Lowell May Be Given Oxford's Poetry Chair

Robert T.S. Lowell Jr. '39, visiting professor of English, has been nominated for Oxford University's Chair of Poetry.

The chair, originally established for Matthew Arnold, is considered one of the greatest honors that can be given an English-speaking poet. It carries a five-year term.

Lowell would be the first native-born American to occupy the chair. Past Oxford Professors of Poetry have been W. H. Auden and C. Day Lewis. Norton Professor of English last year; Robert Graves is the chair's current occupant.

Since the Oxford Professor of Poetry is obligated to deliver only one lecture a semester, Lowell., if elected, would continue living in this country and working as a visiting professor at Harvard.

The Pulitzer-Prize winning poet has been the only person nominated so far for the Oxford post. It is expected that the English poet Edmund Blunden will also be put up for election, however. The choice will be made on Feb. 3.