Interview with Harold Bloom, May 5, 1980

Partial Transcript: The following is an unrehearsed interview with Professor Harold Bloom of Yale University for the Robert Penn Warren Oral History Project of the University of Kentucky Library.

Segment Synopsis: Bloom recalls his first significant conversation with Warren in the early 1960s. A disagreement resulted from this initial exchange. Bloom's thoughts of the earlier poetry of Warren are examined. It is also found that initially, Bloom preferred Warren's novels to his poetry.

Keywords: Acquaintances; Arguments; Colleagues; Conversations; Poetry; Redding (Conn.); Robert Penn Warren; Yale University

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Professors

Partial Transcript: Did you discover upon the development of your acquaintance any particular literary--fundamental literary disparities...

Segment Synopsis: Bloom discusses the personal and literary differences between himself, Warren, and their contemporaries. The evolution of Warren's poetic style is noted by Bloom as well. Correspondence between the colleagues is also documented.

Keywords: Cleanth Brooks; Culture; Ideology; Literary criticism; Robert Penn Warren; The Anxiety of Influence (Book); Traditions; Yale University

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry; Romanticism

Partial Transcript: Uh, in other words perhaps you've moved closer to Warren's poetry and further away from his fiction, would you say?

Segment Synopsis: Bloom gives his opinions on the changing dynamics of Warren's recent poetry. Warren is compared to fellow poet Wallace Stevens, in the sense that the quality of his work improved with age. The apparent decline of Warren's novels (according to Bloom) is elaborated upon.

Keywords: A Place To Come To (Book); Evolution; Fiction; Poetry; Robert Penn Warren; Wallace Stevens

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship

Partial Transcript: Have you by any chance bickered over Emerson?

Segment Synopsis: Bloom relays Warren's opinions on Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his style in relation to the Transcendentalists. Warren is also compared to writers of Bloom's generation as well. Bloom examines the notion that Warren's contemporaries (such as Ransom) have influenced his dislike for Emerson's Abstractionist writing. Bloom also explores the impact of Emerson upon American writers.

Keywords: A. R. Ammons; Abstractionism; Herman Melville; James Wright; John Crowe Ransom; John Hollander; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Robert Penn Warren; Transcendentalists

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry

Partial Transcript: How could you describe Warren's poetic aesthetic?

Segment Synopsis: Bloom explores the notion of Warren's poetry as Southern. Warren's past defense of literary regionalism is discussed. Bloom's opinions on the influence of geography upon writing is examined. An example of a uniquely Southern poet living in upstate New York is given to deny this claim.

Keywords: A. R. Ammons; Geography; Hart Crane; Ideology; Literary regionalism; Moral judgement; Paradoxes; Robert Penn Warren; Theology; Wallace Stevens

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry; Romanticism

Partial Transcript: Do you think it's perhaps th--do you think perhaps that Warren has grown away from this framework of a historical tradition...

Segment Synopsis: Bloom elaborates upon the notion that Warren's poetry has changed in recent years into work of a higher quality. Warren's personality in life is compared to that of the voice he uses in poetry. According to Bloom, there now seems to be a lack of Southern influence in Warren's poetry in the 1960s and 1970s. Bloom describes the specific works that demonstrate the change in Warren's poetry. The nature and identity of Warren's new poetry is also characterized. Freud's ideals are applied to Warren's poetry as well.

Keywords: Fierce; History; Identity; Internalized difficulty; Now and then; Robert Penn Warren; Self-realization; Sigmund Freud; Subtle; Traditions; Uncompromising; Violent imagination

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry

Partial Transcript: Have you felt that the Warren his--in his poetry and his other writings is the same Robert Penn Warren you've known as a friend?

Segment Synopsis: Warren as a person is compared to Warren as a writer. Bloom declares that he knows Warren as a poet better at the moment. He compares this dynamic to his relationship with writer A. R. Ammons, who he knows on a more personal level. Bloom also comments on the pragmatism in Warren's poetry, and he is compared to other poets in this regard. Warren is also described in relation to Wallace Stevens briefly.

Keywords: A. R. Ammons; Admiration; Robert Penn Warren; Theorist; Versatility; Wallace Stevens

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry

Partial Transcript: Do you think also that there are perhaps any unchanging ideals that permeate Warren's poetry...

Segment Synopsis: Recurring motifs in Warren's work throughout his literary career are discussed. An example of birds is given by Bloom. A common theme is found to be a hidden opposition to Transcendentalism. Where this tendency could have originated is also explored.

Keywords: Anti-transcendentalism; Birds; Metaphysical; Robert Penn Warren; W. B. Yeats

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry

Partial Transcript: You've commented on points of difference between yourself and Robert Penn Warren.

Segment Synopsis: Bloom reveals which authors both he and Warren have admiration for. Mostly, it is found that Warren and Bloom do not share appreciation for the same authors. During a typical conversation, contemporary writers, Warren's own poetry, and cultural dynamics are common topics of discussion among the two friends.

Keywords: John Ashberry; John Hollander; Mark Strand; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Robert Penn Warren; T. S. Eliot

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship

Partial Transcript: Or the relation between past and present in general.

Segment Synopsis: Bloom explains the shared interest of time with Warren. The views of Warren on the subject are compared to Bloom's own opinions. Bloom also analyzes Warren's interpretation of time in a fairly recent poem. Emerson's later view on time is found to be similar to the recent position of Warren.

Keywords: Blackberry Winter (Book); Consciousness; Dialectical; Force; History; Imminent; Past; Present; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Robert Penn Warren

Subjects: American literature--20th century; Friendship; Poetry; Time