* 1917: born on March 1st in
Boston, Massachusettes
* 1930-1935: attended St. Mark's School,
took interest in teachings of Robert
Eberhart
* 1935-1937: attended Harvard
University
* 1937: introduced to John
Crowe Ransom in Tennessee
* 1937-1940: moved his
studies to Kenyon College where JCR was teaching
* 1940-1948: married writer Jean
Stafford
* 1940-1941: attended Louisiana
State University where he was taught by RobertPenn
Warren and Cleanth Brooks
* 1943: served a 5 month
prison sentence for his participation in the anti- WWII effort
* 1944: published his first finished
work, Land
of Unlikeliness
* 1946: published
Lord Weary's Castle - Pulitzer Prize
* 1947: won National Institute
of Arts and Letters Grant and Guggenheim Fellowship
Award
* 1949: was institutionalized
for the first time in a mental hospital and married second
wife, Elisabeth Hardwick, a writer and critic (1949-1972) (one son)
* 1949-1950, 1952-1953:
taught at University of Iowa
* 1950: published Poems,
a collection of poems that he wrote from 1938 to 1949
* 1951: published The
Mills of the Kavanaughs
* 1952: won the
Monroe Poetry Award
* 1955-1960:
worked as a teacher at the University of Boston
* 1959: published his
work Life Studies, which was influenced by W.D.Snodgrass
and Allen Ginsberg's styles. It won the National Book Award (1960)
and was
said to have "changed the landscape of modern poetry" (poets.org).
* 1959: won The Guinness
Prize
* 1960: published Poesie
de Montale, a translation of poems by Eugenio
Montale
* 1961: wrote the play Phaedra
and Figaro (originally from Phaedra, by Racine) and
published Imitations, a translation of other's works
* 1962: won the Bollingen
Poetry Translation Award
* 1962-1977: served as
Chancellor of The American Poets
* 1963-1977: Lowell taught at
Harvard University
* 1964: won the New England
Poetry Club Golden Rose and the Ford Foundation
Grant for Drama
* 1964: published For
the Union Dead, a work that portrayed his anti-war views
* 1965: wrote play, The Old
Glory and won Obie Award for Drama
* 1966: won the Sarah
Josepha Hale Award
* 1967: published Near
the Ocean
* 1968: published
The Voyage and Other Versions of Poems by Baudelaire, a
translation of Baudelaire's works
* 1969: published Notebook
1967-1968, a personal journal
* 1969: wrote play Prometheus
Bound
* 1972: married
writer Caroline Blackwood (one son)
* 1973: published For
Lizzie and Harriet and History
* 1973:
published The Dolphin - Pulitzer Prize
* 1974: won Guggenheim
Fellowship Award (2nd), Harriet Monroe Poetry Award,
Copernicus Award
* 1976: published Selected
Poems, another collection of his poetry
* 1977: published Day
by Day and won the National Award for Literature
* 1977: Robert
Lowell dies in New York City on September 12
* The Dolphin begins
with Lowell's attempt to convey to the reader that he feels
that his life seems to be out of control. He is acknowledging the spontaneity
of life. This particular passage is something that Lowell knows many
of his
readers can relate to and thus, brings these emotions across effectively
(1-4).
In lines 5-7 Lowell explains how his mind is "troubled"
and his body is being
strangled and also is sinking. Perhaps this may have something to
do with his
psychological condition and the condition of his body due to drinking.
It also
of course, conveys the reoccuring theme of helplessness. In lines
8-9 Lowell
explains that he has listened to the advice of others too much, something
he
obviously regrets. In lines 10-12 he portrays himself
as being careless and
maybe sometimes wreckless. You get the sense that he regrets this
carelessness
and has learned from it, perhaps the hard way. In lines 13-14
he gives us
the impression that we can learn from his mistakes. His poem could
be a
constructive tool telling us to organize our life to reach happiness.
Line 15 is
perhaps one of the most startling example of the theme of helplessness.
A fitting
end to a remarkable poem.
*Phedre - A tragedy written
by Racine in 1677 which caused much
controversy and almost resulted in Racine quitting theatre for good.
Form and Content ~ f<<
*allusion - "...Racine, the man of craft, drawn
through his maze of iron
composition by the incomparable wandering voice of Phedre.."
~ Lowell refers to the play "Phedre" by Jean Baptiste Racine.
His use of an allusion here emphasizes to the reader his
feelings of "loneliness" and "wandering." It portrays his
views that his life is unpredictable and perhaps out of his
control.
*alliteration - "...a captive as Racine, the man of craft.."
~ the use of the words "captive" and "craft", create a sense
of harshness by using the "c" sound.
*imagery -
* "..drawn through his maze of iron composition.."
~ gives us a feeling of confinement as well as the feeling of
being drawn somewhere strange and eery.
* "..incomparable wandering voice of Phedre.."
~ appeals to our senses in that, we can almost hear the
voice of which he speaks.
* "..caught its hangman's knot of sinking lines.."
~ appeals to sense of feeling. It gives us a feeling of being
helpless and bound, sinking into the unknown depths.
* "..bowing and scraping of my will.."
~ "Bowing and scraping" portrays a feeling of pain and
instability of will.
*figurative language -Most of the passages in The
Dolphin use figurative
language to create a certain abstractness. An abstractness
that he uses to leave the reader with individual interpretations
which develop the overall themes of the poem.
* "My Dolphin..."
~ although Lowell speaks of his "dolphin", he really does not
mean that he has a dolphin. Most likely he uses this term to
describe the force which guides him in life.
* " ..a captive as Racine, the man of craft,
drawn by the
incomparable wandering voice of Phedre.."
~ Lowell of course does not mean that he is really captive
or drawn by a wandering voice, rather, he uses figurative
language to describe his feelings of captivity and misdirection.
* "..caught in its hangman's knot of sinking lines.."
~ he uses these terms to describe helplessness and fear,
one of the main themes in The Dolphin.
* " ..listened to too many words of the collaborating
muse.."
~ this passage most likely means that Lowell feels that he
listened to the advice of others far too many times. Maybe
that his instinct is the strongest and most reliable.
* " .. an eelnet made by man for the eel fighting.."
~ lowell means by this that this book is made for the
betterment of man. Through his experiences a lesson
in life can be taught.
*repetition - "..not avoiding injury to others, not
avoiding injury to
myself.."
~ Lowell uses repitition to emphasize his personal feelings of
his inescapably destructive nature. The reader cannot help
but feel pity for the writer, given the circumstances of his life.
"Land of Unlikeliness." Weekly Book Review.
17 Dec. 1944: 18. Rpt. in Book Review
Digest. Ed. Dorothy Brown. H.W.
Wilson co., 1945.
Stauss and Farrar. "For the Union Dead." Newsweek.
12 Oct. 1964. Rpt. in Book
Review Digest. Ed. Dorothy Davidson.
H.W. Wilson co., 1965.
"For the Union Dead." Time. 16 Oct. 1964.
Rpt. in Book Review Digest. Ed. Dorothy
Davidson. H.W. Wlson co., 1965.
www.poets.org/LIT/POET/rlowefst.htm
- A brief biographical outline,
picture of Lowell (used here), recitation of poem "The Public Garden" by
Lowell, many of Lowell's poems
www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rlowell.htm
- A brief biographical outline
and list of important works
www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/treasures/american/lowell.html
- A description of "The
Land of Unlikeliness" and picture of actual book
minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rylpak/lowellbio.html
- A brief biographical review,
in depth list of awards recieved by Lowell, 3 poems, and helpful links
to other sites on related topics
www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/HRC/fa/lowell.bio.html
- A brief biographical outline
