Pulitzer Prize–winning American poet, writer, and critic (1894–1972) who, as a professor of English at Columbia University, inspired a generation of writers including Thomas Merton, Robert Lax, John Berryman, Whittaker Chambers, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac. Autograph poem by Mark Van Doren, one page, 8.5 x 11, signed and inscribed at the conclusion, "Mark Van Doren, for Marshall E. Bean." Entitled "O World," the poem begins: "O world, my friend, my foe, / My deep dark stranger, doubtless / Unthinkable to Sorrow; / My many and my one, / Created when I was and doomed to go / Back into the same sun." In fine condition.Format: Autorgaph Poem