America often knows the names but not the faces of its great poets. Now the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is introducing dozens of 20th-century poets to Washington visitors.
Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets opened Friday and runs through April. Curator David Ward says he wanted to open a poetry exhibit for years because it's a way America defined itself.
The show maps the evolution of language, from Walt Whitman's first example of free verse in Leaves of Grass. Later, Ezra Pound and others develop a unique American voice, separate from Europe. Other poets featured include Robert Frost, e.e. cummings and Allen Ginsberg.
