Benét, << beh NAY, >> William Rose (1886-1950), was an American poet, critic, and editor. He found material for some of his poems in American folklore and often used the ballad form. Benét won the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his autobiographical verse narrative The Dust Which Is God (1941).
Benét was born on Feb. 2, 1886, in New York City. His brother was the noted poet Stephen Vincent Benét. In 1923, William married the American poet Elinor Wylie (see Wylie, Elinor). After her death he edited her Collected Poems (1932) and Collected Prose (1933). In 1924, Benet helped found The Saturday Review of Literature (later The Saturday Review). Benét was the first editor of The Reader’s Encyclopedia (1948). He also wrote children’s literature. He died on May 4, 1950.
