Here is a bold new vision of one of America’s most distinguished and controversial poets. Vereen Bell gives us a subtly reasoned account of the pattern of Robert Lowell’s poetic life, of his struggle to live in “the world as is.” Bell contends that Lowell’s poetry is characterized above all by its chronic and systematic pessimism, but that, paradoxically, Lowell’s reluctance to accept the consequences of his own unsparing vision is what gives his poetry its vigor, richness, and tonal complexity. The Lowell that is revealed is spiritually disconsolate but at the same time unable to suppress a deep-seated idealism.

Drawing on his thorough knowledge of the complete Lowell canon, Bell devotes particular attention to eight of the volumes, concentrating on the last phase of Lowell’s career, from Notebook (and its revision, History) through Day by Day. His readings bring a new understanding of Lowell’s art.

Sound and Form in Modern Poetry: A Study of Prosody from Thomas Hardy to Robert Lowell by Harvey Gross offers a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of poetic form and prosody in twentieth-century poetry. Delving deeply into the rhythmic and sonic dimensions that shape modern English verse, Gross guides readers through both traditional metrical conventions and the innovative departures of modern poets.Navigating the “dark wood” of conflicting theories and approaches to poetic rhythm, Gross traces the evolution of English-language prosody from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The book provides detailed analyses of the techniques and stylistic achievements of poets such as Thomas Hardy, W. B. Yeats, Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Hart Crane, W. H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and Robert Lowell. Gross doesn't just analyze meter—he considers a broader concept of rhythmic structure, one that encompasses visual, syntactic, and auditory patterns and recognizes prosody as a vital means by which poetry communicates feeling, expectation, and psychological process.Blending close readings, literary criticism, and insights from linguistics and aesthetics, Sound and Form in Modern Poetry challenges simplistic accounts of meter and embraces the complexity of both metrical and nonmetrical verse. Generously referencing both classical and contemporary critics, the book supplies readers with a clear framework for understanding the convergences and tensions between tradition and innovation in modern poetry. Essential for students, scholars, and poetry lovers alike, Gross’s study reveals how the nuances of sound and rhythm are central to a poem’s expressive power.