Poet Laureate Anthony Hecht was a poet with a mission.

Born into the cultural and political chaos that followed World War I, Hecht came of age in a world that again raged with war. A sensitive spirit, he was compelled to use his poetic ability to confront and allow readers to poetically confront the horrors of the twentieth century. The Second World War, in which he served, and the Holocaust appear repeatedly in his work.

Hecht was born in New York City. He was undistinguished in high school academics, but when he enrolled at Bard College he discovered the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and others. The former disinterested student suddenly was inspired, and he decided on an English major, with plans for a career as a poet. His parents were not pleased with this, and attempted to dissuade him. Theodore Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), was a family friend, and Hecht's parents implored the author to discourage their son from a writing career.

In 1944, the United States military made a decision for Hecht, when he was drafted and sent to fight in the European theater. The intense and shocking action he witnessed and in which he participated only encouraged his interest in writing about his experiences. The following April, he participated in the liberation of the Flossenburg concentration camp. The experience impacted Hecht in ways that would echo years later in this work. During an interview later in his life, he commented that "the place, the suffering, the prisoners' accounts were beyond comprehension. For years after I would wake shrieking."

Upon his return from the war, Hecht was even more determined to pursue his writing interests. Employing the G.I. Bill, he went to study with poet John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College, where he was able to network with some of the best known writers of the day. Later he enrolled in a master's program at Columbia University, where he received the Master of Arts. He continued to write and began a teaching career. However, in 1959 his war memories led to a nervous breakdown. Once he recovered, he resumed his teaching career, accepting positions at the University of Rochester, Smith College, Bard, Harvard, Georgetown, and Yale Universities.

He was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1982 and served until 1984. He was the recipient of a number of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Wallace Stevens Award, and the Frost Medal. Always keenly interested in poetic forms, Hecht is one of the inventors of the double dactyl, a form of light verse. Hecht died in 2004, in Washington, D.C. He was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Arts, which was accepted for him by his wife, Helen Hecht.