In western civilization, poetry has long been considered the most artful form of the written word. As classical educators, there’s very little we can do that deepens our appreciation of words and their power more than dedication to great poetry and poets. The “Know Your Poets” series will tell the life story of various poets while also introducing the nature and themes of their work.
Reflections at the fireplace:
“Within the hall are song and laughter,
The cheeks of Christmas grow red and jolly,
And sprouting is every corbel and rafter
With lightsome green of ivy and holly;
Through the deep gulf of the chimney wide
Wallows the Yule-log’s roaring tide;
The broad flame-pennons droop and flap
And belly and tug as a flag in the wind;
Like a locust shrills the imprisoned sap,
Hunted to death in its galleries blind;
And swift little troops of silent sparks,
Now pausing, now scattering away as in fear,
Go threading the soot-forest’s tangled darks
Like herds of startled deer.”The Vision of Sir Launful, James Lowell
James Russell Lowell was one of America’s foundational humorists and satirists. One contemporary who understood his importance to America’s burgeoning literary tradition said, “Greece had her Aristophanes…Spain has had her Cervantes…England her Swift, her Thackeray, and America has her Lowell.” While critics generally agree that in terms of quality Lowell was no Swift, this comment highlights that every great literary tradition includes a great humorist and that as the United States formed a uniquely American literary tradition, Lowell provided an important voice for its further development.
Born February 22, 1819, in Cambridge, Massachusetts Lowell was son to a well respected pastor and grandson to an influential Bostonian who had fought in the Revolutionary War. With a love of literature and a loyal patriotism instilled by his family, Lowell left home equipped for Harvard at the age of fifteen. At college, Lowell’s peers knew him to be a voracious reader of poetry and the classics, but he also evidenced some disregard for authority. This seeming flaw in his character culminated in his suspension from school during his final year for inappropriate “decorum.” Under closer examination, Lowell’s behavior doesn’t indicate he performed poorly as a student. Lowell’s behavior instead illustrates the free spirit which would characterize his life and writing. In fact, while he attended Harvard, he wrote the poems which showed initial signs of his literary prowess.
After Lowell graduated from Harvard, he knew that he loved literature, but he did not yet see a way to write for a living. Also, his father had experienced financial crisis and was struggling with poverty in his older age. With financial concerns looming in his consciousness, he re-entered Harvard as a graduate student of law.
The most impactful event for Lowell during law school was his introduction to Maria White in 1839. Due to their circumstances, they wouldn’t marry for five years, but their courtship inspired Lowell and drew him away from a career in law and toward a career in literature. During this time, another important source of inspiration for Lowell was a group of friends that he and Maria met with to write, think, and read together. From these regular meetings, his friends shared their passion for abolition with him, a cause he would champion in his writing the rest of his life.
In 1843, at twenty-four, Lowell embarked on his first writing project, a literary journal called The Pioneer. The journal quickly folded when Lowell contracted an illness of the eye. Before its failure, he managed to acquire contributing articles from literary greats like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe.
After The Pioneer, Lowell began writing for the Pennsylvania Freedman and he and his wife both sold poems to the “Broadway Journal.” The Lowell’s possessed meager subsistence, but they finally had a taste for writing. So, in 1845, Lowell turned all of his mental faculties toward writing and he produced his three greatest works, “The Biglow Papers,” “Sir Launfal,” and “A Fable for Critics.”
These three works encapsulate the essence of Lowell’s greatness and the extent of his limitations as an author. “A Fable for Critics” is a long form poem which comically criticizes all of the famous American poets of his era (including Lowell himself). The work was well received, however, even by those he criticized because his humor was excellent.
“The Biglow Papers” decry slavery and the Mexican War while exemplifying the same sense of humor as “A Fable” and a heavy rural dialect. Lowell’s command of dialect distinguished him as an author as it implies he possessed a superior command of English. “The Papers” were clearly political enough to be published by The Anti-Slavery Standard, but did not descend to the level of mere propaganda. On the contrary, Lowell managed to write passionately about political issues with unique style and clarity.
“The Vision of Sir Launfal,” however, revealed that his poetic talent extended beyond only humor or politics. “The Vision” is an American epic poem patterned after the famous Arthurian legends. Lowell showed the capabilities of his Romantic genius, but ultimately, he would always be most comfortable in political forms.
In the second half of Lowell’s life, he transitioned from a full time author to a critic and professor. While working as the managing editor for the Atlantic Monthly, he began developing lectures on famous English writers from the past. Around this same time, his wife Maria died, a tragic event commemorated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the poem, “The Two Angels.”
In 1857, the following year, Longfellow resigned his post as Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard, and Lowell was appointed as his replacement. Thus began the twenty most productive years of his life. One of the highlights is his well remembered “Ode to Commemoration.” The administration of Harvard asked Lowell to write the poem in order to commemorate the soldiers from Harvard who had fallen during the Civil War. Lowell himself had lost three of his favorite nephews to the Civil War, and his deep emotion in “The Ode” resonated with the American people affected by the tragedy of war.
After twenty years of academic life, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Lowell ambassador to Spain and England. He died in 1891 six years after returning from his political appointments. The nation mourned Lowell as a public servant, fireside poet, and prophetic, but comedic, voice for the people of America.
Shane Saxon serves as the School Representative for Trademark Schools for the Classical Latin School Association, and in that capacity, helps to work with communities around the country to start Highlands Latin cottage and full time schools. He also teaches composition and literature at the Highlands Latin Cottage School in Louisville, KY and writes for Memoria Press’ The Classical Teacher. He holds a B.A. in English, and both an M.Div. and a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
