For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen

Harold Hart Crane was born on the 21st July 1899 in Garrettsville, Ohio. Crane was drawn to literature at an early age, becoming a voracious reader and pursuing self-education rather than attach himself to a more formal college education, although he did attend East High School in 1913. His developing love of poetry was nurtured with the works of the English Romantics and the French Symbolists, as well as near contemporary American poets. Much of his youth was spent shuttling between Cleveland and New York as his parents’ marriage descended into continuing conflict before they separated with Crane still in his teens. Shortly after Crane attempted to enlist in the U S Military but was rejected for being a minor. His first published poem also came in 1917 with ‘C33’ and its reference to the cell number that Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in. Crane now centred more of his time in New York and immersed himself in the vibrant artistic scene of Greenwich Village. Alongside this he dabbled in various jobs to support himself, including copywriting and work in a munitions factory, as he continued to develop his ambitions for a poetic career. His early work was already being noticed for its lush and rich use of words and by the time ‘White Buildings’ was published in 1926 he was being critically acclaimed. Despite this success his personal life was troubled. It was both nourishing his work and fuelling complex patterns of despair as he sought to establish his identity. In a time when homosexuality was openly condemned his openly gay attitude sat uneasily as he pursued relationships that were both intense and emotionally fraught. His acclaimed work ‘The Bridge’ in 1930 was both ambitious and a foundation stone for new American poetry. Against this his battles with depression and alcoholism were being lost. Hart Crane died on the 27th April 1932 by jumping from the deck of a steamship into the Gulf of Mexico upon his return to the United States from Mexico. He was 32.