Who is Kenneth Koch

Kenneth Koch ( KOHK; 27 February 1925 – 6 July 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets including Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery that eschewed contemporary introspective poetry in favor of an exuberant, cosmopolitan style that drew major inspiration from travel, painting, and music.

Life

Koch (pronounced coke) was born Jay Kenneth Koch in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began writing poetry at an early age, discovering the work of Shelley and Keats in his teenage years. At the age of 18, he served in WWII as a U.S. Army infantryman in the Philippines.

After his service, he attended Harvard University, where he met...
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Kenneth Koch Poems

  • On The Great Atlantic Rainway
    I set forth one misted white day of June
    Beneath the great Atlantic rainway, and heard:
    â??Honestly you smite worlds of truth, but
    Lose your own trains of thought, like a pigeon. ...
  • Mountain
    Nothing's moving I don't see anybody
    And I know that it's not a trick
    There really is nothing moving there
    And there aren't any people. It is the very utmost top ...
  • The History Of Jazz
    I

    The leaves of blue came drifting down.
    In the corner Madeleine Reierbacher was reading Lorna Doone. ...
  • The Brassiere Factory
    Is the governor falling
    From a great height?
    Arm in arm we fled the brassiere factory,
    The motion-boat stayed on the shore! ...
  • Talking To Patrizia
    Patrizia doesn't want to
    Talk about love she
    Says she just
    Wants to make ...
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Top 10 most used topics by Kenneth Koch

I Love You 11 Love 11 Life 10 Sun 9 Time 9 Person 8 Away 8 Home 7 People 7 Great 7


Kenneth Koch Quotes

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Comments about Kenneth Koch

Agitarga: it is 12:10 in new york and i am wondering if i will finish this in time to meet norman for lunch ah lunch! i think i am going crazy what with my terrible hangover and the weekend coming up at excitement-prone kenneth koch's
Agitarga: it is 12:10 in new york and i am wondering if i will finish this in time to meet norman for lunch ah lunch! i think i am going crazy what with my terrible hangover and the weekend coming up at excitement-prone kenneth koch's
Uunclefreud: it is 12:10 in new york and i am wondering if i will finish this in time to meet norman for lunch ah lunch! i think i am going crazy what with my terrible hangover and the weekend coming up at excitement-prone kenneth koch's
K0l0b00k: it is 12:10 in new york and i am wondering if i will finish this in time to meet norman for lunch ah lunch! i think i am going crazy what with my terrible hangover and the weekend coming up at excitement-prone kenneth koch's
Darrellepp: zones by kenneth koch, read by me:
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Poem of the day

Ernest Dowson Poem
The Sea-Change
 by Ernest Dowson

Where river and ocean meet in a great tempestuous
frown,
Beyond the bar, where on the dunes the white-
capped rollers break;
Above, one windmill stands forlorn on the arid,
grassy down:
I will set my sail on a stormy day and cross the
bar and seek
...

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