Life Studies and For the Union Dead

RobertLowell,WithElizabethBishop,StandsApartAsTheGreatestAmericanPoetOfTheLatterHalfOfTheTwentiethCentury--And"LifeStudiesAndForTheUnionDead"StandAsAmongHisMostImportantVolumes.In"LifeStudies,"WhichWasFirstPublishedIn1959,LowellMovedAwayFromTheFormalityOfHisEarlierPoemsAndStartedWritingInAMoreConfessionalVein.TheTitlePoemOf"ForTheUnionDead"ConcernsTheDeathOfTheCivilWarHero(AndLowellAncestor)RobertGouldShaw,ButItAlsoLargelyCentersOnTheContrastBetweenBoston'SIdealisticPastAndItsDebasedPresentAtTheTimeOfItsWriting,InTheEarly1960'S.Throughout,LowellAddressesContemporaneousSubjectsInAVoiceAndStyleThatThemselvesPushBeyondTheAcceptedFormsAndConstraintsOfTheTime.