Robert lowell 1917 1977 robert traill spence lowell iv march 1, 1917 september 12, 1977 was an american poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. This is the most elegiac book of one of our great elegists. He is also a playwright and the author of a book of imitations. Although not always successful, robert lowells imitations offers us the best set of translations of european poets in practically a decade. Robert traill spence lowell iv was an american poet.
As such the papers include heavily revised drafts of manuscripts, galleys, and page proofs for notebook 1970, the dolphin 1973, for lizzie and harriet 1973, history 1973, and day by day 1977. Convert finding aid to pdf view as ead document hide request. Imitations is, so far as i know, the only book of its kind in literature. Collected prose, edited and introduced by robert giroux, farrar, straus. Not quite translationsyet something much more, much richer, than mere tributes to their original versionsthe poems in imitations reflect lowells concept.
With life studies, his third book, he found the intense, highly personal voice that made him the foremost american poet of his generation. Among his relatives were james russell lowell, percival lowell and amy lowell. Until the wristwatch is taken from the wrist t jlo read robert lowell s last book, day by day, published shortly before his death in 1977, is to accompany the poet on a valedictory retrospective of his life and work. Robert lowell was born in 1917 into one of bostons oldest and most prominent families. What has never suffered in esteem is this collection, imitations, the most influencial of its type since ezra pounds translations. In the april 2006 issue of poetry, editor christian wiman offers 29 translations of poems from around the globe. Because robert lowells poem hawthorne focuses on puritan new england, both as a setting and a subject, and shows the dark side of human nature, and hawthorne as the alienated artist with a definite place in american literature, it is a most appropriate conclusion for a teaching unit on hawthorne.
September 1977 in new york city war ein usamerikanischer dichter. Lowell followed life studies with imitations 1961, a volume of loose. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this robert lowell study guide and get instant. Robert lowell 191777 was the renowned and controversial author of many books of poetry, including day by day fsg, 1977, for the union dead fsg, 1964, and. Until the wristwatch is taken from the wrist t jlo read robert lowells last book, day by day, published shortly before his death in 1977, is to accompany the poet on a valedictory retrospective of his life and work. Life studies is the fourth book of poems by robert lowell. The prevalent theme, certainly in the opening sections, is the fundamental lowellian one of temporality of time and the grindstone and the knife of god. Lowell, robert article about lowell, robert by the free. May 05, 2018 nevertheless, lowell found a way to put these to good use, too.
He attended harvard college for two years before transferring to kenyon college, where he studied poetry under john crowe ransom and received an undergraduate degree in 1940. Helen vendler called life studies lowells most original book. Robert lowells own reaction, we will see, was quite different. Although i wanted some more detail in places i seem to always feel this way after reading a biography and perhaps it is an unfair critique, i think hamilton has done a fine job. Essays and criticism on robert lowell lowell, robert vol. Robert lowell life studies university of leicester. Issues and debates in literary and nonliterary translating, ed. Lowell, who has used materials from other writers, all the way from homer and pasternak. Lowell was a great reviser, and his poems could easily run through 30 or more versions. Download pdf robert lowell collected poems free online. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this robert lowell.
His early work, such as the pulitzer prizewinning lord wearys castle 1946 is rich in catholic symbolism. In the early throes of mania, lowell would write reams of poetry, and in the depths of the subsequent depression, he would rewrite. Overt translation strategies in the histories of robert. Improvising chinese classical poems to contemporary. He took graduate courses at louisiana state university where he studied with robert. Pulitzer prizewinning poet robert lowell grew up in boston, massachusetts. The voyage by baudelaire and, perhaps most notably, a collection of poems called imitations, which contains loose versions of the works of various. A reading sound recording of reading at poetry center of the 92nd street y in new york city, december 8, 1976, caedmon, 1978. Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. Lowell, robert robert traill spence lowell 4th, 191777, american poet and translator, widely considered the preeminent american poet of the mid20th cent. In the 1940s he wrote intricate and tightly patterned poems that incorporated traditional meter and rhyme. Robert lowell, born robert traill spence lowell, iv, was an american poet whose works, confessional in nature, engaged with the questions of history and probed the dark recesses of the self. Children of light by robert lowell famous poems, famous.
Robert lowell 19171977 was an american poet who had a profound influence on many other writers, including both sylvia plath and anne sexton. Robert lowell and the religious sublime a jjls a student in his last year at st. It should be added that in 1964 robert lowell wrote an ode for the union dead. Overt translation strategies in the histories of robert lowell and ezra pound anthony pym published as resistant translation strategies in robert lowells imitations and ezra pounds cantos, crosswords.
I hardly knew anything about robert lowell before reading this biography, having only read a handful of his poems and merely glanced through his famous life studies. Although that poem falls outside the scope of this study, it stands for the reasons which leavis gives beside skunk hour as one of the great poems of any century. Lowells next book of new poetry, for the union dead 1964, continued in the confessional vein, but emphasized the. The letters of robert lowell by robert lowell, paperback. Most critics including helen vendler, steven gould axelrod, adam kirsch, and others consider it one of lowell s most important books, and the academy of american poets named it one of their groundbreaking books. That this poet is named frank bidart does not distract from lowells achievement. An inventory of his papers at the harry ransom center. Snodgrass with christian morgenstern, among others.
