Selected Poems: Revised Edition [Paperback]

Robert Lowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1977

Selected Poems includes over 200 poems, culled from each of Robert Lowell's books of verse--Lord Weary's Castle, The Mills of the Kavanaughs, Life Studies, For the Union Dead, Near the Ocean, History, For Lizzie and Harriet, and The Dolphin. This edition, which first appeared in 1977, was revised by the author: there are additions, deletions, and a change in sequence in the Dolphin section; the five poems in the title sequence from Near the Ocean are now uncut; and a new poem is added to the "Nineteen Thirties."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. With Collected Poems (2003) and last year's Letters, this selection—a much-expanded version by Bidart of Lowell's own late-life culling—brings the Herculean effort of restoring Lowell's oeuvre to print and prominence near completion. Next to the colossal Collected Poems, this is a formidable book in its own right, offering a distilled view of the arc of Lowell's whole career and of each of his individual books. From the early formal triumphs of Lord Weary's Castle and The Mills of the Kavanaughs to the seminal Life Studies (which is presented here in its entirety and includes what may be Lowell's most overarching characterization of his work: "I myself am hell"); from the tense and arguably unscrupulous sonnets of History and For Lizzie and Harriet to the dark resolve of The Dolphin and Day by Day: all of Lowell's varied modes are generously represented, along with Bidart's notes from Collected Poems. This book finally makes the breadth of Lowell's great achievement accessible in a single, portable volume. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"If more people read poetry, if it were more exportable and translatable, surely [Lowell's] poems would go far towards changing, or at least unsettling, minds made up against us. Somehow or other, by fair means or fowl, and in the middle of our worst century so far, we have produced a magnificent poet."--Elizabeth Bishop

"The poems collected here reveal the grandeur and magnitude of Lowell's accomplishment."--James Atlas, The New Republic

"Selected Poems provides the best possible entry into the imaginative universe of Robert Lowell. Those who have not followed [his] career volume by volume now have a chance to come to terms with one of our major poets."--Marjorie Perloff, The Washington Post Book World

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition. first revised edition (October 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374514003
• ISBN-13: 978-0374514006
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,206,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shared reading experience, August 20, 2000

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Revised Edition (Paperback)

This is a good book. The revised edition (which this is) contains a wide and well-chosen selection of Lowell's poetry. He notes in the foreword that he tried to choose possible sequences rather than just greatest hits out of context. This effort is visible and the book flows together like almost one book instead of a career's overview.

What was interesting for me as I read it was that I was reading a used copy which was liberally marked up with underlines and notes of various kinds. Normally, this drives me crazy and as it was in pencil I began by first erasing five pages worth of notes and then reading on myself. Gradually, however, about one third through the book I noticed that whoever it was that had owned the book before shared a lot of tastes with me. I started enjoying his/her remarks and notitions and it felt like I was having a little conversation about the book.

The former owner underlined without comment the line where Lowell comments he "lies to friends and tells the truth in print". He circled the "Long Summer" sequence titles and placed an awed exclamation point after Lowell's poem for Ford Madox Ford. We both, apparently love "Margaret Fuller Drowned" as it rated one of only three poems marked with a star in the whole book.

It was a wonderful book, and while this shouldn't be construed as license to mark up books (I still find it a barbaric habit), it was also a good conversation.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get the new 'Collected Poems' instead, July 24, 2003

By 

J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Revised Edition (Paperback)

I made the mistake of getting this edition just as the new COLLECTED POEMS OF ROBERT LOWELL (edited by Frank Bidart) was coming out. The new book has all the notes, introductory biographical info (Lowell writes about his life as if you already know about it) and additional Lowell that THE SELECTED POEMS lacks.

However, if you want to go cheap (or don't need notes) this is not a bad 'Selected Poems'. It's fairly comprehensive, yet not too long -- and it gives you a good sense of the poet. It's been all people had for years (other than buying each of his many books). I think with the new COLLECTED, however, it has probably run its course.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Robert Lowell was a transgressive artist???, December 21, 2010

By 

York Brun Luethje (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Expanded Edition: Including selections from Day by Day (Paperback)

OK, the foreword almost made me throw away the book right there. Its first sentence reads `Robert Lowell was a transgressive artist.'

This sounds like a parody of a 1980ies English lit major thesis - mercifully you can skip the foreword as it doesn't add anything at all. It's short though so skipping is easily done.

The selection itself is generous and one gets a good idea of Lowell's breadth of writing styles. As another reviewer has noted this edition is probably all you need.