On The Spiritual Wasteland In Robert Lowell's Elegies

Robert Lowell is a leading poet of the post World War II generation in the United States. Focusing on Lowell's elegies for his maternal relatives, his parents, his fellow writers, and himself, this thesis analyzes imagery of the natural world, imagery of the worsened social environment, imagery of the alienated persons, and spiritual existence of the individuals. So the sense of meaninglessness and alienation in the spiritual wasteland of modern America is revealed before readers. This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One is a brief introduction of Robert Lowell and his elegiac poetry. Chapter Two is a detailed description of imagery of the violent, barren natural world and the worsened social environment. The violent natural climate, the withered plant life, the helpless and trapped animals, and the predominant minerals are images of the barren natural world. The worsened social environment imagery refers to pollution (trash and noise), automobile, physical disease, prison, and graveyard. Chapter Three is a description of the alienated persons and their hellish spiritual existence of in the spiritual wasteland. Finally, the thesis concludes that through the revelation of the violent and barren natural world, the worsened social environment, the alienated people and their hellish spiritual existence, Robert Lowell's elegies reflect modern American people's spiritual wasteland in context of the declined American traditional culture.