Babette Deutsch was born in New York on September 22, 1895, and lived there most of her life. She graduated from Barnard College with a bachelor's degree in 1917, and published her first volume of poetry, Banners, in 1919, beginning a literary career that continued for more than half a century. In 1921, she married Avraham Yarmolinsky, a scholar of European literature. She collaborated with Yarmolinsky on translations and anthologies of Russian and German authors.

Their partnership started with a translation of Alexander Blok's The Twelve in 1920, and continued with two anthologies, Modem Russian Poetry (1921) and Contemporary German Poetry (1923), and a translation of K. Chukovsky's Crocodile (1931). At the same time, Deutsch was establishing a reputation as a poet, publishing Honey Out of the Rock (1925), Fire for the Night (1930), Tales of Faraway Folk, 1952 (with Avraham Yarmolinsky) More Tales of Faraway Folk, 1963 (with Avraham Yarmolinsky) I Often Wish, 1966 and Epistle for...