Jarrell, Randall
Jarrell, Randall (1914–65),American poet, novelist, critic, and writer for children. Reviewing Jarrell's Selected Poems (1955), Karl Shapiro remarked that the book's subtitle should be ‘Hansel and Gretel in America’. Jarrell's fairy‐tale poetry blends advocacy for children with an intense interest in psychoanalysis. The title of his 1951 collection The Seven‐League Crutches evokes the difficulty of ‘learning from tales' (‘The Märchen’, 1948) in a post‐war world where wishing no longer does much good. Jarrell's poems update tales such as Andersen's ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘La Belle au Bois Dormant’ (‘Sleeping Beauty’), and ‘Cinderella’, and the Grimms' tale ‘The Juniper Tree’ plays a crucial role in his only novel,...
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