SOURCE: Brooks, Cleanth. “John Crowe Ransom: As I Remember Him.” The American Scholar 58 (spring 1989): 211-33.

In the following essay, Brooks recollects his personal friendship with Ransom and examines several of his poems that provide insight into his life.

Every poet to some degree reveals himself in his poetry, from the most frantic “confessional” poet who makes it a point of honor to tell all, on to the most reserved of our classical poets who prefer to keep their personal affairs to themselves. John Crowe Ransom was not interested in providing confessions, but three of his poems in particular served to make revelations of his personal life. “Tom, Tom the Piper's Son” is a good example. (I quote here the original title and text, which I prefer to the new title and revised text that he printed in his Selected Poems in 1974.)

Grim in my little black coat as...