Brevity, wit, wisdom
Harvard celebrated its top-ranked seniors Tuesday at the 222nd Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises. The first lesson of the day for the 167 near-graduates came early: When it rains, mortarboards aren’t as useful as umbrellas. Inside Sanders Theatre, surrounded by parents and friends, the PBK seniors took in other lessons. This year’s ceremonial poet and orator were in agreement on two, perhaps: In brevity is wit. And the world needs help. Both brevity and wit came in the person of PBK poet Kay Ryan, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, whose poems are typically distilled to 20 lines or fewer — “packed,” said one critic, “with music and meaning.” The two-time Poet Laureate of the United States wished out loud that she could have become a different poet before the ceremony — “somebody more long-winded,” perhaps, as befitting the occasion. Instead, she strung together 12 of her compact poems “into something I...