m15

**David Ignatow ** ||< ==Biography== David Ignatow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 7, 1914. He spent most of his life in New York, and died in East Hampton on November 17, 1997, at the age of 83. Before committing fully to poetry, Ignatow was a businessman. During his career, he was the editor of two major poetry magazines (//American Poetry Review// and //The Nation),// and published sixteen volumes of poetry. He also published three collections of prose. He was the president of the Poetry Society of America from 1980 to 1984. Three years later, he became the official poet-in-residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.
 * = 

He taught as a professor at several colleges, most notably Columbia University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas, and New York University.

Ignatow received several prestigious awards for his work, including the Bollingen Prize in 1977, two Guggenheim fellowhips, the Wallace Stevens fellowship from Yale University, the Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, the Poetry Society of America's Shelly Memorial Award, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He recieved several other smaller accomplishments as well. ||

Poetry Links
 David Ignatow's narrative poem, "The Bagel", is a perfect example of his simple yet meaningful style of poetry. In this poem, he explains how people get too caught up in small details.
 * * [|"The Bagel"]
 * [|"For My Daughter"] ||~  ||
 * Explication of "The Bagel"**

When he writes, "I stopped to pick up the bagel / rolling away in the wind / annoyed with myself / ...", he explains how we can let little troubles anger us. Then, as he continues to write, "... annoyed with myself / for having dropped it / as if it were a portent / ...", he tells how people can be very superstitious when he mentions he was chasing after the bagel as if it were a portent, or omen. Then he explains how we often have good intentions but end up looking foolish, as he writes, "... / faster and faster it rolled / with me running after it / bent low, gritting my teeth / and I found myself doubled over / and rolling down the street / head over heels, one complete somersault / after another like a bagel / ...". After retrieving the bagel, Ignatow closes out the poem, "... / after another like a bagel / and strangely happy with myself."

The last line explains how people tend to be instantly gratified, even after acheiving a small task, such as picking up a bagel. The poem is entertaining, as Ignatow playfully mocks himself chasing after the bagel, but can also serve as a wholesome life lesson for those who get distracted too easily by minor details.
 * Sources**

"David Ignatow." Famous Poets and Poems. 8 Dec. 2008 < http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/david_ignatow >.

"David Ignatow." Poets.org. 8 Dec. 2008 < http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmpid/777 >.

"David Ignatow." Wikipedia. 8 Dec. 2008 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_ignatow >.

" David Ignatow ." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 8 Dec. 2008 < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282308/David-Ignatow >.