Introduction
Robert Lowell is one of the most prominent poets of America after World War Two. He is called the father of the confessional poetry. Lowell had led a depressive and turbulent life. He had spent most of his time treated as a mental patient. Being a heavy drunkard he took refuge in writing which he also took as means of earning a living. He married thrice and led a disturbed life. The literary figures who influenced his work included Tate, Ransom, Robert Frost, Browning, Hawthorne and Melville. His literary fame came with the winning of awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Harriet Monroe Poetry Award and the Guinness Poetry Award. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief sketch of the poet. I intend to discuss the genre in which Lowell has excelled the most. I would also like to discuss his literary style and common themes. Towards the end I will discuss the views of other literary figures about his poetry.
In an online article âContemporary Literary Criticismâ (2009) it is stated that Lowell was born in 1917 in the family of intellectuals that included prominent names such as poet and critic James Russell Lowell and the poet Amy Lowell. He began his writing career in school days where he was taught by the poet Richard Eberhart. He continued to write throughout his life and accepted it as a mean to earn a livelihood. He died in 1977 and left some unfinished work behind.
Literary Genre
In Robert Lowellâs book, Jeffrey Meyers (1988) believes that Lowellâs reputation as a literary figure developed in four stages. His fame as a poet reached its height when he received the Pulitzer Prize for âLord Wearyâs Castleâ in 1947. He won the National Book award in 1960 after releasing the work âLife Studies.â The award confirmed and further helped him develop his reputation as a poet. He influenced many future poets to write confessional poetry. In the mid 60s Lowell became prominent with his protest against the Vietnam War. He marched with Norman Mailer towards the Pentagon and campaigned with Senator Eugene McCarthy. He also refused to attend the White House Art Festival. These activities made him a notable person and in 1970s when he was producing literary work more in quantity rather than in quality, he was already known as a celebrity and a great poet of his time. His prominent literary works include âLand of Unlikenessâ (1944), âLord Wearyâs Castleâ (1946), âThe Mills of the Kavanaughsâ (1949), âLife Studiesâ (1959), and âThe Dolphinâ (1973).
Lowell has also written for theatre. His trio of plays titled âThe Old Gloryâ was based on the stories by Nathanial Hawthorne and Melville. Lowell accepted the fact that he used the stage to talk about his political views. He said in an interview âI think what I have written is almost tame compared to what has happened…Weâve just had one of the most disastrous wars we have ever fought, in Vietnam, and one of the most disastrous Presidents who has ever served, Nixon (Pg. 6).â
Lowell has also translated the works from Latin and Greek languages. In doing so he stated that he aimed to âbring into English something that didnât exist in English beforeâ and to discover what English language lacked (Pg. 6).
Style
An online article, âContemporary Literary Criticismâ, (2009) states that Lowellâs early poetic style was inspired by literary masters such as Tate and Ransom. His early poetry is a reflection of lots of religious symbols and motifs. This is evident in his books âThe Land of Unlikenessâ and âLord Wearyâs Castle.â His collection of poems âThe Mills of the Kavanaughsâ was written under the influence of Robert Frost and Robert Browning. As such we see dramatic monologues, obscure symbolism, verse translations and rhetoric. This experiment is indicative of Lowellâs search for new poetic form. His collection âLife Studiesâ is called a major breakthrough from being formal to being personal. The poems in this collection are based on his own life experiences. In these poems the influence of William Carlos William becomes prominent with the use of free verse and colloquial tone. The same confessional mood about his personal experiences is also evident in âFor the Union Deadâ (Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2009).
Lowell has also experimented with writing loose translations of work by Homer, Sappho, Rainer Maria Rilke, Francios Villon and Baudelaire. Epic style has been adopted in the âWalking Early Sunday Morning.â The poems have been written as âunrhymed sonnets loosely structured around the four seasons of the year.â The poems are an amalgamation of historical observations, journal entries, news and private thoughts. The same style of unrhymed sonnets was continued in âFor Lizzie and Harrietâ, âHistoryâ and âThe Dolphin.â These poems also carry verse portraits of historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Juvenal and Robespierre. However in the last volume âDay By Dayâ Lowell has left the unrhymed sonnet style and gone back to the old style found in the âLife Studiesâ (Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2009).
