American poet who was a National Book Award winner and a two-time U.S. Poet Laureate. His poetry collections include Intellectual Things, The Testing-Tree, Passport to the War, and The Coat without a Seam.
At fifteen years old, he moved out of his mother's house and worked as a butcher's assistant. He later graduated from Harvard with a degree in English.
His father's suicide greatly affected his literary development.
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, he was the youngest son of Yetta Jasspon and Solomon Kunitz. He was married three times. His third wife, Elise Asher, was an Artist and fellow poet.
Critics have noted the influence of the psychological theories of Carl Jung upon Kunitz's literary work.
