Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr. was born into a family deeply rooted in the history and culture of Massachusetts. His lineage traced back to Edward Winslow, a Mayflower pilgrim, and included notable figures like Harvard president A. Lawrence Lowell and poets James Russell Lowell and Amy Lowell. This heritage steeped Lowell in a historical narrative that mingled personal family legacy with broader cultural themes, particularly the tension between Puritanical roots and the evolving American industrial society.

Early Life and Education

Lowell's childhood was marked by a facade of gentility juxtaposed with inner conflict. He attended the prestigious Brimmer School in Boston followed by St. Mark’s Boarding School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Despite their social standing, his parents struggled financially, creating a household atmosphere rife with tension due to his father's lack of success and his mother's domineering presence. At St. Mark's, under the guidance of his English teacher, the budding poet Richard Eberhart, Lowell began to explore poetry, publishing some work in the school magazine.

Harvard Years and Mentorship

In 1935, Lowell embarked on his Harvard education, initially aspiring to establish himself as a poet. However, he found the university's poetic instruction uninspiring and struggled to find a mentor. His fortunes changed after meeting Ford Madox Ford at a social gathering in Tennessee, which led to his association with Allen Tate. Tate, a significant influence, guided Lowell towards traditional metrical forms, emphasizing a disciplined approach to encapsulate and elevate personal experiences into universal themes through structured form rather than haphazard free verse.

Immersion in the Southern Agrarian Movement

Through his connection with Tate, Lowell became deeply involved with the Southern Agrarian poets, a group known as the Fugitives, who championed traditionalism. After spending a summer at the Tates' home in 1937, Lowell transferred to Kenyon College to study under John Crowe Ransom. Here, he forged a lifelong friendship with fellow poet Randall Jarrell and honed his craft, graduating summa cum laude in 1940 with a focus on classics.

Personal Life and Early Career

The same year, Lowell married Jean Stafford, a young Catholic novelist, and converted to Roman Catholicism. He pursued graduate studies at Louisiana State University, where he studied under literary figures Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren. Lowell then worked for the Catholic publishing house Sheed and Ward in New York City, and during this period, collaborated with Allen Tate, resulting in his debut poetry collection, Land of Unlikeness. This work laid the foundation for Lord Weary’s Castle, which won him a Pulitzer Prize. His conscientious objection to serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, due to opposition to the bombing of civilians, led to a prison sentence, further reflecting his commitment to his principles. Lowell's marriage to Stafford ended in divorce in 1948.

Shifts in Poetic Form

The late 1940s signaled a shift in Lowell's approach to poetry, as he grew to appreciate William Carlos Williams's free verse and American idiom. This influence, alongside the mentorship of Williams, spurred Lowell's exploration of more personal and untraditional poetic forms, as evidenced in his breakthrough work, Life Studies. Following this evolution, Lowell spent time in Europe from 1950 to 1953, teaching at the University of Iowa upon his return. During this period, he also developed the "confessional" style further, influenced by his student W. D. Snodgrass’s work.

Teaching and Legacy

Lowell's time teaching at Boston University introduced him to a new generation of poets, including Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. His daughter Harriet was born in 1957, and his work Life Studies garnered the National Book Award in Poetry in 1960. That same year, Lowell...