His posthumous publication âCollected Proseâ consisted of autobiographical sketches, interviews and essays on various poets and their works. The work was unfinished (Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2009).
Common Themes
Robert Lowell became a very prominent poet of the 60s decade. The above mentioned article (2009) states that Lowellâs initial poems dealt with the themes related to Christianity and history. Poems such as in âThe Land of Unlikenessâ and âLord Wearyâs Castleâ are an example in this regard. The âQuacker Graveyard in Nantucketâ is an elegy as well as a criticism on corruption and loss of innocence in America.
According to Jay Martin (in Axelrodâs and Deeseâs book) (1993) he was preoccupied with death and which is reflected in most of his poems. Death, nothingness, loss and mourning are the most prominent themes found in his poetry. Basically the childhood experiences of grief related to his parentsâ relationship with each other and with himself led him to psychiatrists who declared him a âschizophrenicâ. Lowell began to write about these experiences in his poetry. His autobiographical poem âNight Sweatâ is an example of his life under the shadow of death. He writes âAlways inside me is the child who died/ Always inside me is his will to die.â The poem is a reflection of his relationship with death. His mental condition was a subject of gossip in the literary circles. To him poetry appeared as a substitute to mother and he took elegiac themes more often in his poetry. His poem âIn Memory of Arthur Winslowâ is an elegy about his maternal grandfather whom he did not admire but his mother did. Another short poem âMary Winslowâ is about his motherâs relative who was very demanding in her life. The poem describes the scene just after her death when âthe body cools.â The poet compares and criticizes the woman stating that a person so demanding in life looked ridiculous after death. âMy Last Afternoon with Uncle Devereux Winslowâ is another elegy about his motherâs brother who died at a young age. The poem is mixed with images of death and a young boyâs love for his grandfather. He talks about his Uncle who was âclosing camp for the winterâ and âUncle Devereux would blend to âŠone color.â An online article (2009) titled âContemporary Literary Criticismâ states that â91 Revere Streetâ is another example of his chaotic childhood.
Criticism
Steven Gould Axelrod (1993) comments about Lowell in the following words: âone knows from every word that Lowell ever wrote that poetry was central to his existence: âNothing is real until set down in words.â W. H. Auden in his essay on modern American verse defines American poetry as âindividualistic, democratic and Puritanâ. On the other hand the British poetry has been defined as âmore traditional, inhibiting a universe with a familiar faceâ. In this back ground Auden states that âThe only Americans I can possibly imagine as British are minor poets with a turn for light verse like Lowell and Holmes; and the only British poets who could conceivably have been American are eccentrics such like Blake and Hopkins.â Bruce Michelson (1983) comments about Lowellâs poetry in the following words: âUnless we can locate clear, coherent, valid principles at the center of his art, all efforts to speak of Lowell in the usual ways, all discussions of alienation, dynamic ambivalence, apostasy, Calvinism, falling empires and played-out bloodlines may evaporate in time. And we may, consequently, lose not only our sense of Lowell but of others, “confessional” and otherwise, who have worked in the modes he pioneered.â
To conclude Robert Lowell has proved himself as a notable poet of the post World War II era. He has given a new direction to the American poetry with the introduction of confessional poetry that has opened way for the future poets to talk about their personal experiences in poetry. Although he has left some unfinished work due to his death he is still remembered as a great poet of American literature.
References
Axelrod, S. G. Deese, H. âRobert Lowell, Essays on the Poetryâ, Cambridge University Press, (1993).Pg. 26-51.
“Lowell, R. âIntroduction: Contemporary Literary Criticismâ. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 124. Gale Cengage, (2000). Web.
Lowell, R., Meyers, J. âRobert Lowell, interviews and memoirsâ, University of Michigan Press, (1988). Pg. 1-6.
Michelson, B. âLowell Versus Lowellâ, The Virginia Quarterly Review. (1983). Pg. 22-39. Web.