Robert Lowell Essays on the Poetry [Paperback]

The twelve essays in this volume, by many of the most distinguished scholars in the field, offer a chronological review of Lowell's career as a poet. The book includes pieces on major works such as Lord Weary's Castle, Life Studies, For the Union Dead, Skunk Hour , Notebook, the sonnets of 1969-73 as well as four essays devoted to Lowell's last complete and often neglected work, Day by Day. Essential reading for those interested in the writer who dominated post World War II poetry, the book will appeal to students of American literature and to more general readers as well. The divergent and controversial voices in these essays testify to radical disparities among Lowell's endless experiments and to the complexity and endurance of his work.Preface 1. Introduction: Lowell's living name Steven Gould Axelrod; 2. Grief and nothingness: loss and mourning in Lowell's poetry Jay Martin; 3. Robert Lowell: the fall from prophecy to irony Albert Gelpi; 4. Mephistophilis in Maine: rereading 'Skunk Hour' Sandra M. Gilbert; 5. Freud and the skunks: genre and language in Life Studies Lawrence Kramer; 6. Po?tes Maudits of the genteel tradition: Lowell and Berryman Marjorie Perloff; 7. Notebook 196768: writing the process poem Alex Calder; 8. Illegible Lowell (the late volumes) Calvin Bedient; 9. Going back, going down, breaking: Day by Day Alan Holder; 10. Lowell and the visual arts Helen Deese; 11. Day by Day: his endgame A. Kingsley Weatherhead; 12. 'Prose or this' - what Lowell made of a diminished thing George McFadden. Of all the books and collections devoted to Lowell's work, this is perhaps the strongest defense and one coming from a more than usually varied set of critical perspectives. Choice ...the essays appeal to a broad range of interests...an excellent volume. Sewanee Review