SOURCE: "'Imagine Wrestling with an Angel': An Interview with Stanley Kunitz," in Salmagundi, No. 22/23, Spring/Summer, 1973, pp. 71-83.

In the following interview, which is an edited transcript of a public interview conducted at Skidmore College in April, 1972, Kunitz discusses, among other subjects, trends in contemporary poetry, the process of composing verse, the function of poetry, the work of up-and-coming poets, his influences, and the practice of labeling poets.

[Boyers]: Whenever I go and visit people who are interested in poetry, there seems to be constant reference to Stanley Kunitz as the "poets' poet." Have you heard yourself described in this way? What do you think these people mean?

[Kunitz]: When it was said of Spenser, it was meant to be a compliment. Nowadays it would depend on the inflection. I'm a bit leery of it.

I was wondering if the fact that people speak of you in these...