Starting with homer and ending on pasternak, americas most individual and important younger poet performs a real act of homage. Robert lowell is currently considered a single author. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page. Lowells latest collectionthe shortest he has given us, and, in some ways, the slightestmarks a number of significant consolidations and expansions. Marks, robert lowell published an interpre tation of an allegorical drawing by his friend, francis parker, which reveals an early enchantment with religious sublimity. Although not always successful, robert lowell s imitations offers us the best set of translations of european poets in practically a decade. Linkpage citation a few years ago, i was involved in a class discussion about a poem by sharon olds, in which a childhood trauma the speakers sister urinating on her was compared to hitlers entry into paris. Robert traill spence lowell iv march 1, 1917 september 12, 1977 was an american poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. Genre and poetic memory in virgil and other latin poets, charles segal notes the particular impact of blooms study, as he sees its emergence as a reassertion of. Oct 15, 1984 robert lowell, born robert traill spence lowell, iv, was an american poet whose works, confessional in nature, engaged with the questions of history and probed the dark recesses of the self.
He pointed out in the introduction to imitations that the volume is partly selfsufficient and separate from its sources, and should be first read as a sequence, one voice running through many personalities, contrasts and repetitions. He is best known for his volume life studies 1959, but his true greatness as an american poet lies in the astonishing variety of his work. For further information on the life and work of robert lowell, see. Right now, thanks to the release of his collected poems, edited by frank bidart, he is experiencing another upswing. Robert lowell reading his own poems sound recording of twentiethcentury poetry in english series, library of congress, 1978. Robert lowell said in 1960, two poetries are now competing, a cooked and a raw, and that formulation reverberates in discussions of poetry to this day. Upon studying robert lowell s distinguished body of poetry, one subconsciously adopts an overwhelming sensation of pity, reverence, and bewilderment concerning his ohso deranged verses.
Read more in the freeish verse of epilogue, lowell solves the problem, as he saw it, of flattening. His early work, found within lord wearys castle and land of unlikeliness, exemplifies his symbolstudded, ambiguityladen, highly artificial style of american modernism, as he had learned it from. Collected poems by robert lowell pdf free download ebook. Robert lowell has had dramatic upswings and downswings in his reputation as a poet. Overt translation strategies in the histories of robert lowell and ezra pound anthony pym published as resistant translation strategies in robert lowell s imitations and ezra pounds cantos, crosswords.
River on fire explores genius, madness and the poetry of robert lowell kay redfield jamisons new book describes how lowells manicdepressive illness influenced his life and work. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. The collection also includes photographs, medical files, and legal papers that provide biographical. The poems of robert lowell by lowell, robert, 18161891. Also present are an early notebook, manuscripts for a few earlier works such as. Bibliography robert lowell, selected poems, faber 1965. Lowells life studies imitations thus represent an attempt to coverup poetic. Lowell never did translate other poets, but wrote imitations.
Below is a selection of robert lowells translations of charles baudelaire from ragos 1961. Robert traill spence lowell iv march 1, 1917 september 12, 1977 was an american poet, considered the founder of. Even the adolescent, who identifies with rimbaud or dylan thomas or robert. The issue paired robert bly with cesar vallejo, richard wilbur with moliere, and w. Lowell was perhaps the most important voice in american poetry to emerge after world war ii. Correspondence between elizabeth bishop and robert lowell in 2008 and. Because robert lowell s poem hawthorne focuses on puritan new england, both as a setting and a subject, and shows the dark side of human nature, and hawthorne as the alienated artist with a definite place in american literature, it is a most appropriate conclusion for a teaching unit on hawthorne.
Lowells family history, his bouts of madness, marital problems, and scandalous opinion. Born in 1917 into an aristocratic boston family robert lowell was not yet thirty when his first major collection of poems, lord wearys castle, won the pulitzer prize. River on fire explores genius, madness and the poetry of robert lowell kay redfield jamisons new book describes how lowells manicdepressive illness influenced his. Publication date 1961 topics poetry, english poetry. Nevertheless, lowell found a way to put these to good use, too. He is generally considered to be among the greatest american poets of the twentieth century. He was appointed the sixth poet laureate consultant in poetry to the library of congress where he served from 1947 until 1948. Jun 26, 2016 lowell also published imitations 1961, which consists of reworked translations of poetry by several poets, such as charles baudelaire. Lowell, who has used materials from other writers, all the way from homer and pasternak, has produced a volume of verse which consists of variations on themes provided by these other poets and which is really an original sequence by robert lowell of boston. Robert traill spence lowell, iv march 1, 1917 september 12, 1977 was an american poet.
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