made great efforts to be published in one of the Harvard literary journals. Indeed the Harvard Advocate published ‘Ballade Of A Ship’ but then his career appeared to stall. His father died and although he returned to Harvard for a second year it was to be his last but also the start of some life long friendships.. In 1893 he returned to Gardiner, Maine as the man of the household. Herman by this time had become an alcoholic, having suffered business failures, and now became estranged from Emma. Edwin began farming whilst he wrote and quickly developed a close relationship with Emma who had now moved back to Gardiner, after Herman’s death, with her children. Although he proposed twice he was rejected and in consequence moved to New York to start afresh. But it was a salutary experience. Although surrounded by artists he had little money and life was difficult. In 1896 he published his own book, “The Torrent And The Night Before”, paying 100 dollars for 500 copies. Edwin wanted it to be a surprise for his Mother but days before its arrival she died of diphtheria. His second volume, “The Children Of The Night”, had a wider circulation. At the behest of President Roosevelt, whose son was an avid admirer, he was given a job in 1905 at the New York Customs Office although it appears his real job was “to help American letters”. Either way his success began to widen and his influence proper. During the 1920s he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three separate occasions. In 1922 for “Collected Poems” again in 1925 for “The Man Who Died Twice” and finally in 1928 for “Tristram”. It was a great feat to be so highly honoured and recognized. During the last twenty years of his life he became a regular summer resident at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, where he became the object of fascination and deep affection for several women. But he never married. Edwin Arlington Robinson died of cancer on April 6, 1935 in the New York Hospital Many samples of our audiobooks are at our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee Complete volumes on many poets, themes and our other products can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores