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Robert Lowell

ロバート・ローウェル

Robert Traill Spence Lowell

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1917-03-01 （Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.）
Died
1977-09-12 （New York City, U.S.） age 60
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Catholicism (formerly Episcopalian background)
Residence History
Boston, Massachusetts → New York City, New York → England (resided in England in later years) → Dunbarton, New Hampshire (burial site)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Translator, University professor
Active Years
1944-1977
Influenced By
Allen Tate, Elizabeth Bishop, William Carlos Williams
Influenced
Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, Subsequent confessional poets

Education

Harvard University (attended)
Period: 1935–1937
Country: United States
Attended for two years before transferring to Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Classics
Degree: A.B. (summa cum laude)
Period: 1937–1940
Year of Graduation: 1940
Country: United States
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa; valedictorian of his class
Louisiana State University (graduate study)
English
Period: 1940–1941
Country: United States
Did graduate work in English and taught introductory English courses for one year

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1947
Work: Lord Weary's Castle
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1974
Work: The Dolphin
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
National Book Award (Poetry)
1960
Work: Life Studies
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Critics Circle Award (Poetry)
1977
Work: Day by Day
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1947
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Medal for Literature (American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters)
1977
Organization: American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Poetry Translation Prize
1962
Work: Imitations (translations)
Organization: Bollingen Prize committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Land of Unlikeness

1944 Poetry

Early volume reflecting Catholic motifs and formalist verse.

religionformalismpersonal faith

Lord Weary's Castle

1946 Poetry

Contains poems about family history and New England; won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize.

family historyNew Englandhistory

The Mills of the Kavanaughs

1951 Poetry (including an epic poem)

Centered on an epic title poem; received mixed critical response.

historyindividual and society

Life Studies

1959 Poetry (noted for confessional elements)

Marked by intensely personal poems; won the 1960 National Book Award and profoundly influenced confessional poetry.

familymental illnesspersonal memory

For the Union Dead

1964 Poetry

Combines public and personal concerns; the title poem centers on a Boston memorial.

public memorycivil rightshistory

The Old Glory

1964 Drama (three one-act plays)

A trilogy adapting Hawthorne and Melville stories for the stage; produced off-Broadway in 1964 and won Obie Awards.

adaptation of American literaturehistorical narrative
Adaptations
  • [Theater] The Old Glory / Jonathan Miller (1964)

Notebook 1967–1968 / Notebook

1969 Poetry (verse journal / sonnet-like poems)

Experimented with loose 14-line sonnets; provided the basis for later sonnet volumes.

politics and the personalseasonal cyclesmemory

History

1973 Poetry (sonnet sequence)

Reworked and reordered sonnets from Notebook; covers topics from antiquity to mid-20th century.

world historypoems about figures

For Lizzie and Harriet

1973 Poetry (sonnet sequence)

Sonnets dealing with the breakdown of his second marriage and family relations; includes revisions from Notebook.

familymarital breakdown

The Dolphin

1973 Poetry (sonnet sequence)

A 1973 volume of new sonnets; won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize. Published poems that incorporated altered private letters, causing controversy.

exposure of private lifefamily

Day by Day

1977 Poetry (free verse)

His final volume, predominantly free verse; reflects on mortality, aging, and memory. Won the 1977 National Book Critics Circle Award.

agingdeathrecollection

Phaedra (translation of Racine's Phèdre)

1961 Translation (play)

Lowell's English translation of Racine's Phèdre, rendered as 'Phaedra' and generally well received.

classical translationdrama

Prometheus Bound (translation)

1969 Translation (classical play)

Translation of Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound; used in a Yale School of Drama production.

classicsadaptation

Bibliography

  • Land of Unlikeness (1944)
  • Lord Weary's Castle (1946)
  • The Mills of The Kavanaughs (1951)
  • Life Studies (1959)
  • Phaedra (translation, 1961)
  • Imitations (1961)
  • For the Union Dead (1964)
  • The Old Glory (1965)
  • Near the Ocean (1967)
  • Notebook 1967-1968 / Notebook (1969/1970)
  • Prometheus Bound (translation, 1969)
  • History (1973)
  • For Lizzie and Harriet (1973)
  • The Dolphin (1973)
  • Day by Day (1977)
  • Collected Prose (1987)
  • Collected Poems (2003)
  • Memoirs (2022)

Adaptations

  • The Old Glory (plays) was produced off-Broadway in 1964 and won Obie Awards.
  • The poem 'Memories of West Street and Lepke' inspired the They Might Be Giants song 'Robert Lowell' (2001).

Translations by Author

  • Phaedra (translation of Racine's Phèdre)
  • Prometheus Bound (translation of Aeschylus)
  • Imitations (loose translations/imitations of Rilke, Montale, Baudelaire, etc.)

Translations of Works

  • Life Studies (translated into Japanese)
  • For the Union Dead (translated into Japanese)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Confessional tendenciesmix of metered/formal verse and free versefusion of historical and personal material
Recurring Motifs
family historyNew Englandreligious and moral themesmental illness and interiority

Health

  • Bipolar disorder (manic depression)
    成人期を通じて（生涯に繰り返し入院）
    Hospitalized multiple times throughout adulthood; the condition became a subject of his poetry. Began lithium treatment around age 50 though relapses continued.

Legacy

One of the most important postwar American poets. Life Studies had a profound influence on confessional poetry; he is noted for blending public and private themes. His late work provoked both acclaim and controversy.

Academic Societies

  • Academy of American Poets (recognized Life Studies as Groundbreaking Book)

Archives

  • Robert Lowell Papers - Harry Ransom Center (University of Texas)
  • Audio recordings at the Woodberry Poetry Room (Harvard University)
  • Collected letters and correspondence held in various academic archives

In Popular Culture

  • Alternative rock band They Might Be Giants wrote the song 'Robert Lowell' based on his poem (2001).
  • Featured in the HBO documentary The 50 Year Argument (2014).
  • His correspondence with Elizabeth Bishop formed the basis for the play Dear Elizabeth.

Quotes

  • The poets who most directly influenced me ... were Allen Tate, Elizabeth Bishop, and William Carlos Williams.
    Source: Interview (quoted) (1964)
  • But sometimes everything I write / with the threadbare art of my eye / seems a snapshot... Yet why not say what happened?
    Source: Poem 'Epilogue' (from Day by Day) (1977)

Trivia

  • As a youth he was nicknamed 'Cal' (after Caligula/Caliban).
  • Born into a prominent Boston Brahmin family with ancestors dating to the Mayflower and notable colonial figures.
  • Served several months in prison as a conscientious objector during World War II.
  • Spent later years living in England with Caroline Blackwood and fathered a son there.