A Napoleonic Encore

By Tappan Wilder (son of the poet)

Amos Parker Wilder and his wife Isabella Thornton Niven had five children. One became a scientist (zoology) and four turned out to be writers. The skills practiced by these four included:  fiction (2), poetry (2), criticism & essays (2), drama (1), theology (1), translation  (1).

As our salute to World Poetry Day we honor Amos Niven Wilder (1895-1993), a poet, theologian and literary critic and eldest of the five Wilder siblings. Winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets (1923 ) and the Golden Rose  of the New England Poetry Club (1943), Amos’s verse is particularly identified with battlefield  and religious themes, the former tracked to his military service in World War I and the latter to his calling as ordained clergy.  

For the celebration today we have chosen an Amos Wilder poem which stands (slightly) apart from his usual fare. Not of course that Napoleon and The Storm at Sea (1975) doesn’t raise a host of questions about the nature and destiny of civilization mirrored in a poetic  encounter with one of the most famous game-changers in human history, and a figure, moreover, not unfamiliar with the field of battle. 

 All Hail To World Poetry Day!