Mark Van Doren (1894 - 1972)
When Thomas Merton arrived at Columbia in1938, Mark Van Doren was probably preparing the last edits of his collected poems which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1940. From the beginning of their lifelong friendship Merton appreciated Van Doren for his teaching strengths. Merton had ventured into Van Doren’s class on Shakespeare by mistake and started to walk out; then changed his mind, a decision he never regretted. He writes that Van Doren taught “the best course I ever had at college.” Merton considered Van Doren in a semi-providential way, sent to Merton at a time when Merton’s flirtations with communism were germinating. Merton writes that “I was in danger of docilely accepting any kind of stupidity….”
The worst time to try to discern the winds of war is to live in the time of the calm before the storm. Merton, at this time, was unknown to the American public but, for himself, he clearly comprehended the falsity of two political movements. First, Merton decried Nazism1 but the America Merton lived in was predominantly isolationist. Second, Merton essentially viewed communism as Christianity without Christ. Nevertheless, America would have to embrace the second to defeat the first. In one of the many famous photos of the winners of World War II carving up Germany, Churchill and Roosevelt are smoking while Stalin, if he wasn’t smiling, would seem to be praying. Catholics at the time were actively praying for the conversion of Russia by reciting the Leonine Prayers after Mass.
Although the center of the friendship between Merton and Van Doren was literature Merton may have been influenced by Van Doren’s political leanings. Van Doren was a member of the Society for the Prevention of World War III and was involved in the failed efforts for nations to accept a world constitution.
The more mature Merton did not shy from giving praise; in a letter to Van Doren Merton wrote; “You always used your gifts to make people admire and understand poetry and good writing and truth."
In his autobiography Van Doren returned the compliment. Van Doren wrote that “I considered him [Merton] a charming friend, yet I remained unaware of the problems which his own account of them was to make famous.”
Merton considered Van Doren an educator rather than a teacher; he drew knowledge from his students rather than poring it in. Merton describes Van Doren’s pedagogy; he writes that “Most of the time he asked questions.” Van Doren expected answers and it was the student who was surprised. Merton continues; “You found yourself saying excellent things that you did not know you knew… He had “educed” [Merton’s quotations] them from you by his questions.” Van Duren said as much about himself; “I have always had the greatest respect for students. There is nothing I hate more than condescension—the attitude that they are inferior to you. I always assume they have good minds.”
After Merton entered Gethsemani he continued to seek Van Doren’s advice. Writing to him in the summer of 1952 Merton tells Van Doren he is sending a poem entitled “Elegy for the Monastery Barn.” When the poem was published in The Strange Islands in 1957 Merton dedicated the volume to the Van Dorens, Mark and his wife Dorothy. One can wonder about what editing Van Doren might have suggested.
Coincidentally Mark Van Doren died on December 10, 1972 four years to the day after Merton died. Still more coincidently, on December 10, 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Reflection
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” - Mark Van Doren
Response
What was the quality of a teacher you had that made that teacher a good teacher?
See the essay in this collection entitled “Merton - An Early Poem” published on November 21, 2023
Merton's comments about Mark Van Doren are very high praise for any teacher. What a disappointment it must have been for Mark Van Doran to see his son Charles caught up in the $64,000 Question scandal.