Lowell was a confessional poet like Sylvia Plath. The corrosive reality of his life with its alcoholism, madness, and womanising is laid out with violent and stultifying imagery in elegant, perfectly-controlled poetry.
This was published in 1959, he was married to Elizabeth Hardwick. He refers to Philip Rahv, the literary critic. Miltown is a tranquilliser.
Fuck you have an amazing voice...
SuperGeneralCuster 1 month ago
Terrific reading. One of the greatest poems of the 20th century. Thanks for showing the text. Too many poetry readings here are accompanied by distracting images. The WORDS should speak for themselves.
EdiblePlanets 2 years ago 2
Thank you for your excellent selection and thoughtful reading. It's one of my favorites of Lowell's and I am very happy to see it so ably represented on youtube.
Of course this is from "Life Studies" which is one of the greatest books of poetry ever published. Every poem in the book is excellent and many are classics: "Shunk Hour", "Waking in the Blue", "Beyond the Alps", and (in the original edition) "For the Union Dead"
cafais 3 years ago