Poetry Analysis Paper of Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell Essay Example

demeanor, similar to the main character in the poem.

The woman shares that during her youth, she engaged in a lively social life attending parties and playing the card game snap-out, which is similar to musical chairs. She later recounts discovering Davis while driving home on a moonlit night in June. The use of the term "found" indicates her satisfaction with their marriage, implying affection rather than just encountering someone.

The text emphasizes that hope is the central theme of the poem as it discusses the narrator's experience of raising eight out of twelve children. Losing a child is considered one of the toughest experiences for parents. While it is expected that parents will pass away before their children, this poem depicts an alarming scenario where this happens eight times. However, Lucinda chooses to remain positive and hopeful instead of becoming bitter or negative.

The theme is reiterated in lines 18-22 when the narrator expresses her irritation towards those who lose hope and become bitter and unhappy with life. The final line, "It takes life to love Life" (1308), emphasizes the theme and highlights the narrator's profound appreciation for life.

The poem by Masters prominently features the theme of Nature. It is introduced in line eleven with the words, “I made the garden and for holiday Rambled over the fields where sang the larks, and by Spoon River gathering many a shell,” (1308). Lucinda values her strong connection with nature. Nature plays an important role in providing sustenance for her family and remedies for their illnesses. She deeply appreciates nature and its contributions to her life, viewing it as inseparable

from life itself. In her perspective, without one, the other suffers greatly if not indefinitely.

In this stanza, the use of the word "holiday" implies a respite or an opportunity to escape from the duties of wife and motherhood. Despite her frequent search for medicinal herbs for her family, Lucinda takes immense pleasure in these strolls. While tending to her family was her primary responsibility, she derived genuine enjoyment from it and felt thankful for what she had.

In his critical essay, David Kelly emphasizes Masters' ability to connect nature with Lucinda's personality. Masters effectively uses elements such as nature, hope, life, and loss to evoke emotions in his writing. Furthermore, Lowell praises Masters for his unique perspective, stating that he sees things with both accuracy and clarity, even when it is difficult to find positivity.

Amy Lowell, a renowned author, incorporates similar literary elements in her work as Masters does. Both authors explore various aspects of life, encompassing both its positive and negative sides. In Lowell's poem "Patterns," the main character shares a deep connection with nature, although the tone portrayed is less optimistic compared to Lucinda Matlock's. The central theme in "Patterns" revolves around passion and love. The protagonist sees her lover and their relationship as a way to defy societal constraints imposed on young women regarding how they dress and behave.

The narrator of Amy Lowell's "Patterns" is deeply saddened and pessimistic after learning about her soldier's death. Unlike "Lucinda Matlock", this poem is not a dramatic monologue, but it is narrated in first person. Instead of reflecting on her life, the narrator directly addresses the reader, enabling

them to empathize with her and observe her genuine emotions and responses to the tragic news.

The protagonist in "Patterns" is depicted as a youthful woman, contrasting with the elderly woman in "Lucinda Matlock". This contrast heightens the reader's emotional reaction to her sorrow, as she encounters it at a young age and cannot share a lifetime with her loved one. The woman's disapproval of societal norms and expectations is apparent from lines ten to eighteen, where she expresses discontentment with her attire that fails to conform to her body or mirror her authentic self, instead symbolizing mere adherence to prevailing fashion trends (1424).

"Patterns" contains romantic elements as it incorporates various references to nature and the protagonist's connection with it. The poem commences with the depiction of a young woman strolling along garden paths. Additionally, Lowell employs flowers in nature as a metaphor to convey the narrator's personal circumstances. In describing this, Lowell writes, "The blue and yellow flowers stood up proudly in the sun" (1426), indicating that the speaker identifies with these flowers as someone who must bravely confront adversities seeking to undermine them.

Despite the restrictions imposed by society and the loss of her beloved in war, she remains strong and defiant. While these events could cause her to wither like the sun, she refuses to give in. However, unlike Masters' poem that exudes positivity and hope, Lowell's poem conveys a sense of entrapment. The narrator's loss not only confines her within the rigid boundaries of a society that she yearns to escape, but also imprisons her love and passion indefinitely.

She no longer envisions a bright future

as she did when her lover was alive, eagerly awaiting her release from societal norms and expectations. Her beloved fiance symbolized this liberation, offering her the freedom to express the intense passion she had suppressed for so long.

The text reflects the narrator's sadness and isolation as she expresses, "Underneath this lime tree, we would have broken away from convention; he representing authority and me embodying elegance" (1426). These lines elicit a melancholic emotion in the reader as they comprehend the unfortunate destiny that has befallen her. The soldier's demise in battle extinguished this love and shattered her aspirations of embracing her passionate spirit. As stated by Amy Lowell in her book Tendencies in Modern American Poetry, "The reality is that America is evolving, and since poets serve as the articulate segment of a community, we observe this transformation clearly through the work of contemporary poets" (141).

Alice Corbin Henderson emphasizes that Spoon River Anthology by Masters truly reflects American life on a deeper level rather than merely scratching the surface (37: 178). Both Masters and Lowell are renowned poets of the modern and romantic era who extensively incorporate nature into their works, with their protagonists forming profound connections with the natural world. Although they share this poetic approach, their major themes diverge significantly; Masters' poem encapsulates a pervasive sense of optimism, while Lowell's poem predominantly explores themes of love and passion.