Skunk Hour (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Lowell
- First Published: 1958
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Alienation, Social life, New England, Fear, Hell, Success or failure, Wealth, Animals, Night, Pests
“Skunk Hour” is the last poem in Life Studies, and as such it was meant to sum up the themes and tone of the collection and suggest some sort of resolution. The first four stanzas portray a decayed Maine coastal town. The “hermit heiress” who should be a leader in the society isolates herself; her main activity is buying up houses near her to ensure her privacy and isolation: “[S]he buys up all/ the eyesores facing her shore,/ and lets them fall.” She contributes to the decay rather than overcoming it by her wealth and position. In the third stanza, “our summer...
[The entire page is 717 words long]
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