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Robert Lowell

ロバート・ローウェル

Robert Traill Spence Lowell

プロフィール

性別
男性
生誕
1917-03-01 （Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.）
死没
1977-09-12 （New York City, U.S.） 60歳
国籍
United States
言語
English
宗教
Catholicism (formerly Episcopalian background)
居住地歴
Boston, Massachusetts → New York City, New York → England (resided in England in later years) → Dunbarton, New Hampshire (burial site)

経歴

職業
Poet, Translator, University professor
活動期間
1944年〜1977年
影響を受けた人物
Allen Tate, Elizabeth Bishop, William Carlos Williams
影響を与えた人物
Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, Subsequent confessional poets

学歴

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

受賞歴

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

受賞・候補エディション

作品

代表作

Land of Unlikeness

1944年 Poetry

Early volume reflecting Catholic motifs and formalist verse.

religionformalismpersonal faith

Lord Weary's Castle

1946年 Poetry

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

family historyNew Englandhistory

The Mills of the Kavanaughs

1951年 Poetry (including an epic poem)

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

historyindividual and society

Life Studies

1959年 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年 Poetry

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

public memorycivil rightshistory

The Old Glory

1964年 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
映像化・舞台化
  • [Theater] The Old Glory / Jonathan Miller (1964)

Notebook 1967–1968 / Notebook

1969年 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年 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年 Poetry (sonnet sequence)

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

familymarital breakdown

The Dolphin

1973年 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年 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年 Translation (play)

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

classical translationdrama

Prometheus Bound (translation)

1969年 Translation (classical play)

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

classicsadaptation

全著作

  • 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)

翻案

  • 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).

作家による翻訳

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

作品の翻訳

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

作風・主題

文体
Confessional tendenciesmix of metered/formal verse and free versefusion of historical and personal material
頻出モチーフ
family historyNew Englandreligious and moral themesmental illness and interiority

健康

  • 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.

評価・遺産

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.

関連学会

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

資料所蔵先

  • 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

大衆文化への影響

  • 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.

引用

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

豆知識

  • 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.