Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total.

He grew up on an estate of 40 acres (16 ha) called Burr Oaks, since partitioned into hundreds of residential lots.

He published a volume of poetry called Burr Oaks in 1947, and many of his poems reflect his youth in rural America.

After serving as private tutor to the son of King Prajadhipok of Siam in 1931–1932, Eberhart pursued graduate study for a year at Harvard University.

Eberhart wrote a piece published in the September 2, 1956, New York Times Book Review entitled "West Coast Rhythms" that helped call national attention to the Beat generation, and especially to Allen Ginsberg as the author of Howl, which he called "the most remarkable poem of the young group.

[9] President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Eberhart a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the National Cultural Centre in 1959.

Also, Eberhart was Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress for 1959–61 and was awarded a Bollingen Prize in 1962.

In her memoir, Poetic License, Eberhart's daughter Gretchen Cherington accused him of sexual abuse.