He was born in Olean, New York, to Sigmund and Rebecca Lax and converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1943. Lax attended Columbia University, in New York City, where he studied with the poet and critic Mark Van Doren. Lax graduated in 1938. On leaving school, he worked for several mainstream magazines before he began his process of moving into a simple life. An expert juggler, he worked in a circus for some time during his initial years of wandering.

Lax moved back to Olean in 2000 after living abroad for more than 30 years. He died in his hometown at age 84.

Robert Lax's most famous book, Circus Of The Sun, a meditation on creation, was heralded by the New York Times as "perhaps the greatest English language poem of this century".

In his later poetry, Lax concentrated on simplicity and on making the most out of the fewest components. This makes him one of the patron saints of literary minimalism. Some of his poems can go on for several pages using no more than four words and a punctuation mark. In some instances, Lax uses repetition of a few words either as a device for instilling a sense of serenity or to create a sense of surprise in the reader when a change in the pattern occurs. Despite the limited vocabulary of his poems, some create narratives, while others seem more like examples for use in meditative practice or even spiritual discipline. A good example of this abstract technique can be seen in the following untitled work, first published in New Poems (1960):

one bird

two birds

one bird

two birds

two birds

one bird

two birds

one bird

one bird

two birds

one bird

two birds

two birds

one bird

two birds

one bird

one

Jerusalem, from "Love had a Compass"

reading of lovely Jerusalem,

lovely, ruined Jerusalem.

we are brought to the port

where the boats in line are

and the high tower on the hill

and the prows starting again

into the mist.

for we must seek

by going down,

down into the city

for our song.

deep into the city

for our peace.

for it is there

that peace lies

folded

like a pool.

there we shall seek:

it is from there

she'll flower.

for lovely, ruined Jerusalem,

lovely, sad Jerusalem

lies furled

under the cities

of light.

for we are only

going down,

only descending

by this song

to where the cities

gleam in darkness,

or curled like roots

sit waiting

at the undiscovered pool.

what pressure

thrusts us as

as we descend?

pressure of

the city's singing,

pressure of

the song

she hath withheld.

hath long withheld.

for none

would hear

her.

St. Bonaventure University, near Olean, houses the main Robert Lax archives.

Books

• Sigrid Hauff: A Line in Three Circles. The Inner Biography of Robert Lax & A Comprehensive Catalog of His Works, BoD, Norderstedt, 2007, ISBN 978-3833484803