Epilogue |
For the Union Dead |
The poem "Epilogue" by Robert Lowell was published in 1977 in a book of poetry called "Day by Day."
This poem contains many "I" statements by the speaker which is the classic necessity for a Confessional Poem. The "I" statements in this poem are often referring to the naturalistic side of the speaker and after a few phrases turn into "We" statements. It also contains a "Taboo" theme in which confessional poems always contain at least one; for this poem it is speaking about how the art is limited by society, not fitting into the usual image that the readers like poetry to be. Lowell claims in the poem that he cannot obtain that image. |
"For the Union Dead" written by Robert Lowell is a poetry book published in 1964.
The poem linked is just a section of the book in which Lowell depicts a scene of military men. There is little "I" statements. This poem relates to the "Taboo" themes often related to confessional poetry since during which the period this poem was published the Vietnam War was taking place, and America had just entered. It illustrates images of the speaker, a soldier in a war, as a result of high tensions in beliefs about the war it was usually nonuniform to write about a war so tense to the American population. |